The Spartans delighted their homecoming crowd on Friday (Oct. 1) with their best defensive performance of the season in a 33-0 win over Bloomington Central Catholic at Dick Duval Field.

SJ-O not only posted its first shutout of the season, but senior Ethan Vanliew returned an interception 100 yards for a touchdown.

Coby Miller rushed for a game-high 178 yards, with 97 of those coming on a third-quarter TD romp.

SJ-O led, 12-0, at halftime.

“We were up 12-0 because of our special teams and defense,” SJ-O coach Shawn Skinner said. “It was nice that Coach (Bob) Glazier (defensive coordinator) was able to get a shutout in his last homecoming.”

Glazier is retiring at season’s end after 34 years on staff.

Quarterback Evan Ingram scored the game’s first touchdown when SJ-O took over on a short field following a snap that went over the head of the BCC punter.

Vanliew almost wasn’t able to be on the field for his heroics.

“On the play before, Isaiah Moore made a phenomenal play, knocking it away, otherwise they would have scored,” Skinner said.

Moore’s play in the secondary set up fourth-and-long for the Saints and enabled Vanliew to be in position for the interception.

“Our defensive backs are playing at a high level,” Skinner said. “Our defense has the attitude that they can score when they get the ball.”

And they have found their way to the end zone multiple times. In previous games, Moore had a pick-six and Miller returned a fumble for a TD.

Against BCC, Tyler Burch and Rowan Musselman picked off passes and Ramsey Primmer recovered a fumble.

The Spartans’ offense did good things in the second half, even when the end result wasn’t a TD.

“We opened the third quarter with an 8-minute drive and to take eight minutes off the clock was important,” Skinner said. “Our offense is continuing to play clean, moving the football and not making critical errors.”

Making the offensive play in Week 6 more impressive is that SJ-O was obligated to make changes on the offensive line. Junior Bryson Helfrich suffered a season-ending ACL injury in Week 5 against Stanford Olympia.

The Spartans shifted tight end Aidan McCorkle to tackle. Peyton Sarver moved from tackle to guard and Jett Morris went from guard to tackle. Spencer Fitch is the other guard.

It resulted in an offense that generated 378 yards of offense against BCC.

“Jett Morris and Conrad Miller (center) are seniors who have done a good job helping those guys,” Skinner said. “Here we are at Week 7 and still playing musical chairs with the offensive line.”

Ingram passed for 63 yards, completing 8 of 17 passes.

Besides Miller and Ingram, other TDs scored by the offense last week were by Justice Wertz and Alex Funk. Wertz finished with 63 yards rushing.

SJ-O (3-3) returns to action on Friday (Oct. 8) at Pontiac, trying to extend its winning streak to four games.

Skinner said the team stayed together in spite of an 0-3 start (to teams which currently have a combined 17-1 record).

“It’s a credit to our kids and the coaching staff that they never got down,” Skinner said. “There was never any panic, just a sense that we will get better.

“There was never a moment where our kids were making excuses or looking backward. We said we won’t be defined by those first three games.”

As for the game at Pontiac, there’s more at stake than the chance to rise above the .500 mark for the season.

“We have never won at Pontiac in the history of the varsity program,” Skinner said. “We have an opportunity to do something no other team has done before.”

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Seniors Keaton Nolan and Coby Miller each scored three touchdowns on Friday (Sept. 24) as St. Joseph-Ogden scored a season’s high in points during a 60-36 romp at Stanford Olympia.

Quarterback Evan Ingram completed 14 of 15 passes for 180 yards and five TDs. He hooked up with Miller twice and also hit aerial scoring strikes to Nolan, Griffin Roesch and Tyler Burch.

Nolan rushed for a game-high 193 yards and two TDs. Isaiah Moore and Miller each rushed for one touchdown.

Nolan scored the game’s first touchdown 51 seconds into the game, staking SJ-O into a lead it never relinquished.

“We had a pretty good idea we could do things in the passing game,” SJ-O coach Shawn Skinner said, “but they are big upfront and we were pleasantly surprised by the running game.

“Keaton got hot early, and we kept going to him. It was a good job by the offensive line.”

The lead at halftime grew to 34-6, thanks to a TD six seconds before intermission. Evans connected with Burch on a 26-yard scoring strike.

One advantage the Spartans have on offense is versatility with some players.

“You can’t pigeon-hole our guys on offense,” Skinner said. “They have multiple positions.

“Griffin (Roesch) might be a tight end or a wide receiver. Coby (Miller) goes from fullback to tailback to slot.

“It’s fun for our kids to line up in different places.”

The Spartans’ lead grew to 40-6 when SJ-O scored three plays into the second half, before Skinner began substituting, getting some younger players varsity experience against Olympia’s first unit.

