Spartans dominate on Senior Night
By FRED KRONER
State-ranked St. Joseph-Ogden scored 48 first-half points in its Senior Night football game on Friday (Oct. 13) – scoring on every possession before intermission – and went on to reach a season’s high for points in a 62-8 triumph over winless Rantoul at Dick Duval Field.
The Spartans (ranked seventh in the latest Class 3A state poll) are 6-2 overall and officially guaranteed themselves a berth in the IHSA postseason playoffs. The pairings will be announced on Saturday night (Oct. 21).
“That’s one less thing for us to worry about,” SJ-O coach Shawn Skinner said. “Week 9, we can focus on a playoff atmosphere and how we’re preparing.”
SJ-O spread out the scoring. The team’s nine touchdowns were scored by eight different players.
“This is quite a team win,” Skinner added. “Everybody did their jobs. It was a great effort by everybody.”
Despite a steady rain or drizzle throughout the Illini Prairie Conference game, the Spartans prevented the contest from turning into a turnover fest.
“We did not put the ball on the ground,” Skinner said. “We played clean and didn’t have many penalties.”
The Spartans’ balanced offense featured 222 yards passing and 205 rushing.
Scoring TDs on running plays were seniors Logan Smith, Braxton Waller and Justice Wertz.
Other backs to reach the end zone were Coy Taylor and Wyatt Wertz.
Taylor was the lone Spartan to score more than once. He caught a scoring pass from Smith. The passing game also produced TD receptions by Tanner Siems, Ryker Lockhart and Collin Thomey.
Senior placekicker Joe Frasca converted a season-high six extra-point kicks. Charles Schmitz nailed two point-after attempts.
Smith connected on 6 of 9 passes, without an interception, for 105 yards and two TDs. Kodey McKinney went 3-for-3 for 117 yards and two TDs.
Taylor hauled in four passes for 83 yards. Lockhart had two receptions for 65 yards. Thomey’s one catch was good for 52 yards. Siems snared a 17-yard pass and Tim Blackburn-Kelley gained 5 yards on his reception.
The team’s top rushers were Smith (79 yards), Justice Wertz (66 yards), Wyatt Wertz (49 yards), Waller (7 yards) and Taylor (4 yards).
Smith has passed for 1,804 yards and is ranked among the top 10 in the state in yardage (according to Maxpreps). Taylor has 952 yards on 68 receptions and is among the state’s top five receivers for yardage.
All 13 of the team’s seniors got on the field during parts of all four quarters.
The stellar offensive performance was matched by the efforts of the SJ-O defensive unit.
The Spartans limited the Eagles to 61 yards of total offense. Forty one of those yards came on three pass completions. The other 20 were the gains made from 18 running plays.
“The defense took a step in the right direction,” Skinner said. “The D-line and linebackers were in the gaps they were supposed to be in and didn’t give up a ton of big plays.”
Among the catalysts were linebacker Jared Altenbaumer (four tackles and a deflected punt), linebacker Nolan Earley (four tackles and 2 ½ tackles for loss) and linebacker Holden Brazelton (five tackles and one tackle for loss).
“In back-to-back weeks, our offense was efficient, and the defense did exactly what they were supposed to do,” Skinner said.
SJ-O enters Week 9 averaging 40.6 points per game.
SJ-O (6-2) plays its regular-season finale on Friday (Oct. 20) at Paxton-Buckley-Loda (5-3). PBL is coming off a 48-0 loss at Tolono Unity.
The Spartans’ two losses were two opponents that have a combined record of 14-2 entering the last game of the regular season.
In its regular-season finale, SJ-O will have to contend with PBL running back Robert Boyd-Meents, a 5-foot-11, 200-pound junior.
“He is one of, if not the best running back in the conference,” Skinner said. “He’s a big kid who moves fast.
“It will take multiple defenders to get him to the ground. He’s a determined young man.”
After seven games, Boyd-Meents was the state’s seventh leading rusher (according to Maxpreps) with 1,045 yards. He was also the state leader in points scored (156), which was 30 more than anyone else in Illinois.
As a sophomore, Boyd-Meents burst onto the scene with 1,420 rushing yards and 21 TDs.
A win by SJ-O at Paxton will enhance its chances of hosting a playoff game at home, though there are no guarantees until the IHSA announces the pairings on Saturday.
