The Spartans (4-1) rebounded from a shutout loss the previous week to hold Pontiac scoreless on Friday in a 19-0 homecoming triumph in St. Joseph.

Coach Shawn Skinner sees a pattern in the team’s 4-1 season record.

“We are 4-0 in games when we win the turnover battle,” Skinner said.

Against the Indians, the SJ-O defense forced five fumbles and the Spartans recovered four of them.

Jarrett Stevenson rushed for a team-high 52 yards and scored one touchdown.

Crayton Burnett tossed a 62-yard scoring pass to Brady Buss. Overall, Burnett was 7 of 18 for 120 yards. All seven completions were to different receivers.

Jaden Miller gained 26 yards on his catch. Stevenson had a 15-yard reception and Ty Pence caught a pass for 14 yards.

“We were opportunistic with plays on offense,” Skinner said. “We didn’t sustain drives as needed, but hitting on big pass plays and putting some good runs together for a final score late in the game were things we can build on.

“Our defense can keep us in games. Drew Coursey just gets better weekly at outside linebacker.”

The other Spartan score came on a 68-yard punt return by Payton Cain.

SJ-O needs one more win to become playoff-eligible. The Spartans return to action on Friday against Prairie Central (3-2) in Fairbury.

“Prairie Central has done a nice job with their offensive line and they can move people off the ball,” Skinner said. “Their quarterback and fullback pose threats and they are athletic enough to score from anywhere on the field.”

SJ-O Volleyball

Despite double-figure kill totals from two players, SJ-O had its five-match winning streak snapped at home on Thursday by St. Thomas More.

Kennedi Burnett landed 13 kills and Kaitlyn Berry closed with 10 for the Spartans in a 21-25, 25-20, 25-20 setback.

Burnett and Berry each contributed eight digs.

Emily Bigger handed out 32 assists. Lacey Kaiser ended with eight kills, seven digs and two blocks.

The Spartans (15-4) return to action tonight at Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley.

After the loss to the Sabers, SJ-O is 1-1 in Illini Prairie Conference action.

SJ-O Boys’ cross-country

In a field of nearly 200 runners, four SJ-O athletes placed among the top 50 on Saturday, helping the team to a third-place finish in the Spartan Classic.

Urbana Uni High (81 points) won team honors, followed by Monticello (90) and SJ-O (132). A total of 26 schools fielded full teams.

The Spartans’ leader was Brandon Mattsey, who ended in eighth after running the 3-mile street course in 15 minutes, 41.28 seconds.

Other SJ-O competitors were Eric Poe (23rd in 16:21.31); Charlie Mabry (28th in 16:38.50); Elijah Mock (29th in 16:41.49); Luke Stegall (47th in 17:02.19); Logan Wolfersberger (79th in 17:42.72) and Lukas Hutcherson (90th in 17:50.34).

SJ-O returns to action on Tuesday, Oct. 8 in the Illini Prairie Conference Meet at Fairbury.

SJ-O Girls’ cross-country

Five Spartans entered the finish chute within 52 seconds of one another on Saturday, helping the school to a third-place finish in the Spartan Classic.

Team-leader Jillian Plotner ran the 3-mile course in 18 minutes, 29.34 seconds and was seventh in a field of 147 competitors.

The next five Spartans packed together well and placed between 17th and 38th and were separated by less than a minute.

Next in line for SJ-O were Hannah Rajlich (17th in 19:03.56); Ava Knap (26th in 19:34.22); Ashlyn Lannert (29th in 19:38.85); Kailyn Ingram (33rd in 19:45.34) and Ally Monk (38th in 19:55.91).

The team’s other competitor was Hope Rajlich (57th in 21:06.35).

SJ-O captured third among 20 full teams in the meet.

Unity (48) was the meet champion, followed by Monticello (63) and the Spartans (106).

SJ-O’s next meet is on Tuesday, Oct. 8 in the Illini Prairie Conference Meet at Fairbury.

SJ-O Golf

Payton Grimsley and Joe Acton were the SJ-O leaders in Tuesday’s Illini Prairie Conference meet at El Paso.

