The football rematch between St. Joseph-Ogden and Tolono Unity on Saturday (Nov. 9) in an IHSA second-round Class 3A playoff game started out like the battle that was projected.

Both teams scored touchdowns and made the extra-point kicks on their first possessions.

The game was tied, 7-7, with 3 minutes and 45 seconds left in the opening quarter.

From there, the home team Rockets tallied 28 unanswered points to move into the quarterfinals with a 35-7 victory at Hicks Field.

“Some days, you’re the bear and some days, the bear gets you,” SJ-O coach Shawn Skinner said. ”Unity played hard and we never could get any momentum.”

SJ-O had a streak of 30 consecutive games where it had scored at least 10 points since a loss to Unity in Week 2 of the 2022 season..

The Rockets were the first to the scoreboard, reaching the end zone on a pass play with 6:54 remaining in the opening stanza.

SJ-O marched downfield and scored on a 7-yard run by Kodey McKinney. The extra-point conversion by Charlie  Schmitz followed and the game was deadlocked.

On the ensuing possession, Unity faced a fourth-and-2 from its own 48-yard line and picked up more than the yardage needed for a first down.

“On a bootleg pass, the ball went through our safety’s hands and they caught it and went 52 yards for a score,” Skinner said.

Unity led, 14-7, in the final minute of the opening quarter and never looked back.

Later in the second period, SJ-O started a possession on its 1-yard line and punted out of the end zone into the wind. The Rockets got the ball just past the 30 and took advantage, increasing their lead to 21-7.

SJ-O twice had drives that penetrated the Unity 20-yard line, but both ended in interceptions.

“We did things that were uncharacteristic of what we’d done all year,” Skinner said. “For the year, we 94 percent (scoring) when in the red zone.

“(Against Unity), we were 1-for-4 and threw two interceptions. We’d only thrown three all year.

“Sometimes that happens.”

The highlight for SJ-O was the final-game performance of senior receiver Coy Taylor.

He hauled in seven passes for 34 yards and eclipsed the all-time IHSA state record for career receptions.

Taylor finished with 259, two more than Marist’s Nic Weishar had between 2010-13.

“Coy has the record, but that is a credit to everyone who has had a hand on our offense,” Skinner said.

The 5-foot-11, 170-pound Taylor also ended with the fourth-best IHSA career receiving yardage total, 3,658 yards. He hauled in 83 passes this year for 1,045 yards, his third straight season with more than 1,000 receiving yards.

Against Unity, Tanner Siems caught four passes from McKinney for 77 yards. For the season, Siems was second on the team with 31 catches for 541 yards.

McKinney connected on 13 of 20 passes for 122 yards against  the Rockets. He ended his junior year with an accuracy rate of 76.2 percent (157 of 206) and threw for 2,335 yards.

The SJ-O running attack was limited to 59 yards on 22 carries, leaving the team with 181 yards of total offense.

“We’re frustrated we came up short,” Skinner said, “but we’re not defined by that game. We had an undefeated regular season and that was a tremendous feat.

“It really was a pretty special season. It hurts because we want to keep coaching them.”

In the history of the SJ-O football program, this was the 13^th season for winning at least 10 games.

Wyatt Wertz (78 points) was the Spartans’ top scorer for the 11 games. Siems and Taylor each scored 72 points. Schmitz totaled 65 points and was 56-for-59 on extra  points. McKinney and Tim Blackburn-Kelley both ended with 54 points.

SJ-O’s freshmen team finished with a 7-0 record. The school’s junior varsity squad was 4-3.

“We had a great group of seniors, but we’re in a good spot and there are a lot of reasons I feel good about the direction we are headed.

“The freshmen, sophomore and junior groups are kids who like football and are excited about the opportunity they will have.”

SJ-O finishes the year with a 10-1 record.

Unity carries an 8-3 record into a quarterfinal home game against Nashville (10-1) on Saturday (Nov. 16) at 2 p.m.

