Skinner sees Spartan football take steps in the right direction

By Fred Kroner

For the second game in a row, the St. Joseph-Ogden football team got on the scoreboard early and held an 8-0 first-quarter lead.

Also for the second game in a row, that turned out to be the team’s final point total as SJ-O dropped a 33-8 decision on Friday (Sept. 3) at state-ranked Tolono Unity.

The Rockets held a 13-8 halftime lead and had only expanded the margin to 20-8 until the game’s final 6 minutes.

“We saw our kids take steps in the direction we want to, steps in the right direction,” Spartans’ coach Shawn Skinner said. “Now we simply need to put four quarters together.

“We felt we had about 1 ½ good quarters in the first game, and this week, we put three decent quarters together. Of their first two scores, one came on a big play and on the other, a big pass play set them up.

“In the third quarter, we had some significant plays on the defensive side.”

Coby Miller lifted SJ-O into an early lead, scoring a touchdown and then adding the two-point conversion.

Miller led the Spartans in rushing with 60 yards on 18 carries. Keaton Nolan gained 45 yards on 12 attempts.

Evan Ingram completed 5 of 14 passes for 32 yards. Nolan and Griffin Roesch each had two receptions.

Skinner saw improvement from Week 1 to Week 2.

“Pre-snap, we did things better which allowed our kids to play faster and better,” Skinner said. “From an offensive line standpoint, they did a better job keeping their blocks.

“We gave a challenge to the offensive line and they lived up to it.”

SJ-O’s opening game was played one day after former head coach Dick Duval passed away. The second game was played four days after Jim Cotter – who had a son on the team – passed away.

Senior Austin Cotter not only suited up, but was also a defensive line starter against Tolono Unity.

“In the first game, he played the best football game of his life and earned the opportunity to start,” Skinner said. “What stood out on film was that he did his assignment on every play. He played well throughout (at Unity).”

Another SJ-O standout in Week 2 was punter Tyler Burch, who was called upon seven times.

“He did a fantastic job of punting and flipping the field a couple of times,” Skinner said.

Among Burch’s punts were ones for 50 and 42 yards.

SJ-O (0-2) returns to action on Friday (Sept. 10) at home against Prairie Central.

“It should be a good game to see if we’ve made the strides we think we have,” Skinner said. “The things we do on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday translates into how we play on Friday.

“We’re trying to get all 67 kids in the program to buy into that.”