By Fred Kroner
The weather didn’t give fans of outdoor sports anything to cheer about on Friday (Sept. 23), but St. Joseph-Ogden’s football team provided plenty of excitement.
The Spartans treated a homecoming crowd to a 42-12 non-conference victory over Nokomis on a rain-soaked Dick Duval Field.
SJ-O led 35-0 at halftime.
SJ-O coach Shawn Skinner said his players didn’t let Mother Nature have an effect.
“It had zero consequence,” Skinner said. “Nothing changed (in the game plan). Our receivers ran the routes with minimal slippage.”
Logan Smith completed 12 of 15 passes for 305 yards, including touchdown strikes to Coy Taylor and Tyler Burch.
Through five games, Smith has completed 64 of 104 passes for 1,193 yards and 12 TDs.
His play is representative of the entire offensive unit.
“He’s on a pretty impressive clip,” Skinner said. “The offensive line is doing a nice job keeping Logan clean.
“He sees the field really well and has a strong arm for someone his size (5-foot-10, 150 pounds). In our receivers, Ty (Pence), Coy and Aiden (Moberg), we have three athletic kids who are focused on catching the football.
“The first thing they do is concentrate on finishing the catch.”
Pence had three receptions for 101 yards against Nokomis. The 6-foot-6 Pence has nearly half of the team’s aerial yards through five games (516) on 22 catches.
Justice Wertz rushed for two TDs and gained 56 yards on the ground. Smith and Burch also ran for one score apiece.
Most important in the operation is sophomore center Quincy Jones, who has taken over the position this season and has delivered the ball effectively, usually with the Spartans in a shotgun formation.
A common theme has emerged in SJ-O’s three wins. There have been no turnovers in any of those contests, unlike in the two losses.
“Turnovers and penalties, when we have them, that’s the only thing that has really hurt us,” Skinner said. “We didn’t have as many penalties (against Nokomis) as the last two weeks.
“It was better, but can still be better.”
Defensively, a unit with just three senior starters is “getting better every week,” Skinner said.
“Our outside linebackers (James Barron and Aidan McCorkle) didn’t let much get outside,” said Skinner, who also praised the play of Drew Thurman and Colin Wayland as well as Corbin Wells in the secondary.
Kickers Joe Frasca and Charles Schmitz converted all of their extra-point attempts. Frasca hit five and Schmitz made one.
SJ-O (3-2) returns to action on Friday (Sept. 30) at Bloomington Central Catholic (3-2).
“It will be a great battle,” Skinner said. “They have a wonderful tradition and run a pretty tough defense.
“It’s two 3-2 teams and someone will come out in a really good spot (looking to a potential playoff berth).”