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One senior and four underclassmen were the scoring runners on Saturday (Nov. 9) for the St. Joseph-Ogden boys’ cross-country team, which ended 12^th in the IHSA Class 1A state meet at Detweiller Park, in Peoria.

Senior Jack Fisher was the team’s top placer. He covered the 3-mile course in 15:35.98.

He was followed by junior Lance Retz (86^th in a career-best 16:00.17), sophomore Colin Burnett (115^th in 16:17.40), sophomore Nate Farney (131^st in 16:25.44) and freshman Eli Franklin (45^th in 16:35.60).

There were 258 runners at state in 1A.

The other SJ-O competitors were seniors E.J. Beckett (172^nd in 16:49.80) and Joe Grebat (180^th in 16:57.13).

The 1A team title was won by Niles Northridge Prep (126 points), followed by Elmwood (156 points) and Eureka (165 points). SJ-O was 12^th with 358 points.

There were 30 full teams at state.

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All-State runners Savanna Franzen and Grace Bressner were the catalysts for the St Joseph-Ogden girls’ cross-country team, which placed 12^th out of 30 teams on Saturday (Nov. 9) in the IHSA Class 1A girls’ cross-country state meet.

Franzen, a senior, became a three-time All-Stater in cross-country. She was timed in 17 minutes, 45.50 seconds on the 3-mile course at Peoria’s Detweiller Park.

Freshman teammate Grace Bressner nabbed the 25^th and final All-State spot. Her time was 17:55.90.

Bressner and another freshman, Tessa Walker, posted career-best times. Walker ran 54^th in 18:46.20.

The other SJ-O state participants were sophomore Abigail Bello (164^th in 20:29.80), junior Sydney Steinbach (234^th in 22:57.30) and sophomore Kiah Riesel (245^th in24:20.20).

Franzen is the fifth girl from SJ-O to earn at least three All-State honors in cross-country. The others were Faith Houston (four), Chelsea Blaase (three), Amy Roberts (three) and Ashley Wright (three).

The 2024 state race marks the fourth time the Spartans have had at least two All-Staters in the same girls’ race. There were three in 2014 and two each in 1990 and 1991.

Team honors went to Williamsville (171 points) followed by Tolono Unity (173) and Anna-Jonesboro (177 points).

SJ-O was 12^th with 371 points.

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Nolan Earley didn’t want the last-minute stress.

He wanted to avoid the uncertainty.

He was reluctant to procrastinate.

The St. Joseph-Ogden senior multi-sport athlete avoided one of the pitfalls that befall many high schoolers who postpone a decision about their athletic futures.

When the current school year began in August, Earley had the answers. He knew what he was doing and where he was going.

In another year.

He committed to Southwest Illinois College, a community college in Belleville, to play baseball for the next two years, beginning in the spring of 2026.

“I wanted to start my year with a clear mind and just be able to go out and enjoy everything my senior year has to offer,” Earley said. “I want to concentrate on making great memories with my friends, teammates and family before I head off to college in the summer.”

The 5-foot-11, 190-pound pitcher committed to SWIC on Aug. 16.

The connection that prompted Earley to plan to relocate to southern Illinois is the SWIC coach, David Garcia, who was among the youth coaches whom he worked with years ago.

Garcia is entering his sixth year as head coach at SWIC and has a career record of 142-97-1.

“At 14 and 15, my travel ball coach (David Garcia) for the Paign City Rox recognized my talent, competitiveness and bulldog mentality,” Earley said. “That was when I started envisioning that if I decided to take the college route, this could be in my future. 

“My parents (Ryan and Jill Earley) encouraged me to have fun, compete and the rest just fell into place.”  

Earley’s love for baseball was nurtured at a young age. In addition to the school teams he has played for, he was a member of four different travel teams since he was 9.

He had many influential role models in his life.

“A lot of mentors and coaches have developed me in different ways over the years and taught me a lot of things,” Earley said. “I think every single coach I had at one time, left an impression on me in some way.”

He was coached by Brandon McFarland while at Urbana Middle School.

