SJO Girls’ Cross Country advances to state, Local football programs look forward to next season

By FRED KRONER
fred@sjodaily.com

Football teams from St. Joseph-Ogden, Oakwood and Villa Grove/Heritage all suffered the same fate in Saturday’s first-round playoff games.

All three programs went on the road and dropped opening-round decisions.

There’s another similarity.

Coaches at all three schools feel encouraged about the state of their programs.

For the second week in a row, SJ-O lost to Monticello by the exact same score, 50-7, in Class 3A.

Villa Grove/Heritage ended its season the way it began, with a loss to Tuscola. The rematch was 42-6.

Oakwood couldn’t hold onto a fourth-quarter lead and lost to Pana, 28-21.

St. Joseph-Ogden

The Spartans (5-5) were the 10th consecutive victim of the top-ranked and undefeated Sages.

“Monticello is a very, very good team and you can’t be off your game in any way,” said third-year SJ-O coach Shawn Skinner.

After being absent from the postseason in 2017, Skinner was proud of what this year’s team accomplished.

“What I told the kids is that they got back in the playoffs, and first and foremost, that is what matters,” Skinner said.

A trio of SJ-O running backs, Dwight Colvin, Jarrett Stevenson and Brayden Weaver teamed up for more than 200 rushing yards in the Class 3A playoff opener.

Colvin gained 90 yards to push his season total to 1,125. Stevenson gained 88 yards.

“Our offensive line did a good job opening holes,” Skinner said.

The coach also had words of praise for sophomore Crayton Burnett, who was starting his fourth varsity game at quarterback.

“It didn’t seem like the moment was too big for him,” Skinner said.

SJ-O had four turnovers, which was characteristic of a season-long problem.

“We had eight red-zone turnovers this season,” Skinner said.

“Going forward, we have to understand how to play penalty-free and how important taking care of the football is.”

The Spartans will return four starters on offense and four on defense next season, including two (Weaver and Conner Hodge) who were two-way regulars.

“There’s a good core there and our JV was 6-0 and the freshmen were 7-2,” Skinner said. “If the freshmen and sophomores get in the weight room, there’s an opportunity for them to do things next year.”

The Spartans, who hadn’t had an interception in five full games, picked off two Monticello passes. Keanen Swanson and Adam Frerichs had the interceptions.

“Our defensive backs made some plays,” Skinner said.

Oakwood

The Comets (5-5) recovered from a 14-0 deficit and carried a 21-14 lead into the final 12 minutes in their Class 2A playoff game.

Pana (9-1) added two final-quarter touchdowns and came away with the seven-point win.

“There’s a lot to be excited for,” first-year Oakwood coach Al Craig said. “Our kids responded (to the deficit) and showed the ability to keep fighting.

“I told them that will serve you well for your entire life.”

The Comets continued their potent ground attack.

Colby Smiley rushed for a team-high 187 yards and Nick Grubb gained 164 yards.

Smiley finished the season with 1,611 rushing yards and Grubb totaled 1,122 yards.

Oakwood was the only News-Gazette-area team with two 1,000-yard rushers this season.

Grubb scored all three of the Comets’ touchdowns and Craig said, “he’s a senior and you could tell he was fighting to keep his career going.

“He played the most complete game you could play on both sides of the ball.”

Defensively, Grubb had a team-high 13 tackles and intercepted two passes.

He returned one interception 45 yards for the TD that lifted the Comets into a 21-14 lead.

Teammate Quentin White also had an interception.

The Comets will return six starters on offense and five on defense.

“We’re in good shape to keep this momentum going,” Craig said.

The next challenge for Craig is to accomplish a feat which has occurred just twice at the school since 1990: back-to-back playoff appearances.

“Building consistency is huge,” Craig said. “We want to be that team that everyone strives to be.

“Eventually, we want to get to that level,”

Villa Grove-Heritage

In the season-opener, the Blue Devils were shut out and lost by 57 points to the Warriors.