Grimsley fired an 87.

Acton closed at 91.

Other scores for the team were: Riley Myren (93), Jacob Kern (112), Jack Robertson (117) and Maddux Carter (124).

The Spartans’ final team tally was 392. SJ-O ended in seventh place. Meet champion Prairie Central registered a 319.

The post Spartans rebound for homecoming win, Spartan’s strong at Classic first appeared on SJO Daily.

SJ-O Football

The gains made by St. Joseph-Ogden’s football team Friday night were not enough.

The Spartans’ offense was stymied by Unity’s defense and the Rockets made SJ-O its third successive shutout victim with a 20-0 win for homecoming at Hicks Field.

“Their defensive players are fast to the football,” SJ-O coach Shawn Skinner said.

SJ-O was only able to generate 44 second-half yards on 20 plays.

The game was scoreless until the final 40 seconds of the first half.

Unity gained possession on the SJ-O 29-yard line with 1 minute, 59 seconds left in the second quarter following an 11-yard punt.

The Rockets had no timeouts remaining, but moved quickly, scoring on a 6-yard pass from Nate Reinhart to Nate Drennan with 38 seconds left in the period.

For the Spartans, there was a lot to like from the first two quarters. SJ-O matched Unity on first downs (6-6), had no penalties and no turnovers.

“I like how we played with effort,” Skinner said. “There wasn’t a lot I didn’t like other than the lack of scoring on our part. Everything had gone about as we wanted until that last possession when we gave them good field position.”

SJ-O took the ball to start the third quarter, but had to punt 57 seconds later.

Crayton Burnett sailed a punt 45 yards, but the Rockets completed a 64-yard scoring march thanks to three third-down conversions.

Again, Drennan hauled in a scoring strike from Reinhart, who converted his second extra point.

“They are very good, but we feel that we left some plays on the field,” Skinner said. “We’ll lick our wounds, but we will watch film and learn from this.

“Our guys were not satisfied. I liked the look in their eyes after the game. Our guys were ready to keep playing.”

Overall, SJ-O had 64 yards rushing on 25 carries.

Coby Miller and Keaton Nolan each gained 23 yards. Burnett finished with 15 yards rushing. He also completed 10 of 20 passes, for 66 yards.

Ty Pence hauled in four receptions for 21 yards. Chance Izard had 16 yards on two catches.

Izard’s 12-yard catch in the second half was the Spartans’ only play from scrimmage the last two quarters to generate more than eight yards.

In all, six Spartans had pass receptions.

Unity (3-1) finished with a 262-130 edge in total yards.

SJ-O’s four first-half possessions started on their own 18-, 15-, 3- and 17-yard lines.

The Spartans’ first possession of the third period began on their own 13-yard line.

“We made them have to drive the length of the field and we think it’s tough to do that against our defense,” Unity coach Scott Hamilton said. “Defensively, we’ve got a hungry group.”

SJ-O (3-1) returns to action on Friday in its homecoming game against Pontiac (1-3).

SJ-O Girls’ cross-country

The Spartans finished seventh on Saturday in the freshmen-sophomore division of the Richard Spring Invitational at Detweiler Park, in Peoria,

Leading the way for SJ-O were Kailyn Ingram (52nd in 20 minute, 29.7 seconds for 3 miles), Addie Allen (64th in 20:43.4), Malorie Sarnecki (70th in 20:48.2), Kendra Riddle (136th in 21:45.5) and Sidney Davis (188th in 23:09.8).

There were 278 runners in the freshmen-sophomore race.

Meet champion Elmhurst York had 30 points. SJ-O totaled 190.

In the varsity race, SJ-O had three competitors and was not scored as a team.

Jillian Plotner was 101st in a 454-runner field with a time of 19:15.0.

Trailing her were Hanna Eastin (212th in 20:23.8) and Ally Monk (252nd in 20:50.9).

In the open race, the Spartans ended in 40th place with a score of 1194. Meet champion York had 60 points.