During his 9-and-under and 10-and-under seasons with the Xpress Champaign, he was coached by Jake Buchanan.

Earley spent the next three travel seasons with the Champaign Dream, where Bryan Johnson, Mike Brazelton, Mike Orton and Joe Immke worked with him at various times.

Garcia was his coach during the 14-and-under and 15-and under seasons.

He was under the guidance of Bob Sears, Josh Miller and B.J. Burkhart during his 16-and-under and 17-and-under seasons with the Rawlings Tigers.

During high school ball at SJ-O, his coaches have been Josh Haley, Mitch Pruemer and Jayden Miller.

“Coach Haley at SJ-O and the coaching staff have made an impact by pushing me to be the best I can be, believing in me and pushing me to be a leader,” Earley said.

During his recruitment, Earley received interest from four-year schools as well as junior colleges. He kept his career path in mind as he narrowed down his list of options.

Besides SWIC, the other NJCAA Division II campus visits Earley made were to Danville Area Community College and Parkland College.

“I declined any visits with (four-year) universities as I knew that I was going to take the junior college route and chose that my sophomore year of high school,” Earley said. “For me, I felt like this was the better fit with the career field and trades I am interested in.

“At junior college levels, I would have more of a chance to play right out of high school and I am not sure I wanted to commit to four more years of school.”

As he contemplated the choices, one question was the determining factor.

“Settling into my choice was tough for only the reason of having to decide if I wanted to be three hours away from home vs. 30 minutes from home,” Earley said. “I wanted to be sure to visit the schools that were close to home, but deep down I knew SWIC was what I was always leaning towards.

“With the amazing offer of academics, living arrangements and having the personal connections to the SWIC coach who has believed in me early on, is what pulled all the weight. SWIC just feels like home. My parents have stood by me and have always said they want what I want, so I knew they would support me with whatever decision I made.”

Earley made his first visit to SWIC in December, 2023. He received a scholarship offer at that time.

“I was very lucky in the fact that I didn’t chase recruitment at all,” he said. “The schools who were interested in me came and watched me at high school games or over the summer.

“Some coaches found me by tweets on twitter of baseball stats that SJ-O was posting, or my travel team. At that point, they would contact me or my coaches.”

The difficulty for Earley came after hearing from the three coaches.

“All the texts, phone calls, emails and then the decision-making was stressful,” Earley said. “It felt like pressure.  Although I felt blessed, I got tired of thinking and talking about it.

“I think the hardest part of the process is letting the coaches know that I didn’t want to come to a visit or that I was going a different direction. They obviously saw something in me and took their time to make connections with me, so that was the hardest part.”

From the time Earley committed to SWIC, it would be about 18 months before he’d suit up for his first official collegiate game. That’s plenty of time to continue honing his skills and finding a niche.

“I see fitting in wherever the SWIC coaches see me benefiting my team the most,” Earley said. “My coach has told me to just keep striving for mental and physical growth. That is a big part of baseball.

“I feel like once I reach the college level, it will be a new beginning. It doesn’t matter what I have done in the past to get myself there, it will be the work I put in to grow and develop more.

“Not only on the field but also off the field. I feel like with my work ethic and competitive attitude, I won’t fall short. However, nothing is handed to you, so I will have to earn it. I am looking forward to working with my new teammates and coaches and being part of the SWIC program.”

SJ-O coach Josh Haley sees Earley as someone who will contribute at SWIC.

“Nolan has continued to improve each season on the mound and has grown into a top of the rotation pitcher,” Haley said. “Nolan is a competitor that expects to win and compete each time he takes the ball.

“Nolan has a tremendous opportunity to pitch at SWIC.  There have been several SJ-O players pitch in the Great Rivers Athletic Conference (GRAC) the past several years.  It is a competitive conference that offers players an opportunity to advance their academic and athletic careers.”

Establishing himself in college will be no different than what he had to do after enrolling in high school.

Earley moved from Urbana into the SJ-O district prior to the start of his freshman year.

