Wertz and McKinney Shine as No. 3-Ranked Spartans Dominate Pontiac, 59-8, for Seventh Straight Win
By FRED KRONER
Wyatt Wertz rushed for more than 100 yards and Kodey McKinney passed for more than 100 yards on Friday (Oct. 11) as the state-ranked St. Joseph-Ogden football team won its seventh straight game in front of a Homecoming crowd at Dick Duval Field.
The Spartans, ranked No. 3 in Class 3A, built a 49-0 halftime lead and cruised past Pontiac, 59-8.
The first four touchdowns were scored by different players.
McKinney got the offense rolling less than 3 minutes into the Illini Prairie Conference contest with an 11-yard scoring strike to Kaden Wedig.
With 9:19 left in the opening period, SJ-O’s lead was 7-0 following the first of eight conversion kicks by Charlie Schmitz.
At the 6:31 mark, Wertz reached the end zone on a 10-yard run. Less than a minute later, Tanner Siems returned a Pontiac fumble 15 yards to the end zone.
McKinney connected with Coy Taylor on a 28-yard pass play with 1:12 remaining in the opening stanza and SJ-O led, 28-0, after an elapsed game time of 10:48.
SJ-O assured that there would be a running clock by reeling off three more scores during the second quarter.
Wertz added two more tallies, the first on a 69-yard scamper and the second on a 9-yard run.
Sandwiched in between was a 23-yard TD strike from McKinney to Wedig.
For the season, McKinney has completed 75 percent of his passes (106 of 142) while throwing just three interceptions. He was 6-for-6 against Pontiac totaling gains of 124 yards.
McKinney has thrown 19 TD passes. He hasn’t been picked off in his last five games, a streak covering more than 90 passing attempts.
Wedig was his favorite target, hauling in three receptions for 52 yards. Siems caught two balls for 51 yards and Taylor had one reception for 21 yards.
Wertz eclipsed the 100-yard mark in rushing for the third time, rambling for a game-high 130 yards on eight carries.
As a team, the Spartans finished with 250 rushing yards.
Logan Rosenthal, who scored the lone second-half TD, netted 47 yards on three carries (31 of those on his TD run). Brayden Waller gained 35 yards on six carries.
Taylor generated 22 yards on the ground, McKinney had 16 rushing yards and Tim Blackburn-Kelley added 10 rushing yards.
The other Spartan points came on a field goal by Schmitz, who has made three for the season, including one in each of his last two games.
SJ-O (7-0 overall and 6-0 in conference play) returns to action on Friday (Oct. 18) at Rantoul (1-6 and 1-5). A win by the Spartans will clinch no worse than a tie for the conference crown.
This week’s contest will be SJ-O’s fifth road game in the first eight weeks of the season.
Rantoul has scored seven TDs in seven games. SJ-O has the No. 1 offense in the Illini Prairie, averaging 39.7 points per game.
McKinney has thrown for 1,488 yards to date. Taylor (54 catches), Blackburn-Kelley (22 catches) and Siems (22 catches) have been his primary targets.
Wertz has two 100-yard rushing games to his credit this year and has gained 483 yards on the ground. McKinney has 321 rushing yards thus far.
Schmitz has made his last 13 extra-point placements.
Defensively, the team’s tackling leaders remain Ryker Lockhart, Jared Altenbaumer, James Barron and Nolan Earley. Collin Thomey has a team-best three interceptions.
