The Hawks outlast St. Joseph-Ogden in conference contest

By Fred Kroner

Raw scores often don’t create an accurate picture of a game.

Prairie Central beat St. Joseph-Ogden, 55-28, in a high school football game on Friday (Sept. 9) in Fairbury.

While it appears to be a lopsided game, it was not until the end.

The Hawks held a slender 35-28 lead with 4 minutes and 3 seconds remaining in the Illini Prairie Conference contest.

“It was a well-played game, but it got away from us,” SJ-O coach Shawn Skinner said. “We tried an onsides kick. They got it and scored.

“Then they kicked off and we threw a pick-6.”

Suddenly the seven-point deficit was a 49-28 margin.

“There’s no such thing as moral victories,” Skinner said, “but I’m appreciative of the effort they gave and the things they did.

“There was potential (to pull out a victory against an unbeaten opponent). Multiple people in different positions made plays all night.”

Offensively, Logan Smith completed 15 of 29 passes for 286 yards and three touchdowns.

He hooked up with three receivers on his scoring strikes: Ty Pence (10 yards), Aidan Moberg (8 yards) and Coy Taylor (30 yards).

Pence (143 yards) and Taylor (125 yards) both eclipsed the 100-yard mark for their receptions. Taylor hauled in eight passes and Pence nabbed five.

“There are things we can build on,” Skinner said. “You don’t claw back from a 28-7 deficit without kids making plays.

“There were a lot of things to like. Logan competed all night. Our three receivers were fantastic. It became a game where we had to throw, and our offensive line was much better than the week before in our protection scheme.”

Defensively, the Spartans had multiple fourth-down stops and also forced two punts.

“We kept giving our offense the chance to get the ball back,” Skinner said. “Owen Birt was fantastic and our defensive line (also including Aidan McCorkle and Colin Wayland) was stout and made plays.”

Linebackers Holden Brazelton and Drew Thurman were other defensive cogs.

“For the majority of the night, we did our job,” Skinner said.

The Spartans were only able to generate 68 rushing yards. Alex Funk gained 26 before leaving with an injury. His replacement, Justice Wertz, ran for 15 yards and a TD from 5 yards out.

“Justice came in and was really good,” Skinner said. “He performed well when given the opportunity. He did an outstanding job.”

SJ-O (1-2) returns home on Friday (Sept. 16) to play Chillicothe IVC (0-3).

“We need to play four quarters on Friday,” Skinner said.