“At that time, I knew I would have to prove myself being new,” he said. “Although I knew a lot of the kids from here and had already played travel baseball with some of them for years, I had to prove myself to the coaches who didn’t know me at all.

“The (high school) coaches had coached the kids throughout middle school and I would need to put the work in to show them. My whole freshman year I just had to be patient. I had to wait to be seen.”

When Earley’s sophomore year began, he was originally issued a JV jersey.

“After practicing with varsity, I earned a spot and never touched the JV field once,” he said. “I was a starter for all varsity games (primarily at third base and as part of the pitching rotation).”

He was the Spartans’ Gold Glove award winner for the 2023 season. After the 2024 season, Earley earned the team’s Pitcher of the Year award.

“I am really looking forward to my senior spring season,” he said. “We have a great group this upcoming year and I am excited to see how far we will go.

“I want to go out and be a leader, compete, have a good time, make memories with my friends and win.”

Though he plays football – and excels for the undefeated and state-ranked SJ-O football team – baseball has been Earley’s first love.

“I don’t even remember not playing baseball,” he said. “I started in T-Ball at the age you’re able to sign up and have been playing baseball ever since.”

Earley plans on majoring in Construction Management at SWIC, which was 37-21 last spring.

“In 10 years, I see myself working in the construction or trade fields and hopefully starting a family,” he said.

At SJ-O, he has played three sports, but gave up basketball after his freshman year to have a break between seasons and also to start training for baseball. He is also a member of the undefeated Spartan football team (10-0) that will play a second-round playoff game on Saturday (Nov. 9) at Tolono Unity (7-3). He is one of the team’s top three tacklers.

“Baseball has always been my true love and passion,” Earley said. “There was not another time that I favored another sport growing up.

“I really like football and have enjoyed playing it but I haven’t played football my whole life like baseball.  Football and baseball are completely different sports and provide different feelings of success. Baseball is what I can not live without.”

Some schools were interested in Earley for football.

“At first, I kind of thought that they must have done that for everyone, but he (coach Shawn Skinner) confirmed it was only on specific people that got requested,” Earley said. “Coach forwarded me the information to fill out, and I did not complete the link, and carried on.

“At that the end of my junior year season, I had coaches reaching out to me personally to play football collegiately at the NCAA Division III level. I did not want to commit to four years of school and knew that I was on a junior college path.”

The distance from home to Belleville is one of the adjustments that Earley will face as he embarks on his collegiate career.

“The transition will be tough not being with my parents and sister (2023 SJ-O graduate Katie) but I am sure I will be able to settle in,” he said. “I will know some teammates on my college team due to playing with them or against them over the years.

“I have an aunt and uncle that also only live about 45 minutes away in Missouri. My parents are great supporters and I know they will get to some games, so I know I won’t go too long without seeing them.”

As a junior at SJ-O, Earley had a 5-0 pitching record and a 2.11 earned run average. In 53 innings, he struck out 63 batters.

He was also a force at the plate for a 32-5 team. He batted .342 and compiled 12 multi-hit games.

As a sophomore on a 28-8 team, Earley was also 5-0 on the mound for the Spartans and had a 3.22 ERA. He fanned 40 batters in 32 innings. That year, he hit .268 with six multi-hit games.

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For the 27^th time in the last 36 years, St. Joseph-Ogden’s entire girls’ cross-country team has qualified for state.

The Spartans secured their advancement on Saturday (Nov. 2) by finishing third in the 20-team Cumberland Class 1A Sectional at Mattoon’s Lake Land College.

Two SJ-O runners garnered top-10 finishes in a race with 144 competitors.

Savanna Franzen was seventh, running the 3-mile course in 18 minutes and 1 second. Grace Bressner, the day’s first freshman placer, was 10^th in 18:27.0.

Other SJ-O leaders were Tessa Walker (15^th in 19:26.8), Abigail Bello (45^th in 20:50.7), Sydney Steinbach (77^th in 22:22.6) and Kiah Riesel (113^th in 24:50.9).

Tolono Unity won team honors (79 points), followed by Shelbyville (126 points) and  SJ-O (137 points).