The top SJ-O runners were: Kaytlyn Baker (252nd in 23:35.2), Taryn Sexton (362nd in 24:55.9), Teagan Miller (477th in 26:45.9), Izzy Sexton (533rd in 28:32.0), Mary Hinrichs (554th in 29:56.2) and Lili Wentzloff (579th in 34:53.2).

SJ-O returns to action on Saturday when it hosts the Spartan Classic.

SJ-O Boys’ cross-country

Brandon Mattsey and Eric Poe placed among the top half on Saturday in the varsity division of the Richard Spring Classic at Detweiler Park, in Peoria.

Mattsey ran the 3-mile course in 16 minutes, 42.7 seconds and took 188th in a field of 446 competitors. Poe was 198th in 16:46.1.

Other Spartan placers were Logan Wolfersberger (340th in 17:56.0), Lukas Hutcherson (358th in 18:05.9), Taddy Pettit (409th in 19:26.9) and Joshua Sexton (439th in 22:3.1).

In the team standings, SJ-O was 54th with a score of 1426. Meet champion St. Charles East had a score of 57.

SJ-O captured 27th in the 53-school freshmen-sophomore team chase with a score of 777. Meet champion Deerfield had a score of 88.

The Spartans’ leaders were Charlie Mabry (84th in 17:09.8), Elijah Mock (86th in 17:10.3), Luke Stegall (167th in 17:59.1), Braden Clampitt (200th in 18:17.6), Ethan Blackburn (247th in 18:55.3) and Zach Dahman (331st in 21:17.1).

SJ-O did not have any participants in the open race.

The Spartans return to action on Saturday when they host their own Spartan Classic.

SJ-O Golf

Medalist Payton Grimsley carded a 36 to lead the Spartans past Okaw Valley in a three-school meet on Thursday at Tri-City Country Cub. The Spartans carded a team composite of 170 and earned a team win by 23 strokes.

Following Grimsley were teammates Joe Acton (40), Riley Myren (44), Maddux Carter (50), Jack Robertson (52), Jacob Kern (54) and McGuire Atwood (55).

SJ-O returns to action on Tuesday at the Illini Prairie Conference meet in El Paso.

SJ-O Soccer

For the third match in a row, SJ-O was held scoreless on Thursday and dropped a 7-0 Illini Prairie Conference decision to St. Thomas More in Champaign.

SJ-O rebounded on Saturday with a 3-3 draw against Chillicothe IVC.

Freshman Emily Eisbernd scored the first goal for the Spartans, giving the team a 1-0 lead at halftime.

She was assisted by Luke Cohen, who hit a second-half goal as did teammate Garrett Siems.

Siems also had one assist.

The Spartans (2-9-2) return to action on Tuesday at Rantoul.

The post Grimsley leads Spartans past Oakhaw Valley, SJ-O Running at Richard Spring Invitational first appeared on SJO Daily.

Spartan football bounced back from a first-quarter deficit on Friday in its football home-opener and rallied to defeat St. Thomas More, 36-8.

The visiting Sabers led, 8-0, after one quarter, but SJ-O built a 16-8 lead at halftime.

SJ-O needed to make some in-game adjustments.

“We had prepared for the spread offense and they came out in a version of single wing run-oriented offense,” SJ-O coach Shawn Skinner said. “After the first series, our defense just locked them down.

“Defense did a fantastic job of adjusting to the STM offense.”

Jarrett Stevenson sparked the SJ-O comeback. He rushed for a game-high 173 yards on 20 carries and scored four touchdowns.

His TDs were on runs of 4, 17, 10 and 5 yards. Stevenson also ran in the two-point extra-point conversion three times, totaling 30 points in the opener.

Keaton Nolan added 41 yards rushing, helping SJ-O to a total of 263 yards on the ground.

Brayden Weaver scored the other SJ-O touchdown on a 34-yard run.

“Kids played well,” Skinner said. “Offensive line did a nice job of opening up holes for our backs to run through.”

Quarterback Crayton Burnett completed 4 of 7 passes for 29 yards. Brady Buss caught two of the completions.

“Burnett’s numbers weren’t great, partly because our line needs to pass block a lot better, but he did a great job of running the offense,” Skinner said. “His decision-making was really impressive.”

