Ottawa runs past Streator 34-7 in 103rd all-time meeting

STREATOR – The game of football is a lot of times about momentum, and it can change hands fast. It’s about which team can get it, and which team can hang on to it.

In Friday’s 103rd all-time meeting between rivals Ottawa and Streator at Doug Dieken Stadium, the host Bulldogs had it in their grasp late in the third quarter, but then allowed the Pirates to snatch it away on the very first play of the fourth.

In the end Ottawa ran away with a 34-7 victory for a third straight win over Streator and a 62-39-2 advantage in the series that began back in 1894.

Down 20-7 late in the third quarter Streator’s Kameron Magana recovered an Ottawa fumble at the Pirates 30 and on the next play Jordan Lukes ran the ball down to the 5.

“That was all the offensive line, that’s where all the credit goes on that one,”

—  Archer Cechowicz, Ottawa running back when asked about his 55-yard fourth quarter touchdown run against Streator

Then on the opening play of the fourth quarter the Bulldogs fumbled, and Ottawa’s Logan Mills recovered. The Pirates then used a 55-yard touchdown run by Archer Cechowicz four plays later to essentially put the game away.

“It was possibly going to be a one score game there,” Ottawa coach Chad Gross said, his team now 1-1. “We just had a bad handoff, and those things are going to happen, but what I’m proud of is then the defense came right back and made a play to get the momentum back to us. Then we were able to hit that big run a couple plays later to make it a three-score game. It was a huge turn of events there at the end of the third and the beginning of the fourth.

“We put together a solid game in all three phases, but especially in our line play on both sides of the ball. I felt like we were right there last week (in a 17-14 loss to Plano), but we made just enough small mistakes that cost us. We didn’t make those same mistakes tonight.”

[ Photos: Ottawa vs. Streator Week 2 football ]

Cechowicz gave all the credit for his run to the guys up front.

“That was all the offensive line, that’s where all the credit goes on that one,” Cechowicz said. “That play is designed to go right up the middle and the line provided great blocks, a huge hole, and all I had to do was run as fast as I could through it. I thought someone was going to catch me, but I guess they didn’t.

“Last week was very disappointing. We all felt we kind of let one get away. We talked at the beginning of the week about just letting it go and focus on Streator and that’s what we did.”

Ottawa — which held a 397-242 advantage in total yards, including 263-196 on the ground — led 14-0 at halftime on a first quarter 2-yard TD run by Weston Averkamp and a second quarter 20-yard TD pass from Mark Munson to Andrew Vercolio.

The Pirates then drove the opening possession of the second half 76 yards in eight plays, ending with Jack Pongracz going the final 3 yards.

Streator (1-1) responded with an 11-play, 66-yard march that was finished off by a 11-yard dash around left end by Lukes, who finished with 146 yards on 20 carries, to make it 20-7.

The Pirates were led in rushing by Jace Veith (five carries, 70 yards), Pongracz (8-64) and Cechowicz (2-62). Munson finished 9-of-12 passing for 134 yards, including a 21-yard scoring strike to Owen Sanders that closed out the game’s scoring.

“That was a key sequence,” Streator coach Matt Cloe said of the end of the third and start of the fourth. “We had a blown assignment in blocking which led to us not really being able to completely get the handoff off. We moved the ball pretty well all night, hardly a negative play, but like in that situation to start the fourth quarter we didn’t finish. We have the capability to finish but we just didn’t do it tonight. It’s a mentality. We had the ball at the 5 with a chance to make it a one score game and just didn’t get it done.

“We had made some pretty good strides all through the summer, the first weeks of practice and in last week’s game, but this was a letdown, and the kids know it.”

Next week Ottawa travels to Howard Fellows Stadium to play La Salle-Peru in the 125th meeting between the longtime rivals. Streator hosts Coal City in an Illinois Central Eight Conference opener.

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BOX SCORE

At Doug Dieken Stadium, Streator

Ottawa 34, Streator 7

Ottawa (1-1) 7 7 6 14 — 34

Streator (1-1) 0 0 7 0 — 7

Scoring by quarter

First quarter

O — Weston Averkamp 2 run (Lucas Farabaugh kick), 3:51, 7-0

Second quarter

O — Andrew Vercolio 20 pass from Mark Munson (Lucas Farabaugh kick), 4:45, 14-0

Third quarter

O — Jack Pongracz 3 run (kick failed), 7:07, 20-0

S — Jordan Lukes 11 run (Anthony Mohr kick), 1:17, 20-7

Fourth quarter

O — Archer Cechowicz 55 run (Lucas Farabaugh kick), 9:41, 27-7

O — Owen Sanders 21 pass from Mark Munson (Lucas Farabaugh kick), 8:30, 34-7

Team statistics

Ottawa Streator

Total plays: 40 57

First downs: 17 14

Rushes-Yards: 28-263 39-196

Passing yards: 134 46

Total offense: 397 242

Comp-Att-Int.: 9-12-0 8-18-0

Third downs: 3-of-6 4-of-13

Fourth downs: 1-of-2 3-of-4

Fumbles-Lost: 1-1 2-1

Penalties-Yards: 4-35 7-50

Punts-Avg.: 1-31.0 3-23.3

Time of possession: 21:00 27:00

Individual statistics

RUSHING – Ottawa: Jace Veith 5-70, Jack Pongracz 8-64 (TD), Archer Cechowicz 2-62 (TD), Weston Averkamp 6-27 (TD), Mark Munson 4-24, Bryson Valdez 1-15, Tory Murrell 2-1. Streator: Jordan Lukes 20-146 (TD), Anthony Mohr 10-30, Isaiah Weibel 5-22, Tristan Finley 3-2, Clayton Lehman 1-(minus 4).

PASSING (C-A-TD-INT-YD) – Ottawa: Mark Munson 9-12-2-0-134. Streator: Isaiah Weibel 8-18-0-0-46.

RECEIVING – Ottawa: Archer Cechowicz 3-25, Owen Sanders 2-74 (TD), Andrew Vercolio 2-30 (TD), Weston Averkamp 2-5. Streator: Sharonn Morton 3-10, Matt Williamson 2-14, Jake Hagie 1-15, Tristan Finley 1-11, Jordan Lukes 1-(minus 4).