Kendall County notes: Oswego East’s Jamari McKay may stand 5-foot-4, but he doesn’t give an inch at cornerback

At a listed 5-foot-4, Oswego East junior cornerback Jamari McKay can easily get lost among his bigger teammates on the sidelines.

He doesn’t give an inch on the field.

“I try to be as physical as I can be,” McKay said. “They always tell me I’m short and people would come over me. Especially playing field side corner, I’m trying to be as physical as I can be.”

McKay made an absolutely giant play last Friday.

His leaping interception in the end zone in the final minute of the first half kept Plainfield South off the scoreboard after an Oswego East turnover. The Wolves went on to a 13-7 win.

“Basically we were in man coverage, we got to play the sticks toward the end zone, they were in the red zone, my safety told me the fade was coming,” McKay said. “I had good footwork, I snapped my head to the ball and it was just there.”

Oswego East coach Tyson LeBlanc at this point isn’t surprised at anything his mighty mite can do athletically.

LeBlanc recalls seeing McKay grab the basketball rim with two hands in gym class his sophomore year. McKay jumped 42 feet in the triple jump last spring. LeBlanc thought he could have been a state qualifier had he not broke his ankle at conference.

“He’s just a super charismatic kid, a guy that athletically can do a lot of things,” LeBlanc said. “You look at his stature, he’s not a very big guy but athletically he can do some things. I’ve had a firsthand view of the athleticism he’s got.”

McKay had previously played slot receiver, but when Oswego East had some other guys emerge at receiver and an injury happened to a cornerback McKay was slotted in on defense. LeBlanc said he got better and started to gain more confidence the more reps he got.

“It’s not as easy as I thought it would be, my first year playing cornerback, but I’m a physical player and I just love the game of football,” McKay said. “The biggest challenge of playing cornerback is the footwork. The footwork is very hard. You have to contain the outside.”

McKay is fortunate to have some talented mentors surrounding him.

His opposite cornerback is senior Nigel Grisby, an Eastern Illinois recruit. Oswego East’s cornerbacks coach is Antwain Walker, who starred with the Wolves in high school, started as a freshman at NIU and won an NCAA Division III national title at North Central.

“Nigel is a good teacher,” McKay said. “He has helped me get my footwork better and coach Walker, he came in he helped me get my footwork better.”

McKay knows that with Grisby on the opposite side, teams are going to come his way on deep balls. And that’s fine with him.

“He plays with a little bit of a chip on his shoulder,” LeBlanc said. “He’s done a great job of developing mental toughness. Cornerback is a spotlight position. If you don’t make a play, people see it.”

Sandwich QB Brady Behringer’s clutch throw

When Sandwich is at its best, quarterback Brady Behringer doesn’t have to unleash the passing game often.

That was the case again during Friday’s 28-21 win at Johnsburg. Sandwich threw only one pass, but it couldn’t have been more clutch.

Facing third and 10 on its own 17-yard line in a tie game, Behringer rolled right and threw a strike to Kai Pon for a 14-yard completion and a first down. That completion was the first of three third-down conversion’s on Sandwich’s huge 16-play, 94-yard, game-winning drive.

“I know it’s going to be open because of the fakes that we have and that we don’t pass as much,” Behringer said. “The blocking was good that play, and I just rolled out. It was wide open, I threw it and completed it.”

It wasn’t the only big play made by Behringer in the closing minutes. He also had a 9-yard run on second-and-8 on the drive and made the huge interception to squash Johnsburg’s final drive.

It earned the praise of coach Kris Cassie.

“I can’t say enough good things about our quarterback,” he said. “When we needed him most on that belly keep he picked up a first down. On that bootleg pass he threw a perfect strike for a first down.

“Huge game from the offensive line and Brady Behringer. The guys just kept battling for four quarters.”

-- Andy Tavegia

Oswego shows no let up

Oswego hit a soft spot in its schedule the last two weeks, with wins over Plainfield Central and Joliet Central by a combined margin of 119-13.

But Panthers coach Brian Cooney didn’t see any let up from his kids. In fact, he reported that Monday’s practice was probably the team’s best since Week 2 against Joliet Catholic.

“I like the way that our kids have focused on their overall continued improvement,” Cooney said. “They’ve tried not to make the last two weeks about their opponents but rather their continued improvement. We’re 4-0, can’t complain about that, handling the crossover games is always a must, but I thought we did what we needed to do.”

First up in Southwest Prairie West division play is a home game Friday with Plainfield North. It’s a matchup that’s produced some of Oswego’s most compelling results in the recent past, with three games since 2019 decided by one score including last year’s 10-7 Plainfield North win. The Tigers, coached by former Oswego defensive coordinator Anthony Imbordino, have shook off an 0-2 start with back-to-back wins over Plainfield South and Joliet West.

“Other than one year when they were significantly better than us every year, it is down to the wire and into the fourth quarter,” Cooney said. “Hopefully this year we got a little bit different mindset, hopefully we get on top and stay on top – but we are expecting a four-quarter battle. They are disciplined on defense, offensively have more speed on the outside than we have seen. It’s a playoff opponent.”

Yorkville even at 2-2

Yorkville, like Oswego East and Plainfield North in the SPC West, is back even at 2-2 going into divisional play this week.

It’s kept the Foxes’ hopes for a sixth consecutive playoff appearance alive at the season’s halfway point.

“It’s coach talk, but we try to take it one game at a time,” Yorkville coach Dan McGuire said. “Our schedule is that difficult that if you look ahead it can overwhelm you. I’m happy with the way our kids came out last week. They played with confidence from the beginning. You could tell by their body language that they were playing with more confidence. Anytime you can win a game in our league that’s a big deal.”

The Foxes have also overcome recent injuries to senior receiver Dillon Jaskowski, senior running back Ryan Wulff and senior running back Kenton Darnell.

“Three seniors we were counting on going into this year,” McGuire said. “One thing I was most proud of last year is we have a lot of youth and we were stagnant for a couple weeks. I thought we improved some this week. We have to continue to strive to get better.”

Yorkville Friday hosts Bolingbrook, which will be making its SPC West debut. The Raiders, yet again, are a team that’s overcome an 0-2 start to sit at 2-2.

“We have to limit their explosive plays, we have to try to force them into long downs and distances and try to play that field position game,” McGuire said.

Plano linemen step up

Even in its 41-17 loss to Woodstock North, Plano was able to have success running the football with 203 yards on 44 carries.

Reapers coach Kyle Tutt gave credit to his guards in the game, AJ Davis and Onyx Holloway, for their part in making that possible.

“We switched to one kid, AJ Davis, was waiting for his opportunity and stepped up. Holloway was another kid who has played guard all year and switched to another side,” Tutt said. “They did a nice job. Young group, young to the position, excited about their potential. You have to give those guys credit. Something to build on giving guys opportunities.”

Former lineman Tim Young, now Plano’s starting fullback, continues to take his opportunity and run with it. With 129 yards last Friday, he’s up to 431 yards on the season with four touchdowns.

“Tim’s just a great athlete,” Tutt said. “I thought the offensive line was able to do some nice things and we continue to add. You can see that improvement every week.”