The Spartans return to action on Friday at Rantoul (0-1).

Soccer

SJ-O doubled its season’s total for goals scored, but was edged by Danville, 3-2, on Saturday.

On Thursday, SJ-O dropped a 7-1 decision to Urbana Uni High. Zac Seeley scored the team’s goal.

Goalie Mason Behrens had seven saves.

The Spartans (0-3-1) return to action today at home against Schlarman Academy.

Volleyball

SJ-O (3-1) bounced back from a season-opening loss to end the week with three victories in a four-day span.

The Spartans went on the road Saturday and secured a two-set sweep over Mahomet-Seymour, 25-16, 25-12. SJ-O amassed 26 kills and had just six hitting errors.

Team leaders were Kennedi Burnett (nine kills), Katelyn Berry (six kills) and Stephanie Trame (four kills). Emily Bigger posted 21 assists and five digs. Lacey Kaiser also totaled five digs.

The Spartans handled Bismarck-Henning on Thursday, 25-15, 25-13. Bigger had 22 assists and nine digs. Berry had nine kills. Kaiser had seven digs and six kills. Burnett accumulated nine digs and Rylee Stahl ended with seven digs.

In Wednesday’s 25-8, 25-2 conquest of Georgetown-Ridge Farm, Bigger put up 18 assists, Burnett collected five kills and five digs. Berry chipped in with four kills and three service aces.

SJ-O returns to action on Tuesday at home against Cissna Park.

The post Spartan football tops STM, Volleyball bounces back, soccer drops two first appeared on SJO Daily.

By FRED KRONER
fred@mahometnews.com

St. Joseph, Ill. – St. Joseph-Ogden High School football captains went through a type of on-the-job training this summer.

As has been the Spartans’ custom for nearly a decade, long-time assistant coach Marshall Schacht coordinates a series of summer team-bonding and team-building activities.

From within the group of SJ-O students interested in playing football, four teams are picked, each with two captains.

The squad member selections are handled with a professional touch.

“Captains have a roster of players who have expressed that they plan to participate in football in the fall,” SJ-O head coach Shawn Skinner said. “Each team has a table and we simulate the ‘draft’ as a mock-up of what the NFL does.

“It’s a great way to introduce the summer workouts, and by having every player assigned to a team, there is a level of accountability to your captains that drafted you and your ‘summer’ teammates.”

Players earn points throughout the summer for attendance at all of the team activities such as weight room, seven-on-seven and Friday morning conditioning. Players also earn a point for gaining weight on their maximum lifts in the bench press, squat, deadlift and power cleans.

“It’s a chance to help broaden the strength and conditioning of the players,” Skinner said, “while at the same time putting them into a competitive situation and stressful situation. We can observe how individual players handle the various situations they are placed in.

“First and foremost, it is an opportunity where the players must lead themselves and work together and support the various members of their teams.”

Though many of the competitions are individual in nature, they also serve to promote the ‘summer’ team as well as the entire football program.

“We all benefit from the involvement as football is truly the most TEAM sport there is,” Skinner said. “Every player realizes they have a value, as the more present they are, the more points they generate for themselves and their summer team. Ultimately, we all get better from the summer competitions.”

One unique aspect is that multi-sport athletes are not penalized by participating in other summer activities.

“Multiple-sport athletes get points for attending camps of other sports that may require them to miss days from our activities,” Skinner said. “For example, basketball players missing a day because they are at a shootout with the SJ-O basketball team still can receive points for their football team by competing elsewhere.

“We WANT and NEED our players to participate in other sports, so we believe it’s important to acknowledge when they participate in those activities.”

Crayton Burnett, Blake Dable and Brayden Weaver are three athletes who will serve as football captains in 2019. They were the top choices in voting done by the team.

The SJ-O coaching staff will select a fourth captain on a weekly basis.

Skinner likes the idea of adding a rotating captain.

“This is a way to acknowledge and reward players throughout the season,” he said. “It could be a player who never misses practices, but may not get as much playing time for a variety of reasons.