SJ-O will return to action on Saturday (Nov. 9) in the IHSA state meet at Peoria’s Detweiller Park. The Class 1A girls’ race will begin at 9 a.m.

The state appearance for SJ-O in girls’ cross-country will be the 15^th for the school in the last 18 years.

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The Spartans qualified on Saturday (Nov. 2) by placing second in the 21-school Cumberland Sectional held at Lake Land College, in Mattoon.

Jack Fisher was the SJ-O leader, running sixth in the 158-runner race. His 3-mile time was 15 minutes, 42.6 seconds.

The next five Spartans to cross the finish line did so within 21.2 seconds of each other.

The pack featured Colin Burnett (34^th in 6:39.8), E.J. Beckett (42^nd in 16:54.4), Eli Franklin (43^rd in 16:55.0), Lance Retz (46^th in 16:59.2) and Nate Farney (48^th in 17:01.0).

Also competing at the sectional for SJ-O was Joe Griebat (71^st in 17:37.1).

La Salette won the meet with 97 points. SJ-O and Urbana Uni High each tied for second with 152 points. The Spartans’ sixth runner (Farney) finished 24.4 seconds in front of Uni High’s No. 6 runner.

The top three schools at the sectional all participated in the same regional (at Tuscola) one week earlier.

SJ-O will return to action on Saturday (Nov. 9) in the IHSA state meet at Peoria’s Detweiller Park. The Class 1A boys’ race will begin at 10 a.m.

The state appearance for SJ-O in boys’ cross-country will be the 26^th all-time.

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Emma McKinney totaled 16 assists and three digs on Thursday (Oct. 31) for St. Joseph-Ogden, which dropped a 25-15, 25-13 decision to St. Thomas More in the regional championship volleyball match in the Oakwood IHSA Class 2A Regional.

Ava Seggebruch landed six kills along with five digs and two blocks. Tinley Ideus contributed four kills and 10 digs. Ally Schmitz added five kills.

Thea Smith collected four digs and one service ace. Reese Wheatley ended with two blocks.

SJ-O had a final season record of 18-19.

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For the 11^th time since the IHSA football playoffs originated, St. Joseph-Ogden will meet neighboring rival Tolono Unity in a postseason game.

Each school clinched their advancement by virtue of victories on Saturday (Nov. 2).

Playing at home on Dick Duval Field, unbeaten SJ-O whipped West Frankfort, 48-0, scoring all of its points in the first half.

Meanwhile Tolono Unity went to Roxana and came away with a 44-31 victory.

SJ-O and Unity played in Week 2 of the regular season – at SJ-O – and the Spartans posted a narrow 24-21 triumph on a late field goal. The rematch will take place on Saturday (Nov. 9) at 2 p.m. in Tolono at Hicks Field.

“Multiple guys said it in our locker room,” SJ-O coach Shawn Skinner said. “They are a totally different team (from Week 2). We’ll have no problem being on point.”

When the schools have met in the playoffs, Unity holds a 6-4 edge. The last time they played in the postseason was nine years ago.

SJ-O was ranked fourth this year in the state’s final Class 3A poll.

Against West Frankfort (5-5), SJ-O started strong and kept up the pace throughout the first half while registering its second shutout in the past three weeks.

Wyatt Wertz returned the opening kickoff 77 yards for a touchdown.

The visitors gained a first down on their initial possession before losing the ball on their second third-down play of the game.

Logan Lackey then forced a fumble and Jared Altenbaumer recovered.

On the Spartans’ first play from scrimmage, quarterback Kodey McKinney tossed a 23-yard scoring strike to Coy Taylor.

Charlie Schmitz’s placement lifted SJ-O into a 13-0 edge with 9:54 left in the opening period.

“You can’t draw up any better start,” Skinner said. “The blocking was spectacular (on Wertz’s return).

“We’d come so doggone close multiple times.”

In previous games, the Spartans twice returned kickoffs inside the 10-yard line and twice returned punts inside the 5-yard line.

