Skinner: “I’m proud of how hard these kids played all year”

By Fred Kroner

One goal was met this season by the St. Joseph-Ogden football team, but others were not reached.

SJ-O exited from the IHSA Class 3A playoffs on Saturday (Oct. 30), dropping a 46-14 decision at Mount Carmel, which is 10-0 and ranked sixth in the most recent state poll.

“The end result was not what we wanted to shoot for at the beginning of the year,” SJ-O coach Shawn Skinner said, “but making the playoffs was important.”

Only one SJ-O player – senior Keaton Nolan – had ever appeared in a playoff game before Saturday.

“It’s important to understand what it means to play in a postseason game,” Skinner said.

When the Spartans started the season with three consecutive losses, the playoffs didn’t appear likely.

“To focus and re-commit speaks volumes about the job the coaches and kids did,” Skinner said. “There’s an awful lot to be proud of, how we responded to the adversity.”

SJ-O produced a five-game winning streak, which clinched a postseason berth.

In that streak, Skinner said, “we played fantastic football.”

Even in the loss at Mount Carmel, there were highlights.

“We had moments,” Skinner said. “We forced punts. Defensively, we got stops.

“Evan (Ingram, quarterback) did what he was able to do and made good decisions. There were a lot of good things about the game.”

Ingram completed a season-high 16 passes and threw for 162 yards. He tossed TD strikes to Coy Taylor and Griffin Roesch.

For the season, Ingram passed for 903 yards and completed 60.7 percent of his attempts (74 of 122).

In the COVID-delayed 2020 football season, which took place in March and April of 2021, Ingram completed 40.3 percent of his passes.

Taylor, a freshman, hauled in five passes for 83 yards. Roesch also had five receptions for gains of 42 yards. Ethan Vanliew finished with three catches.

Nolan, the team-leader in rushing and receiving as a senior, was held to 33 yards on the ground in his finale.

For the season, he gained a team-high 794 yards rushing and had 19 receptions for a team-high 271 receiving yards.

Counting returns, Nolan’s all-purpose yards this season exceeded 1,250.

SJ-O ends the season with a 5-5 overall record.

‘I’m proud of how hard these kids played all year,” Skinner said. “Other teams would have faced the adversity, and used it as a crutch.

“I’m appreciative of the attitude they came with, not giving up and trying to get better every week. There’s still work to do, but we took strides in the right direction.”

In the last eight months, SJ-O – and other state schools – played two seasons, though the football schedule was limited to six games in March and April.

“It was helpful in some ways and hurt in some ways,” Skinner said. “Some kids had retention and were able to roll right into things in August.

“Because they (the IHSA) compressed so many things into the spring (the prep season didn’t end until late June), it limited some of the off-season we could have used, but everyone else was in the same boat.

“We look forward to getting back in the weight room and having a regular off-season.”