“Multiple factors will go into the selection process. Our captains are first and foremost the representatives of our team, school and community. We expect them to be one of the lines of communication between the team and coaches.”

Dable, who didn’t miss any summer workouts, found the off-season activities advantageous in helping to establish leadership qualities.

“We have a draft where we pick our teammates who we believe will give us the best chance to win the summer,” Dable said. “Throughout the summer, we do various challenges every Wednesday that helps whoever wins, to win the summer in total points.

“During these challenges, it is the captains’ job to decide who is best for certain events. The captains have to control their team and show why they were chosen as captains for that summer. During the summer we accomplish three months of basic team bonding where we learn how to connect with each other in the best way possible, which really shows during the season. It also shows everyone who is really committed to the team.”

The Wednesday competitions start at 6 a.m. and last about 90 minutes.

The events range from tire flips to relay races to rope tug of wars to weighted-sled push and pulls to a weighted medicine ball toss to a variety of weightlifting drills.

There is more than pride at stake for the series of summer contests.

“The winning team gets to eat first at our Friday morning team breakfasts,” Skinner said. “We believe this is a valuable part of our off-season program and the players really embrace the opportunities to come together and work.

“It wouldn’t be possible without the time and organization that Coach Schacht puts into the program every summer.”

An additional challenge this summer was participation at an obstacle course that SJ-O graduate Jim Risley has put together at his rural Mahomet home.

Weaver, a repeat football captain, saw tremendous growth and progress throughout the summer.

“Every day in the weight room this summer I would stay well after my own workout was finished to try and help those who were not finished yet with their workout,” Weaver said. “It was important to me that everyone was working out and not simply there to be there.

“This summer has been the best team summer I’ve ever been a part of. The chemistry that this group has, especially the senior class, I think will prove to have a major effect on the outcome of games in the fall. And with all the younger kids falling in and helping the team in their own way, I think the team really has come together well.”

Burnett is the lone junior among the SJ-O trio of captains. He, too, saw positive strides made during the summer.

“We had team competitions on Wednesday mornings and those brought out my leadership qualities a lot by pushing people to be their best and be hard working and leading by example,” Burnett said. “A lot was accomplished this summer.

“We have worked really hard at our seven-on-sevens and in the weight room. There were many leaps forward on maxes.”

Weaver said previous captains were good role models.

“As a freshman and sophomore, everyone looks up to the juniors and seniors and emulates a lot of what they do,” Weaver said. “St. Joseph has a very rich history in every sport, not just football, and taking on the title of captain brings a lot of weight and significance to your name.

“I have learned that when you take the field with ‘Spartans’ on your chest, you have to take the field with the years of experience and success that have proceeded you. As a repeat captain, it is truly an awesome feeling because growing up I always imagined myself calling the coin toss and walking out onto the field first.

“Not a lot of people get to say that they represent a team in this way and I’ve had the privilege of doing it for two years now and I cannot wait to continue to try and bring success to the program with the rest of my team.”

Dable said he will follow the lead set by former team captains.

“I have experienced many different types of leadership,” Dable said. “I have learned that the most successful people in that position have been the ones who constantly motivated their teammates to be better and were always trying to set an ideal expectation for the team.”

Burnett expects the captaincy duties will extend beyond the playing field.

“Some of the roles that I see myself taking would be making sure everything is done the right way on the field, but also making sure everyone is getting in the weight room and doing their schoolwork,” Burnett said. “I have learned a lot from the past captains and listening to them lead and watching them carry themselves, has taught me well.

“It will help me be a vocal leader and a better role model to the younger players in the organization.”

Dable, a two-way lineman, also believes that eyes are on the captains beyond when the games are being played.

“Being a leader also makes me a better person overall because I know that I need to be a good person in order to set an example for the team” Dable said. “As one of the captains, there are many roles and responsibilities that you have to be involved with.

“Some of the most important roles are being someone who your teammates can look up to and being a responsible role model for not only the team, but for the whole community.”

Football is a passion for the Spartan captains.

“Ever since my fourth-grade year when I first started playing football, I’ve not been able to wait for fall to come around and bring another season,” Weaver said. “It is hard to believe that this is the last year I will wear the colors of SJ-O.”