In the rematch, Tuscola won by 36 points. The VG/H points were scored by Austin Grimm on a pass from Evan Wilson.

Wilson connected on 21 of 33 passes for 160 yards.

“We competed well,” first-year head coach Heath Wilson said. “We were down 14-0 and drove to the 3, but didn’t push it in.

Our kids are competitors and weren’t scared one bit. Tuscola was the better team.”

Villa Grove/Heritage has played in the postseason six times in the past seven years.

“We had a great season to get back in the playoffs,” said Heath Wilson, whose team won its final three regular-season games. “Toward the end, we played excellent ball.”

With seven starters returning on offense and eight on defense, the coach believes this was an important step for the program.

“It was good to get a taste of it and know what it takes to build on that,” Heath Wilson said.

Zach Champagne led the team with nine solo tackles at Tuscola (9-1). Cole Thomas had one interception.

Robbie Wicklander was the team’s top ground-gainer.

In addition to the underclassmen who played prominent roles this fall, VG/H will welcome back last year’s top rusher and tackler as well.

Chase Burwell broke an ankle in a 7-on-7 game (last June) and missed the entire season,” Heath Wilson said.

Burwell was in uniform for the first time in  the playoff opener, but did not get in the game.

Girls’ cross-country

St. Joseph-Ogden was the team runner-up at the Class 1A Decatur St. Teresa Sectional and advanced to state.

Sectional champion Unity had 47 points. The Spartans finished with 105 points.

Senior Cassidy Bagby led the Spartans, placing seventh and completing the 3-mile course in 18 minutes, 30 seconds.

The team’s next four runners entered the chute within 52 seconds of one another.

Hannah Rajlich was 16th in 19:08, Jillian Plotner was 26th in 19:39, Hope Rajlich was 32nd in 19:54, Ally Monk was 36th in 20:00.

The team’s other competitors were Hanna Eastin (40th in 20:16) and Brianna Suits (42nd in 20:18).

Saturday’s Class 1A state race for girls will start at 9 a.m.

Boys’ cross-country

St.  Joseph-Ogden was a near-miss in its bid to qualify for state.

The top five teams at Saturday’s Class 1A Decatur St. Teresa Sectional advanced to state.

SJ-O was sixth with 197 points, five points behind the fifth-place team, Toledo Cumberland.

The Spartans will still be represented at state on Saturday at Peoria’s Detweiller Park.

Senior Isiah McCune advanced by placing eighth individually, running the 3-mile course at Hickory Point Golf Course in 15 minutes and 48 seconds.

The team champion was Monticello with 62 points.

Other SJ-O sectional competitors included Brandon Mattsey (27th in 16:34), Eric Poe (56th in 17:07), Charlie Mabry (68th in 17:21), Elijah Mock (75th in 17:34.81) and Luke Stegall (76th in 17:34.85) and Kaleb Harshbarger (105th in 18:11).

Oakwood/Salt Fork had two sectional representatives. Dawson Rogers was 28th in 16:35 and teammate Cameron Helka was 51st in 17:03. Both Comet runners are seniors.

Saturday’s boys’ state race will start at 10 a.m.

Volleyball

St. Joseph-Ogden (29-3) moved into the sectional semifinals by sweeping  Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond (23-12) 25-17, 25-18. to win its own Class 2A regional on Thursday.

Emory Ericksen led the Spartans with seven kills. Kennedi Burnett had six kills and Katelyn Berry added five.

Emily Bigger had 17 assists and Rylee Stahl had 10 digs.

SJ-O will face Fieldcrest (27-8) in Tuesday’s 5:30 p.m. match at Bismarck-Henning.

In the other sectional semifinal, defending state champion St. Thomas More will take on El Paso/Gridley.

In Class 1A action at Danville Schlarman, Heritage (23-7) dropped a 25-17, 25-19 decision to Armstrong-Potomac (20-14) in the regional championship match.