“Our kids had a good week of practice and paid good attention to detail, although Friday was one of our worst practices of the year,” Skinner said. “They were just so ready to play a game.”

The quick getaway was only the start for SJ-O, which scored TDs on five of six first-half offensive possessions.

“Our kids were focused and locked in and never had any letup,” Skinner said. “All three phases were complimentary.

“When our kids play hard, we’re a tough out.”

The Spartans led, 20-0, after one quarter and added four more TDs before halftime, one on a 64-yard punt return by Tim Blackburn-Kelley.

“Our special teams are starting to become a force,” Skinner said. “The return game is a viable weapon.”

Wertz raced for two more scores and gained a team-high 69 yards on the ground.

Taylor hauled in two TD passes from McKinney and Tanner Siems found the end zone once in addition to intercepting two passes.

In all, SJ-O captured six turnovers. James Barron and Ryker Lockhart also had interceptions. The other fumble recovery, besides the one by Altenbaumer, was by Brayden Waller.

“The defense played fantastic,” Skinner said. “Our defense is starting to gel. Lackey was darned near unblockable and was all over their backfield.

“A year ago, Ryker was a wide receiver. Now he’s a linebacker making tackles all over the field. He’s one of our most sure tacklers.”

Lockhart recorded a team-high 10 tackles. He also had a tackle for loss and broke up a pass.

Barron and Lackey each collected six tackles. Barron broke up two passes and had one tackle for loss. Lackey had a sack and a tackle for loss.

Altenbaumer ended with five tackles.

McKinney completed 10 of 11 passes for 223 yards and three TDs.

“He was calm and cool, and you’d never know it was his first playoff game at quarterback,” Skinner said.

SJ-O carries a 10-0 record into the second round.

Unity’s 7-3 record includes a one-point loss to Belleville Althoff as well as the three-point loss to SJ-O.

The Rockets have won five straight games since a 20-10 loss to Bloomington Central Catholic on a wet field.

“Unity is more like a 9-0 regular-season team,” Skinner said. “This is a great football team. This game is great for our conference, great for our area and great for football.

“Both programs have such a rich history. It will come down to who makes the fewest mistakes.”

Skinner would like to see the same outcome this week that he witnessed 37 years ago.

“I was a freshman (at SJ-O) in our first playoff game in history (1987),” Skinner said, “and it was against Unity.”

The Spartans won that inaugural meeting, 25-16.

Overall, Tolono Unity has a 59-31 all-time record in the playoffs. SJ-O’s cumulative postseason record is 52-33.

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Tinley Ideus and Emma McKinney each registered double-doubles on Tuesday (Oct. 29) as the St. Joseph-Ogden volleyball team avenged a previous loss to Tolono Unity with a semifinal triumph in the Oakwood Class 2A IHSA regional.

The Spartans posted a 25-17, 19-25, 25-16 victory against an opponent they lost to in straight sets in September.

Ideus recorded 10 kills and 10 digs. McKinney finished with 23 assists and 11 digs.

Ava Seggebruch (seven kills and 10 digs), Ally Schmitz (four kills and nine digs), Katie Ericksen (two aces and nine digs) and Reese Wheatley (four blocks) were other major contributors for SJ-O.

The Spartans (18-18) return to action at 6 p.m. on Thursday (Oct. 31) at Oakwood against St. Thomas More (32-4), another school they lost to in straight sets in September. Unity ends the year with a 21-14-1 record.

SJ-O has won five of its last seven matches.

On Monday (Oct. 28), Schmitz pounded seven kills and teammates McKinney and Ideus had six and four kills, respectively as SJ-O opened postseason play with a 25-17, 25-10 regional quarterfinal win over Oakwood (9-18) in Fithian.

Thea Smith totaled 11 digs and Seggebruch turned in seven digs. Ideus and Schmitz each produced six digs.

McKinney handed out 18 assists. Wheatley collected three blocks and Seggebruch served two aces.

The Spartans are chasing their third regional title in volleyball in the past four years.

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