A linebacker, Weaver hopes to play the game beyond high school, but for now is focusing on the nine-game regular-season, which will start at 7 p.m. on Aug. 30 at home against St. Thomas More.

SJ-O is coming off a 5-5 season.

“Team success as of the past few years has not been where we want it,” Weaver said. “And now as a senior captain, the first goal for me is to fight and try and win as many games as we can for the final season I get to play alongside all of my brothers that I’ve gotten the opportunity to play alongside since I was 9.”

In their self-evaluations, the three SJ-O football captains see traits in themselves that will be helpful in their upcoming roles.

“I would describe myself as someone who is very focused,” Dable said. “I would say that I am also someone who is very understanding and easy to talk to. I think one of my best qualities that helped me grow into a leader is not being selfish and always putting the team in front of myself.”

Added Weaver: “I really always go out of my way to be nice to people and see the world through the eyes of others. It is much easier to be nice than it is to be otherwise.

“I really pride myself in my grades and it is very important to me that I can balance my social and sporting life with my academics. I think naturally if you try and help people as much as I do, you tend to mold yourself into a leader position.

“I love being the one that the team looks up to and comes to with any issues or anything that they have because I really love being one of the cogs in the team. I try to help as many people as possible and set an example for the future and current Spartans.”

Burnett, the quarterback, describes himself as someone who “always tries to stay positive and push people to do their best. I would also say that I am hardworking and lead by example. That has helped me become a leader on the football team.

“Being a captain for the football team comes with a lot of responsibility. I am ready to take on the responsibilities of being one of the captains.”

The newly elected captains appreciate the vote of confidence from their peers.

“This year it is very humbling to have received the honor considering this season my teammates and I voted on who they believed should represent the team,” Weaver said. “The trust that my teammates instilled in me and my fellow captains is a big uplift and is very cool.”

Burnet expressed similar feelings.

“It means a lot to me to have my teammates respect me and vote for me to be one of the captains on the football team,” he said.

SJ-O will play five of its first eight games at home this year. In two of their road trips, the Spartans won’t leave Champaign County, traveling to Rantoul and to Unity, in Tolono.

The post Burnett, Dable and Weaver named 2019 SJ-O Football Captains first appeared on SJO Daily.

The Spartans needed eight innings to subdue Danvillle 11-7 in Danville.

Joseph Acton – who pitched three innings of one-hit ball – picked up the win in relief of Zach Martinie. Crayton Burnett pitched the final inning.

Acton struck out four and walked three in his stint. Burnett walked one and fanned one.

Burnett and Jaden Miller led SJ-O offensively, finishing with two hits apiece.

Martinie drove in two runs.

Sam Wesley and Nicholas Boggs each scored two runs.

On Wednesday, Drew Coursey pounded three hits – two of which were doubles – as the Spartans won their fourth straight game, 7-3 over visiting Monticello.

Winning pitcher Adam Rose worked six scoreless innings, yielding four hits, walking one and fanning seven.

Coursey pitched the final inning and did not allow an earned run.

Other offensive leaders were Burnett with two hits, Adam Frerichs with two runs batted in and Rose with two runs scored.

SJ-O (21-8-2) returns to action, weather permitting, today at Mattoon.

Softball

Ashtyn Cromwell pitched a complete game and earned her 40^th career varsity victory on Monday as the Spartans handled visiting Monticello 11-1 in an Illini Prairie Conference game.

Cromwell was backed by an offense that featured home runs by Katie Poulter and Kaylee Ward.

Hannah Dukeman swatted three hits for the Spartans. Bailey Dowling had two hits and scored four runs.

On Tuesday, Zoey Witruk struck out 13 batters in a complete-game pitching performance as the Spartans won at Olympia, 7-2.

Pouter and Dowling each cracked home runs. Savannah Smith contributed two hits and drove in four runs.

SJ-O (17-7) returns to action, weather permitting, tonight at home against Champaign Central.

The post SJ-O baseball hits 20-win mark, Cromwell reaches 40th career win first appeared on SJO Daily.