“They scored one TD on our top-line defense,” Skinner said. “Our starting defense was fantastic, forcing two turnovers.”

Among the SJ-O standouts were defensive lineman Owen Birt and Mark Miller, outside linebackers Nolan, Roesch and Conrad Miller along with cornerbacks Burch and Moore.

“It was a total defensive effort,” Skinner said.

SJ-O (2-3) returns to action on Friday (Oct. 1) at home against Bloomington Central Catholic (3-2), which has lost two straight games.

“They’ve been in the fire and we have a lot of work to do to prepare for them,” Skinner said. “It will be a challenge to see how we respond to a different style defense.”

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St. Joseph-Ogden’s football team broke into the win column in a big way on Friday (Sept. 17), building a 35-point halftime lead en route to a 48-7 Illini Prairie Conference triumph at home over Chillicothe IVC.

Spartan coach Shawn Skinner praised the leadership of five seniors – Coby  Miller, Griffin Roesch, Conrad Miller, Jett Morris and Keaton Nolan – in helping the squad get through its rough start to the season.

“I never sensed any panic,” Skinner said, ”just a sense of urgency, focus and wanting to get back.”

Evan Ingram completed all five of his first-half passes, including two for touchdowns in the opening period. Roesch and Nolan hauled in the scoring strikes to stake the Spartans to a 14-0 lead after one quarter.

Sophomore Joe Frasca, in his first game as the placekicker, made six consecutive extra-point conversion kicks. Miller is the long-snapper and Roesch served as the holder for the attempts.

SJ-O had its top offensive performance of the year, amassing 317 total yards.

The Spartans had rushing TDs from Nolan, Isaiah Moore and Justice Wertz.

The defense got into the scoring column as well. Moore returned an interception for a Pick Six and Miller – who rushed for a game-high 66 yards – returned a recovered fumble for a score. Tyler Burch also had an interception.

Skinner said Miller’s defensive score came on a special play for the middle linebacker.

“He blitzed, knocked the ball out (of the quarterback’s hands) and then returned it 33 yards for a score,” Skinner said.

Ingram completed 5 of 7 passes for 105 yards.

For the third straight game, SJ-O allowed fewer yards than it did the previous week. IVC was limited to 177 yards.

Skinner wasn’t surprised by the Spartans’ performance.

“We felt like we were going in the right direction (the previous two games),” Skinner said. “It started with our preparation. We had our best week of practice. The attention to detail was good.

“In the game, it was a combination of all three phases contributing in a lot of ways.”

That was evident in the game’s opening minutes.

With Frasca kicking off to start the game, IVC took possession on its own 20-yard line. The SJ-O defense then forced a punt after three plays weren’t able to gain 10 yards.

“Four plays later, we struck gold,” Skinner said, referring to the quick score.

The process was then repeated.

The next Frasca kickoff resulted in IVC taking over at its own 24. Another punt was forthcoming, followed by a TD on the Spartans’ second possession, set up by an Ingram-to-Nolan pass near the goal line.

The defense came up big on the third IVC possession. After the Grey Ghosts drove downfield, Burch intercepted a pass in the end zone.

“That was a significant play in the game,” Skinner said.

SJ-O (1-3) returns to action on Friday (Sept. 24) at Stanford Olympia (1-3).

SJ-O can’t afford any letdowns in its preparations.

“Olympia has had periods where they’ve looked good,” Skinner said. “If you don’t play assignment football, they can expose you real quickly.

“They’ve come up short against some good teams.”

Olympia’s losses have been to still-unbeaten teams from Monticello and Unity as well as to a one-loss Paxton-Buckley-Loda squad.

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The Spartans went 4-4 in the Illini Prairie Conference dual-meet series, which ended on Saturday at Pontiac, and placed fifth in the nine-team event.

Individually, two SJ-O athletes compiled 7-1 records during the two-day competition.

A.J. Wagner (113 pounds) won all but one of his bouts, including four by pin. His fastest fall was 37 seconds.

Isaiah Moore (126 pounds) was also 7-1 at the league meet. He posted three pins, including one in 23 seconds.

Overall, 12 SJ-O athletes competed at the IPC meet and all 12 won at least one match. Eight squad members had pins.

Brodie Sullivan (182 pounds) was 5-2 with two pins. His quickest pin was 56 seconds. Trevon Carr (170 pounds) was 5-3 with three pins. His fastest fall was in 1:03. Max Shonkwiler (195 pounds) was 5-3 with three pins, including one in 55 seconds.

Owen Birt (220 pounds) was 4-3 and Isaiah Immke (138 pounds) was 4-4. Immke had two pins, including a fast fall of 1:53.

Chase Chapman (132 pounds) was 3-3 with a pin in 4:37. Conrad Miller (145 pounds) was 3-5 with two pins, including one in 35 seconds.

