Oswego Youth Tackle Football Week 5 Scores

8U BLUE 18 – 8U Orange 12
8U Blue continues their win streak after a very intense game against 8U Orange this past Saturday, winning the game in OT, Blue-18 Orange-12. Coming into the game off of Blue’s first victory, the boys wanted to keep their momentum throughout the game. If Blue wanted to keep their playoff hopes alive, they knew they needed a Win over the undefeated Orange team. Blue got off to an early lead with a touchdown run by Mariano Velasco, one of his three touchdowns for the day. Hunter Novak, Isacc Ramirez, and Jayden Pugsley, led the offensive effort. Blue’s special teams also came up big with an onside kick off recovery by Donncha Souza, which gave Blue even more momentum in the first half. Blue was able to capitalize and score, giving Blue a comfortable lead going into halftime 12-0. Blue felt good going into the second half as their defense kept the Orange team scoreless the entire first half. The defensive efforts were led by Trent Epley, Dylan Koebele, Julian Hernandez, and the entire Blue defense. The second half started off in favor of Orange, when the kick off led to a long TD run, which almost took the wind out of Blue’s sails. Regulation ended with a tie, 12-12 as both teams headed into OT. Orange won the toss but decided to defend first. Blue was able to run up the middle four straight plays to get the game winning TD. Blue lead Orange 18-12 with Oranges’ turn to try and score. After three tough downs, Orange had the ball on fourth down and they needed to score to tie. Blue’s defense tightened up and Jamison Staniszewski had the game saving tackle to seal their victory. The ENTIRE team contributed to the W and Blue looks forward to extending their winning streak next Saturday against Sandwich.

8U ORANGE 12 – 8U Blue 18
8U Orange suffered its first loss of the season in an 18-12 overtime thriller on Saturday. 8U Blue came out fired up scoring 2 first half touchdowns to take a 12-0 lead into halftime. Orange had 1 highlight in the first half with Noah Deist recovering a fumble and returning it to the 7 yard line, but the offense was unable to punch it in for the score. The 8U Orange offense was held scoreless in the 1st half and went into halftime looking for answers. The second half started out with a bang, with Teddy Manikas taking the opening kickoff of the 2nd half to the house for his first touchdown of the season. The defense also buckled down, holding Blue scoreless in the second half. Hunter Amelio lead the defense, making tackles all over the field. Early in the fourth quarter, Hunter Amelio ran for a 65 yard touchdown to tie the game at 12. The defenses held firm to finish out the game in a tie and force a 2nd straight overtime for 8U Orange. In the overtime frame, Blue got the ball first and scored in 3 plays to take an 18-12 lead. Orange had a chance to tie, but had a false start on first down making it 1st and goal from the 15 yard line. Noah Deist had a nice run to get it back to the 6 yard line, but Hunter Amelio was tackled on 4th down at the 1 yard line for Blue to secure the victory. It was a tough loss but Orange will look to rebound next week at home against Burlington. The offensive game ball was awarded to Nolan Hutchings for his blocking and leadership. The defensive game ball was awarded to Hunter Amelio for his stellar play on both sides of the ball.

4th GRADE ORANGE 21 – Oswego East Wolves 0
On Saturday, September 17th, The Oswego Orange (4-0) team took on the Oswego Wolves (3-1) in a cross-town battle of two of the top teams in the 4th grade division. Oswego Orange opened the game on defense and quickly resumed where it left off last week, shutting down the Wolves offense. The Oswego Orange offense then proved to be too physical for the Wolves as they marched down the field and scored on an Brett Connolly 12 yard TD run. The defensive unit of Oswego Orange continued to impress as it relentlessly pressured the wolves and shut down any attempt at moving the ball. The Oswego Orange defense was led by veteran's Andy Pohlman, Michael Kelly, Mikey Claycombe, Joey Hartmann, CJ Reyes, Nathan Harker, Tommy Eberle and Brett Connolly while first year players Trace Marshall and Ayden Villa made key plays during the game to shut down the Wolves. The Offensive domination by Oswego Orange would continue throughout the game when Bradley Stratton pulled in a 18 yard reception to keep a drive alive in the second half of play. That drive would ultimately end with Anthony Massoth running over several Wolves defenders on his way to the end zone. Dante Layton was also called upon to take over for the injured Louie Cikauskas at center and he performed superbly; playing most of the second half and enabling the Oswego offense to not miss a beat. The final Oswego score of the game came from Brett Zajac on a 4 yard run where his refusal to go down resulted in his first Touchdown of the season, putting the game out of reach for the Wolves. Ayden Villa finished the Wolves off making good on his extra point attempt, making the final score 21-0 in favor of Oswego Orange. This win moves Oswego Orange to 5-0 on the season going into its toughest game to date. On Saturday, September 24th, Oswego will return home to take on the second place Burlington Panthers team (4-1) in a rematch of the Oswego/Burlington Super bowl from last year. The game will be played at 11am at Grande park and will certainly be an all-out battle with the division's first place spot on the line. Don't miss it!

