Goss: Minooka puts bad quarter in rear-view mirror

When Minooka lost its season opener to Oswego, 31-13, on Aug. 25, the tendency was to say there will be nothing special about this Indians football team.

Lose by about three touchdowns to a quality team such as Oswego, and it looks like another season where the Indians could miss the playoffs. Or if they got in, it probably would be as a lower seed and thus be first-round meat for one of the Class 8A powerhouses.

But what we would have missed with that assessment is the way the 31-13 final against Oswego developed, and what that said about Minooka. The Indians fell behind, 14-0, three minutes into the game and 24-0 in the opening seconds of the second quarter. For the final three quarters, they played well.

That was the Minooka we have seen all season under first-year coach Terry McCombs and his staff. Seven weeks of the season are complete. The Indians, who are riding a six-game winning streak, are 6-1 and in a three-way tie with Oswego and Oswego East for the Southwest Prairie Conference lead.

The Indians are locked into the playoffs. In fact, after last Friday’s 31-7 victory over Joliet West on the wet, natural-grass field that is the Indians’ home, McCombs made an interesting point.

“I told the kids to get used to it,” he said of playing on the wet field. “I hope we keep winning and have a home playoff game [in the opening round]. If we have one and it’s wet, that could be to our advantage. Just about everyone else plays on turf.”

“It’s a challenge to play on a wet field, but we overcame it well,” Indians defensive tackle Jared Price said. “We’re ready to play in anything.”

West had injury problems crop up Friday that hampered its effectiveness, but Minooka was physical and on top of its game regardless. The Indians had not allowed a touchdown in four games at home before Kevon Dorris, who later became one of four Tigers to exit because of an injury, turned a jet sweep into an 80-yard TD run midway through the first quarter.

“Joliet had all the speed, and we have slow kids, but we looked fast tonight,” McCombs said.

Minooka has two road games remaining – at Oswego East and at Plainfield South. The Oswego East game will help determine how the conference race plays out.

Meanwhile, winning enough to earn a home playoff game is a big deal. The Indians wanted to complete their home season without allowing the opposition to score. It could have happened, but for Dorris’ brilliant run.

Among the members of the Minooka defenders you can’t help but notice include Price, Jake Shipla and Adrian Paige in the trenches; linebackers Brian Kripple, Jake Brozovich, Tyler Haase and Jack Kropke; corners Colin Schuster and Jake Ryan; and safeties Jake Loebbaka, Max Christiano and Steve Gonzalez.

Shipla sacked West quarterback Jaxon Aubry in the end zone for a safety in Friday’s victory. Price was a headache for the West offensive line all night. Gonzalez intercepted a pass after it was deflected twice.

The defense is sound. How the Indians fare in the last two games of the regular season and in the playoffs will depend in large part on how well the offense performs, not only in terms of moving the ball and putting points on the board, but also protecting the ball and not turning it over.

Zach Gessner is having a solid season at quarterback, and 150-pound running back Owen Kapple is among the leading rushers in the area, running behind a line that features center Kyle Williamson, guards Connor Parker and Tony Mata and tackles Derek Wentworth and Daniel Crowder.

“We are getting better and better as a team,” Mata said. “But we still have not reached our full potential yet.

“We have big games left. We’re going to have to play four solid quarters [against Oswego East].”

Four solid quarters has been the plan all season under McCombs and the outstanding coaching staff he put together. It was not executed in the first quarter of Week 1, but it has been since.

No reason to believe it will not continue.

• Dick Goss can be reached at dgoss@shawmedia.com.