Team effort instrumental in win No. 5, Plotner and Mattsey lead Spartan runners
BY FRED KRONER
fred@mahometnews.com
St. Joseph-Ogden Football
St. Joseph-Ogden moved a step closer to the playoffs on Friday with a 41-21 victory over visiting Olympia.
SJ-O is playoff-eligible after reaching the five-win mark. Olympia (3-5) was officially eliminated from playoff consideration.
Head coach Shawn Skinner considers the Week 8 performance as the Spartans’ best thus far this season.
“Our kids played as complete of a game as we have all year,” Skinner said. “All three phases were instrumental in the victory.”
The special teams unit played a pivotal role.
“The kick-off team did a great job of pinning them deep most of the night and we were able to capitalize on an on-side kick,” Skinner said. “Payton Cain and Jaden Miller were really great as our kickers.”
Jarrett Stevenson scored three touchdowns and Chance Izard turned two Crayton Burnett completions into TD passes as the Spartans scored points in every quarter.
The game’s first points came on a 47-yard pass from Burnett to Izard.
Burnett completed 5 of 7 passes for 135 yards. Stevenson reached the end zone on runs of 13, 6 and 15 yards. He rushed for a team-high 139 yards on 20 attempts.
The last SJ-O touchdown came on a 27-yard run by Keaton Nolan, who gained 69 yards on 11 carries.
Besides Izard’s two receptions, other pass-catchers for the Spartans were Ty Pence, Brayden Weaver and Coby Miller.
“Offensively, we really took advantage of our passing opportunities,” Skinner said, “but they were set up by the fact we established the running game so early.
“The offensive line did a nice job firing out and getting a surge. Chance Izard was really special in his catching and running with the ball in his hands.”
The defense forced Olympia into four turnovers.
“Defensive-wise, I was really impressed with how that unit responded to our challenge to them to get us the football this week,” Skinner said.
SJ-O (5-3) returns to action on Friday at Monticello (5-3) in the Sages’ Senior Night game. The winner will automatically assure themselves of a postseason berth.
“They give you so many looks on offense and they have athletes all over the field,” Skinner said. “With both teams fighting for that sixth win, it should be a really good game.”
One key to victory will be the same as it is most weeks.
“Football is consistent from this standpoint,” Skinner said. “The team that wins the turnover battle and plays clean from a penalty standpoint will be the team that finds victory Friday night.”
St. Joseph-Ogden Girls’ cross-country
The Spartans placed all seven of their varsity runners among the top 33 in Saturday’s 253-runner Peoria Heights Patroit Invitational.
The team’s top five scoring runners all finished the 3-mile course within 46 seconds of one another, helping SJ-O to third place in the 31-team event.
Meet champion Monticello had 31 points. Runner-up Unity had 52 points. SJ-O ended with 70 points.
Jillian Plotner led the Spartans with a ninth-place performance. Her time was 18 minutes, 50.8 seconds.
Following her into the finish chute were teammates Hannah Rajlich (14th in 19:15.1), Ava Knap (18th in 19:23.6), Ashlyn Lannert (19th in 19:25.5), Ally Monk (25th in 19:36.8), Malorie Sarnecki (31st in 19:57.4) and Kailyn Ingram (33rd in 20:04.3).
In the open race, SJ-O also placed third. Unity was the open division winner with 50 points. Elmwood had 53 points and the Spartans’ score was 63 points.
SJ-O had two top-10 runners. Addie Allen was second in 19:40.4 and teammate Hanna Eastin was eighth in 20:31.9.
The school’s other placers were: Kendra Riddle (13th in 20:52.3), Hope Rajlich (19th in 21:20.2), Sidney Davis (31st in 22:55.2), Taryn Sexton (36th in 23:49.0), Teagan Miller (40th in 24:14.9), Mary Hinrichs (43rd in 24:50.3), Kaytlyn Baker (46th in 25:26.9), Izzy Sexton (47th in 25:42.5) and Lili Wentzloff (57th in 30:57.9).
SJ-O returns to action in Saturday’s Class 1A regional at 10 a.m. at Tuscola.
St. Joseph-Ogden Boys’ cross-country
The Spartans ran fourth as a team in Saturday’s 41-school Peoria Heights Patroit Invitational.
Meet champion Monticello had 55 points. SJ-O accumulated 213 points.
The SJ-O leader was Brandon Mattsey, who placed 15th in 16 minutes, 15.8 seconds.
Teammates in the varsity race were Eric Poe (28th in 16:31.3), Charlie Mabry (61st in 17:11.5), Elijah Mock (62nd in 17:12.7), Luke Stegall (84th in 17:29.6), Braden Clampitt (115th in 17:50.1) and Logan Wolfersberger (217th in 19:37.2).
In all, there were 326 competitors in the varsity race.
SJ-O didn’t have enough runner to be scored in the open race.
The team’s finisher were Ethan Blackburn (ninth in 18:04.0), Lukas Hutcherson (10th in 18:05.0), Taddy Pettit (49th in 19:28.0) and Joshua Sexton (80th in 21:04.5).
The Spartans return to action in Saturday’s Class 1A Tuscola Regional at 10:45 a.m.
