November 27, 2023 / By mobanmarket
NEW LENOX, IL — By now, the New Lenox Junior Warriors have proven they know how to play championship-level football.
But for Adam Sommers and his coaching staff, wins are just part of the formula that goes into running a successful lightweight division football team. The Junior Warriors capped a perfect season on Sunday with a 13-0 Super Bowl victory over the Tinley Bulldogs at Saint Xavier University.
The win was the ninth shutout recorded this season by the Warriors, whose championship marked the third straight undefeated season for a collection of players that have captured Super Bowl victories in different divisions leading up to this year’s run at another title.
Coming into the season, Sommers realized he had a special group that was capable of producing more success. Each week, he and his coaching staff emphasized the little things, focusing on small details that could have bigger ramifications. But because of the Warriors’ continued string of success, Sommers also stressed that the Warriors needed to learn to play with a target on their back while understanding the pressure of maintaining their winning ways.
But for a group of players who won the Super Lightweight Super Bowl two years ago and then followed that victory up with a Lightweight Wednesday Night Super Bowl title — going undefeated in both seasons. So when this season began, Sommers preached preparation to a team that was again ready to take its play to the next level.
“The season is a grind — no doubt about it,” Sommers told Patch on Tuesday.
He added: “We know everyone is gunning for us and we know everyone is going to put on their best game against the Junior Warriors. But it’s just about stepping up and playing a hard football game. …We’re trying to coach these boys up at the next level.”
In addition to setting team goals, the Warriors also established individual goals for a group of players not only hoping to keep the team’s winning ways going but also preparing for the next step up in competition next year. The approach led to a dominating season defensively as the Warriors only allowed three touchdowns all season and recorded nine shutouts capped off by another one in Sunday’s championship win over the Bulldogs.
Tinley entered the game hoping to avenge its only loss of the season – a 25-0 shutout at the hands of the Warriors in the second week of the year. But behind the Warriors’ defense, a 90-yard punt return by Mason Koenig, and a touchdown run by Graham Foytic, the Warriors not only pitched another shutout but closed out yet another undefeated run.
Yet, as accustomed to winning as the Junior Warriors have become, Sommers said that part of the growth also comes in the mentality with which the team approaches the game. Living by the mantra “Respect all, fear none”, the Warriors have built a family-first approach in which the players are taught to live by the words they hear on a regular basis. As the team has grown from week to week in their game plan, they have also developed beyond that which is as intentional – if not more – than the X’s and O’s.
The Junior Warriors’ approach to winning football has allowed a more advanced level of coaching that Sommers said he and his fellow coaches didn’t receive in their own careers until they were in high school. But because of the way the program approaches how it teaches the game, Sommers said the coaching style Warriors players have grown to appreciate allows for a deeper dive into the game that perhaps other junior-level football programs might employ.
“We’re trying to get these boys to love football and understand the game,” Sommers told Patch on Tuesday. “We teach a lot about respect, we teach a lot about family, we teach a lot about tradition and ultimately sportsmanship as well.
“There’s a reason why we lock arms when the captains are walking out to the middle of the field. If you talk to these boys, they’re going to tell you that we’re one football family. We talk a lot about that (players) have one name on their jersey and one name on the front and to respect both. So, I think there’s a lot of football lessons, but a lot of life lessons that we as coaches are trying to teach these boys.”
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