Other Spartan competitors were Austin Kofoot (120 pounds), who was 2-4; A.J. Wells (285 pounds), who was 1-2; and Austin Cotter (285 pounds), who was 1-4.

The Spartans’ conference team wins were 46-4 over St.  Thomas More, 54-18 over Olympia, 47-21 over Rantoul and 42-39 over Chillicothe IVC.

The team’s losses were to eventual champion Unity 65-5, eventual runner-up Prairie Central 62-18, eventual third-place finisher Pontiac 48-32 and eventual fourth-place finisher Monticello, 50-24.

The lone SJ-O winner against Unity was Immke, who collected a 19-3 technical fall triumph. Wagner, Moore and Chapman were the winners against Prairie Central.

SJ-O returns to action on Thursday at El Paso in a meet that also includes Clinton.

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Five Spartans posted at least one pin on Saturday during a series of dual meets at Robinson.

SJ-O went 1-3 for the day in its dual meets, edging Lawrenceville 36-33 after losing to Cumberland 39-33, Mount Carmel 46-18 and Robinson 59-21.

A.J. Wagner (113 pounds), Isaiah Moore (126 pounds), Isaiah Immke (145 pounds), Trevon Carr (170 pounds) and Brodie Sullivan (182 pounds) were the squad members who registered pins.

Moore was the lone Spartan to go 4-0 for the day. Three of his wins were by falls. Teammates ending the day with three wins were Wagner, Sullivan and Max Shonkwiler (195 pounds). Wagner also secured three pins.

Other SJ-O athletes who picked up wins for the day were Austin Kofoot (120 pounds), Owen Birt (220 pounds) and A.J. Wells (285 pounds).

SJ-O will return to action on Friday and Saturday in the Illini Prairie Conference meet at Pontiac.

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St. Joseph-Ogden’s A.J. Wagner won all three of his matches on Saturday to win the 113-pound weight class in the Rex Avery Porta Invitational in Petersburg.

Wagner is 7-1 for the season and had one pin. He was top-seeded in his weight class.

Wagner was among eight Spartans who participated in the tournament.

Brodie Sullivan placed fourth at 195 pounds. He had one pin for the day.

Securing fifth-place finishes for SJ-O were Isaiah Moore (126 pounds) and Trevon Carr (170 pounds). Moore was 2-1 for the day with two pins. Carr was 3-1 and posted one pin.

Joe Gherna (285 pounds) won the consolation bracket.

Overall, SJ-O wrestlers were 12-11 for the tournament.

The team’s other competitors were Matthew Falls (138 pounds), Conrad Miller (145 pounds) and Max Shonkwiler  (220 pounds).

As a team, SJ-O scored 60 points at Porta and placed 18th in the 25-school event.

Wagner, Chase Chapman and Shonkwiler each have two pins for the Spartans through the first five dual meets.

Austin Kofoot, Moore and A.J. Wells all have one pin apiece in the dual meets.

Wagner’s fastest fall was in 48 seconds and accounted for the only SJ-O points in a 61-6 loss to LeRoy/Tri-Valley.

Shonkwiler’s quickest pin was in 16 seconds and was one of six matches the Spartans won in a 47-33 loss to Clifton Central.

Chapman’s 11-second pin, also against Clifton Central, was the team’s fastest in the first five meets.

Wells produced a 19-second pin in a 48-12 loss to Danville.

Kofoot registered a 16-second fall against Clifton Central. Moore’s pin came in 2 minutes, 11 seconds, also against Clifton.

Wagner and Shonkwiler each earned wins by decision in a 51-6 loss to Oakwood/Salt Fork.

Carr scored a technical fall win in a 35-5 SJ-O win over Urbana.

SJ-O returns to action on Tuesday at Gibson City in a meet that also includes Heyworth.

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The Spartans (4-1) dropped their home-opener on Tuesday, 65-44, to Paris.

Taylor Barnes scored a team-high nine points. Finishing with six points apiece were Alyssa Hamilton, Payton Jacob and Ashlyn Lannert.

Paris jumped into a 14-6 lead after one quarter.

Lannert and Katie Cramer were picked for the all-tournament team the previous week at the Lady Bunny/Lady Falcon Classic.

SJ-O returns to action tonight at home against Tuscola.

St. Joseph-Ogden Wrestling

Three Spartan underclassmen were mentioned in the honorable mention category by The Illinois Best Weekly in its preseason Class 1A individual state rankings.

Junior A.J.  Wagner received notice at 113 pounds as did teammates Isaiah Moore, a sophomore, at 120 pounds and Isaiah Immke, a junior, at 138 pounds.

The Spartans open the season on Saturday at Danville with a series of dual meets that will also include Urbana, LeRoy and Olympia.

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