Health & Fitness
Westmont Wildcats Jr. Pee Wee Football Team Defeats Windy City To Advance To The Chicagoland YFL Playoffs Final Four
On Sunday, November 3, 2013 the (6 – 2, Chicagoland YFL Blue Division Champion) Westmont Wildcats Jr. Pee Wee football team played the perennial Illinois youth powerhouse Windy City Dolphins looking to advance into the Chicagoland YFL playoffs final four remaining teams and a chance to earn a trip to Florida for the YFL National Championships.
Riley Dorsey, Cameron VanHoegarden, Gabriel Lischalk celebrate the win.
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Windy City’s vaunted offense took the field, however, free safety and team captain Pardy (5.5 tackles) and defensive tackle Murff (5.5 tackles all for losses of 13.5 yards, 1 fumble caused) quickly and decisively shut down the Dolphin offense on three plays. Pardy would later receive the Hitman award as the team’s best defender. On 4th down Windy City attempted to punt, but linebacker Hunter plowed through their line to block the punt. Lumpkin recovered the ball but was tackled after advancing the ball 7 yards. The Wildcat offense had outstanding field position after the blocked punt and they did gain a first down. However, the Dolphins’ defense stiffened up and prevented Westmont from capitalizing on the great special teams play by Hunter. After a long and eventually unsuccessful drive by Windy City, the Wildcat offense took the field with 2 minutes remaining before halftime. Despite strong efforts by fullback Cameron Wanda, quarterback Cory Kinnunen (1 tackle), offensive guard Jonta Glanville, running back Amari Gilford, running back Corey Sartin, tight end Jaylin Simms, center Tyler Hillard, offensive tackle Ian Coyle and tight end Zane Thibodeaux, Westmont could not score before halftime.
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The Dolphins received the ball to start the 3rd quarter and it was clear that they wanted to win this game badly. They went on a long drive where they punched it into the Westmont end zone on a 2 yard run. With the score tied at 6 – 6 the powerful Westmont defense dug deep to turn away Windy City’s extra point attempt and preventing them from taking the lead. Defensive tackle Trevor Hillard (3 tackles), Hunter (1 tackle) and nose guard Zach Gacek (4.5 tackles) combined forces on the tackle. The rest of the 3rd quarter and the start of the 4th quarter featured a defensive battle as both teams would not let the other one score. Midway through the 4th quarter, Westmont’s offense took the field with the game on the line. They answered the call and went on a methodical drive that brought them to the Windy City 39 yard line. At this point the Wildcats reached into their bag of tricks and had running back Elvin Simpson (10 carries for 35 yards, 3.5 tackles) throw a halfback pass to tight end Daniel Janas (2 tackles) who made an amazing catch in traffic for 14 yards and a first down.
Rahshon Murff tackles the Windy City running back for a loss.
Three plays later running back Eddie Mills (3 carries for 39 yards, 1 touchdown) would explode to the right, run over a Dolphin linebacker, and then outrun their free safety for a 31 yard touchdown. The Windy City defense was able to turn away the Westmont extra point attempt giving the Wildcats a slim 12 – 6 with only 1 minute and 47 seconds remaining in the game. On their own 45 yard line, Windy City would attempt a reverse, but defensive end Seth Coyle (1 tackle) came off the edge hard and blew the play up for an 8 yard loss with big time help from Murff and Gacek. On their 2nd play Trevor Hillard and linebacker Mills (3 tackles) combined to hold the Dolphin running back to a meaningless 2 yard gain. On 3rd down Windy tried a trick play of their own but team captain Gacek would not be fooled as he smashed the ball carrier for a 4 yard loss. With less than 40 seconds remaining and no more time outs, the Dolphins’ quarterback dropped back to pass, but under tremendous pressure from defensive ends Gerbasi, Murff and Hunter, he weakly threw the ball into the ground.
Eddie Mills scores the game winning touchdown on a 31 yard run.
With 20 second remaining the Wildcat offense took a knee to end the game and seal a spectacular 12 – 6 victory!!! This win catapults Westmont into the Chicagoland YFL’s final four teams remaining for the championship of the state of Illinois. Head Coach David Marco said after the game “Windy City has a tremendous team and an elite program. We proved today that we are one of the top teams in the state. It was our goal from the first day of training camp to earn a birth in the National Championships in Florida and bring that trophy home to Westmont.” The Westmont Wildcats Jr. Pee Wee’s next game is at Addison Trial High School, 213 North Lombard Road, Addison, IL on November 10, 2013 at 12:30pm against the Chicago’s Wildwood Seminoles.
