Spartans kick off season with win over Monticello
By FRED KRONER
St. Joseph-Ogden Football
Shawn Skinner understands that one game doesn’t make a season and that no matter the outcome, improvement must be at the top of a team’s to-do list.
Skinner maintained that belief in the wake of St. Joseph-Ogden’s season-opening 40-14 football triumph over Monticello at Dick Duval Field.
The game started on Friday (Aug.25) and – thanks to a lengthy weather delay caused by lightning – ended after midnight on Saturday (Aug. 26).
“We did a lot of things right,” Skinner said, “but we have a lot of things we need to clean up before next week.
“We’re a work in progress and we’ll get better.”
Senior quarterback Logan Smith picked up where he left off a year ago. In 2022, according to Maxpreps, Smith was the state’s seventh leading passer (with 2,582 yards), covering all classes.
In his 2023 debut, Smith accounted for all six SJ-O touchdowns. He rushed for five scores and passed to Coy Taylor for the other TD.
Smith completed an efficient 12 of 18 passes (with one interception) for 157 yards. Taylor – the state’s leading receiver last fall with 1,201 yards – hauled in six passes for 87 yards and one TD.
Smith also rushed for a team-high 102 yards on 12 carries.
“Logan was outstanding and looked like a veteran quarterback,” Skinner said. “He clearly has a grasp of what we’re trying to do and saw what was available.
“He worked hard in the off-season, adding strength and weight to take the pounding.”
Smith and Taylor were far from the only heros for the Spartans in Week 1.
Tailback Justice Wertz contributed 67 rushing yards and the Spartans’ defense forced four turnovers, including an interception and a fumble recovery by Rowan Musselman.
“Wertz had an amazing game,” Skinner said. “He has breakaway speed.”
Drew Thurman, Nolan Earley and Braxton Waller are varsity veterans who are now on the offensive line and, Skinner said, “they did an outstanding job of leading a young group.
“Our offense was what we envisioned.”
A year ago, Thurman was the middle linebacker and Earley played as an outside linebacker. Now they are also vital parts of the offensive unit as is Jackson Ennis, who played on the defensive line in 2022.
Though Skinner said, “We’re trying to play as many as we can one way,” Waller and Earley are going both ways.
SJ-O outscored Monticello 25-7 in the first half and 15-7 in the second half.
Besides Musselman’s defensive efforts, Colin Wayland and Wyatt Wertz also picked off Monticello passes. SJ-O had two other possessions where they stopped the Sages in the red zone.
“We did a great job defensively,” Skinner said.
Keeping the pressure on the Sages’ quarterback was a job shared by multiple linemen.
“We rotated seven or eight guys on the defensive line,” Skinner said. “We like our depth.”
Like other high schools throughout the state, the Spartans didn’t have a typical week of preparations leading up to the opener.
Due to the heat and high jeat indexes, SJ-O held evening practices on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday and worked out before school on Tuesday morning.
“I appreciate the players and staff being flexible,” Skinner said. “You can see from the results, we handled it well.
“Our kids got better as the week went on and Thursday was our best practice of the year. I saw us trending in the right direction.”
SJ-O (1-0) returns to action on Friday (Sept. 1) at Tolono Unity (1-0). The Rockets also played at home in Week 1 and took down the defending Illini Prairie Conference champions, Prairie Central, 27-12.
“They have a lot of weapons,” Skinner said.
