St. Joseph-Ogden Clinches Playoff Spot with 26-20 Victory Over Carterville
By FRED KRONER
St. Joseph-Ogden Football
St. Joseph-Ogden’s state-ranked football team became playoff-eligible on Friday (Sept. 27) with a 26-20 non-conference victory at home over Carterville.
SJ-O scored the game’s first 20 points.
The Spartans, ranked fourth in Class 3A, are 5-0. Carterville, which had been receiving votes in Class 4A, is 3-2.
SJ-O had drives of 50 yards, or less, while scoring its first three touchdowns. Special teams and defense set up all three of the scores.
When the score reached 20-0 in the third period, SJ-O coach Shawn Skinner said, “We hadn’t had a great offensive game, but we knew if we didn’t give them big plays, they’d have a hard time coming back.”
The Spartans had possession of the ball for just three plays in the first quarter. For the game, the team finished with 199 yards of total offense while Carterville generated in excess of 300 yards.
SJ-O cracked the scoreboard on a 7-yard run by quarterback Kodey McKinney in the second period. Charlie Schmitz made the conversion kick.
“The snap on a punt got held up in the air (by the fierce winds) and Coy Taylor made the play. Then our offense put together a 35-yard scoring drive,” Skinner said. “The weather was crazy.”
Three plays after the ensuing kickoff, Carterville fumbled and SJ-O took over at mid-field.
Josh Courter forced the fumble and Tim Blackburn-Kelley recovered the ball.
That possession ended with Blackburn-Kelly scoring on a 32-yard run, followed by another placement by Schmitz that ended the first half with a 14-0 SJ-O lead.
A long punt return by Logan Rosenthal in the third quarter set SJ-O up at the Carterville 40-yard line.
“Two plays later, Coy Taylor scored (on a 24-yard pass from McKinney),” Skinner said.
Rosenthal – who was filling in for the injured Jared Altenbaumer for the second week at middle linebacker – subsequently recovered a Carterville fumble that led to the team’s final TD after the visitors had narrowed their deficit to 20-14.
McKinney raced 35 yards to the end zone for the last SJ-O touchdown.
Statistically, Carterville held a huge edge, running 66 plays compared to 33 for SJ-O.
Big plays were a huge part of the Spartans’ offense.
Besides the scoring plays that covered 32 yards (by Blackburn-Kelley), 24 yards (by Taylor) and 35 yards (by McKinney), the Spartans had a 20-yard pass reception by Kaden Wedig.
McKinney rushed for a team-high 78 yards on 12 carries. He also completed 4 of 7 passes for 55 yards to surge past the 1,000-yard mark for the season in passing yardage. Taylor (30 yards) and Wedig (25 yards) each snared two receptions.
Blackburn-Kelley finished with 34 yards rushing.
The Spartans had no turnovers.
“It was a heck of a win,” Skinner said. “Our offense hit some big plays, and we were able to utilize the short fields. We punted on our first possession, then scored on our next three.
“Our defense did a nice job.”
The defensive anchors included James Barron (15 tackles), Nolan Earley (14 tackles), Collin Thomey (13 tackles) and Courter (nine tackles).
In addition to forcing a fumble, Courter had two tackles for loss and one quarterback sack. Barron also had a tackle for loss.
Free safety Thomey had what Skinner called “a fantastic game.”
He added: “He came up (from the secondary) and kept their 5-, 6- and 7-yard gains to just that.”
Punter Taylor helped pin Carterville deep in its own territory.
“Coy punted five times,” Skinner said. “One was for 47 yards and one for 50. Twice he pinned them inside their 15 and once inside the 25.
“In a game where field position mattered, three times he put them in positions where they had to go at least 75 yards to score.”
SJ-O (5-0) returns to action on Friday (Oct. 4) at Bloomington Central Catholic (3-2).
“Both of their losses occurred in the last minute,” Skinner said. “They could easily be 5-0. They only trailed for something like 1:13 all year in the fourth quarter.”
