SJO football season comes to an end in loss to unbeaten Roxana
By FRED KRONER
St. Joseph-Ogden’s football team fell one point short in a second-round game of the IHSA Class 3A football playoffs on Saturday (Nov. 4).
Playing at unbeaten Roxana (11-0), the Spartans dropped a 48-47 decision.
In the final Associated Press state poll, Roxana was ranked third and SJ-O ninth in Class 3A.
SJ-O’s Coy Taylor caught his third touchdown pass from Logan Smith with seven seconds remaining to pull the Spartans within a point.
The team’s two-point conversion attempt – a pass intended for Tim Blackburn-Kelley – fell incomplete.
“Our effort was outstanding, as it has been all year. We just came up a little short,” SJ-O head coach Shawn Skinner said.
Spartan placekicker Joe Frasca converted all five of the extra-point kicks that he attempted overall, but a botched snap prevented him from kicking after the team’s fifth TD.
The Spartans weren’t playing for overtime in the waning seconds.
“We had already made the decision that if we scored (on the game’s final possession), we were going for two points,” Skinner said.
Smith and Taylor – who helped rewrite the SJ-O record books the past two seasons – had outstanding performances in the season-finale.
Unofficially, Smith completed 19 of 28 passes – with one interception – for 362 yards and five TDs.
Taylor hauled in 13 passes for 225 yards and grabbed three TD passes.
Blackburn-Kelley had four receptions for 93 yards and one TD. Tanner Siems hauled in three passes for 71 yards, and also scored once.
Justice Wertz led the rushing attack with 61 yards on 12 carries. He ran for one TD as did Smith, who gained 59 yards on 18 carries.
SJ-O fell behind 13-0, but climbed ahead 14-13 and expanded its cushion to 40-27 in the second half on Smith’s third-quarter scoring romp before Roxana stormed back in the fourth period.
“One of our goals was to try and shut them out in a quarter,” Skinner said, “and we did (third quarter).
“They have three skilled running backs and are good at what they do, but our kids gave us an opportunity to win.
“This was two really good groups of kids playing with not many kids going both ways.”
Nolan Earley (linebacker), Ray Gutierrez (noseguard) and Braxton Waller (linebacker) were among the key cogs defensively.
SJ-O’s final drive started with 1:18 remaining and the team 67 yards away from the Roxana end zone.
“The kids did a great job executing,” Skinner said. “Our offense has done a good job all year.”
The Spartans had other heartbreaking moments beyond the final two-point conversion try.
Smith’s lone interception in 28 attempts was returned by the Shells for a touchdown. On another of Roxana’s late-game scoring drives, “they converted a couple of fourth-down plays,” Skinner said.
The Spartans – late in the third quarter – had the ball inside the Roxana 30 and were unable to convert a fourth-down play and lost possession.
SJ-O finishes the season with an 8-3 overall record. All three losses were to schools that were undefeated at the time they played the Spartans.
Two of those opponents (Roxana and Bloomington Central Catholic) are still unbeaten entering the state quarterfinals next weekend.
“Two of the three losses came in the last minute,” Skinner said. “We’re trending in the right direction. The only disappointment is that we ran out of time a couple of times.”
Smith (passing yards and TD passes) set a single-season school record in each category a year ago as a junior and raised those standards as a senior.
Pending updates after the Week 11 game film is reviewed, Smith threw for 2,673 yards and 29 TDs as a senior. His junior year totals were 2,582 yards and 28 TDs in the same number of games.
In addition to his passing prowess, Smith also ran for 20 touchdowns as a senior.
“I don’t know if you replace him,” Skinner said. “You get the next guy in line and do what he does well.
“We’ve changed our identity on offense. It fits the kids we have now and the kids we have coming up.”
Taylor also shattered the single-season SJ-O marks he established a year ago as a sophomore for receptions and receiving yards. His totals this season – unofficially – are 94 receptions and 1,362 yards. A year ago, he totaled 76 catches and 1,201 yards.
If he matches this year’s totals next fall as a senior, Taylor would rank first in the all-time IHSA record book for receptions and second in state history for career receiving yardage.
This season – through 10 games – Taylor ranked first in the state in receptions and third in receiving yards (for players from all eight classes), according to Maxpreps. Smith was seventh in the state in passing yards and tied for 22nd in TDs scored.
Also in a position of prominence among the state leaders after 10 games was Frasca. He was tied for sixth in field goals made (five) and was the only kicker with more than four attempts who did not miss a field goal attempt.
For points scored as a kicker, Frasca ranked sixth (58).
Though Taylor is one of numerous starters who will return in 2024, Skinner acknowledged, “We have a lot of talent coming back, but it’s with a heavy heart. We will miss the seniors.
“They were easy to coach and easy to be around. Their hard work in the off-season translated into a lot of success.”
Rushing leader Justice Wertz is another of the seniors. He eclipsed the 600-yard mark for rushing – despite playing on a pass-heavy team – for the second year in a row. He totaled 1,283 rushing yards in his final two seasons and scored 14 TDs.
Besides Frasca, Smith and Wertz, the other SJ-O seniors this year were Garrett Denhart, Ray Gutierrez, Hayden Lewis, Rowan Musselman, Caleb Ochs, Drew Thurman, Braxton Waller, Colin Wayland, Corbin Wells and Mitchell Wright.
For the past two seasons, SJ-O had a composite record of 15-7 and averaged 38.0 points per game for those 22 contests. This season, the Spartans had the No. 1 scoring average in the Illini Prairie Conference (41.8 points per game).