5TH GRADE ORANGE 12 – Huskies 6

6th GRADE ORANGE 13 – Metea Mustangs 7
The Panthers took on the Mustangs this week in an intense rivalry matchup. In a game that pitted the OYTF Panthers vs many of their currents classmates, and even some former teammates, emotions ran high, and the competition was intense from the opening kick until the final play. The Oswego defense showed up determined and ready to duke it out, as they drove the Mustangs back over 30 yards on the opening drive with a combination of penalties, and big plays. Metea would give up the ball allowing the Panthers to start inside the 10 yard line. With a prelude of things to come Oswego turned to their big bruiser Miami Graham who was able to punch it in for the TD, and convert the extra point putting the Panthers up 7-0. The Panthers would continue to run effectively for most of the day as Graham would finish with 65 yds on the ground, followed by teammates Brandon Kunitzer with 21 yds, Addison Carlson with 5 yds, and De'Ovion "DJ" Lewis with 5 yds. Despite an effective running attack, Oswego couldn't quite finish their drives, as they would be held scoreless for the rest of regulation. It was a coming of age for a Panther Defense that had previously been known to give up the big play, as they played united, and shutout Metea until the midway point of the 4th Quarter. Oswego defined the term "team effort" with 8 players finishing with at least 5 tackles. Caden "Prime Time" Johnson led the way with 9 tackles, and 2 assists, Brandon Kunitzer and Riley "RJ" Taves each added 5 tackles and 1 tackle for loss, Addison Carlson and Gabriel Kiely chipped in with 5 tackles and 1 assist for each, 1st year player Katia Bagley proved that tackling isn't only for boys as she had 1 tackle and 2 assists, and finally Sebastian Arriaga made his presence known with limited action in his return as he chipped in 3 tackles and an assist. The Panthers didn't shutdown the Mustangs with tackling alone, they also forced several turnovers. Miami Graham had 4 tackles, and a strip that halted a Mustang drive before the half. Sam Bombrys continued to lock down the outside sweep with 3 tackles of his own and a forced fumble recovered by Addison Carlson deep in Panther territory. Not to be outdone, the Panthers menacing DE Achilles Obert rounded out the stat sheet with 7 tackles and a pivotal fumble recovery. Late in the 4th quarter the momentum would shift when the Mustangs knocked out the Oswego QB, then followed up with a TD drive. With the score now 7-7 and time running out the Panthers scrambled to regain their composure and hold on to force the game into OT. Metea won the coin toss and started the OT period on the Panther 10 yard line. Oswego would rise to the moment, stifling the Mustangs on 1st and 2nd down. On 3rd down the Metea QB dropped back to pass, when Ryan "Ryno" Emmick ( 5 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 assist) and Gabriel Mueller ( 5 tackles, 2 tackles for loss) who had both lived in the backfield all day, decided to play "Meet me at the QB". The two Oswego defenders sandwiched the QB causing him to hurry his throw when Addison Carlson stepped in to intercept the pass. The Panthers would now get to take their shot from the Mustangs 10 yard line. They would only need 1 play. The offensive line led by Luis Ruiz had been dominant all day, and this was no exception. The Panthers would run left behind the blocking of Domenic Davi, Jack Daciolas, and Ryan "Ryno" Emmick, they did their jobs, and Miami "Bruiser" Graham would do the rest with a devastating stiff arm, 10 yards later, the 6th Grade Oswego Orange Panthers were WINNERS! It had been 13 games spanning almost 2 years without a win. It would have been easy for a team that had endured so much losing and disappointment to fold, to shrink from the challenge, to hang their heads and pack it in. They did not! In a game that meant so much to coaches, parents, and players alike, they rose to the challenge, they grew. In the biggest moment they stood tall, no, they stood Tallest!! Congratulations to our young men (and woman) on a well deserved victory. Savor the moment and don't let it fade, this is only the beginning. Good luck next week

6TH GRADE BLUE 28 – Aurora Christian 0
OYTF 6th grade blue defeated Aurora Christian on Saturday by a score of 26 – 0. The Panthers got on the score board first behind the reception and running of Jack Eberle as he scored on a 15 yard run. The panthers followed that score with an interception returned for a touchdown and a rushing touchdown by Mike Polubinski. The Panthers secured a win with a 45 yard interception returned for a touchdown, right before the half first half ended, by Will Pavlick. The Panthers’ record improved to 2-3.

7TH GRADE ORANGE 22 – Kaneland 36

7TH GRADE BLUE 0 – Neuqua Valley 34
The Oswego 7th grade Blue took on Neuqua Valley on Sunday the the 18th of September without it's two starting quarterbacks and two starting linemen and put up a great fight throughout the whole game but could not come away with a win. The offense moved the ball pretty well throughout but would come up short and had to punt the ball to the wildcats, and in time the Wildcats scored touchdowns for a 34 to 0 victory. The offense had great blocking from Logan Bernardy, Caleb Bierman and Alvan Alvarado. On the defensive side Preston Lewis was in Neuqua’s backfield all day long and Ben Holzer broke up three pass attempts and Xavier Ramirez on a blitz took the ball right out of the quarterbacks hands.

8TH GRADE ORANGE 0 – Kaneland 34

8TH GRADE BLUE 8 – Neuqua Valley 14
The Panthers faced off against Neuqua Valley this week. Neuqua struck first to take an 8-0 lead. The Panthers came right back with a 70 yard touchdown drive led by nice runs by Kyle Morrissey and finished off with an Antonio Hughes TD run, after Morrissey ran in the conversion, the game was tied 8-8 at halftime. After a blocked punt setup Neuqua inside the 30, they broke a long run to take the lead 14-8. The Panthers looked to tie the game but a late interception ended the threat and Neuqua went on to win 14-8. The blue Panthers look to get back on track against the Orange Panthers this Sunday.

Submitted by Oswego Youth Tackle Football. Photo via Oswego Youth Tackle Football