Kendall County football notes: Oswego has conference title on the line with Minooka coming to town

At Oswego, winning a conference title for much of the previous decade was almost a foregone conclusion, but it hasn’t been vocalized as a goal as much in recent years.

It’s right in front of the team now.

When Minooka (6-1, 2-1) visits Ken Pickerill Stadium Friday to take on the Panthers (7-0, 3-0), the Southwest Prairie West league title will be on the line.

Oswego won eight straight conference championships between 2011-2018 before the Southwest Prairie Conference split into two divisions for football. Oswego has fielded some good teams since then, but the lone SPC West title it has won came in the shortened COVID-19 2021 spring season.

So yes, getting back on top holds meaning.

“We challenge our kids to come out on top and get back to where we used to be on a yearly basis, and we felt this was the group to do it if they put their minds to it,” Oswego coach Brian Cooney said. “The kids realize potentially what is at stake Friday if you take care of this one.

“There used to be a point eight, nine, 10 years ago, looking at the board that winning conference was almost an annual thing for quite a span. Some of those we won outright. Some of those we needed help. It’s something these seniors have not seen. Looking forward to hopefully having them start it back up.”

It’s fitting that Oswego will have go to through Minooka.

In 2019, Minooka came into Oswego and came away with a 28-21 win decided by a go-ahead touchdown in the final minutes. It snapped Oswego’s streak of conference titles, and also ended a 24-game conference winning streak and 36-game home streak against SPC opponents.

Eighteen months later, Oswego overcame a two-touchdown deficit to win at Minooka in a 21-14 thriller to take the SPC West title in the spring season. Minooka has won the last two meetings, 13-10 last season.

“Always a good game, regardless of whether we come on top or they have,” Cooney said. “Last year we were driving and they ended up intercepting the ball when we were knocking on the door. Typically it’s always a competitive game, which is OK with our guys. We’ve had some groups that prefer the layup or easy game. This group would much rather play Minooka this week than an easy game. This group likes to get down and play football.”

Cooney hopes to get starting running back Ayden Villa back this week after missing the last game and a half with an injury. Dekker Zelensek, who came in for Villa, is still banged up after sustaining an injury last week. Lucas Andersen and Donovan Williams could get some carries in their stead, and sophomore Graham Schwab could get a look.

“We’re fortunate that we have a deeper pool than in the past,” Cooney said. “It’s a position that you’re going to see some bumps and bruises.”

Sandwich gets back to fundamentals

Sandwich’s 49-14 loss to Richmond-Burton in Week 6 was a humbling experience that the Indians apparently learned from watching film of. They bounced back in sound fashion to beat Woodstock 28-14 last week. Sandwich jumped out to a 21-7 halftime lead and held on despite only running 12 plays in the second half.

“Defensively we were much more fundamentally sound, and we absolutely needed to be because the whole second half our defense was on the field a lot,” Sandwich coach Kris Cassie said. “I give them a lot of credit. They took it to heart after we watched the R-B film, we saw a lot of mistakes. We had to get back to solid fundamental football and we did that.”

What does that mean from a defensive perspective?

“It starts with pad level,” Cassie said. “R-B, their pad level was lower than ours. They made it tough on us. Our defensive stances we were playing too high. It sounds simple but pad level means everything in this game. Low man wins. We dug into the film and showed them that was the difference. R-B played more physical than us and that is something we pride ourselves on is playing physical football with solid tackling. We had to be physical, stay low and keep the pad level low. It’s not just rhetoric, they’re buying into what we’re saying.”

The Indians will need to keep it going this Friday at a 6-1 Woodstock North team that itself is coming off a 35-0 loss to Richond-Burton.

“They have a really big fullback that runs hard, their quarterback is a very good runner and they play sound, disciplined football,” Cassie said. “With that veer that they run we have to play assignment-based football. Their fullback runs downhill and their line stays low and drives.

“I expect the atmosphere to be as close to a playoff atmosphere as you’re going to get. They’re a good team. I feel we’re a good team as well.”

Oswego East gets ‘much needed win’

Oswego East picked up what coach Tyson LeBlanc characterized as a “much needed” 21-9 win over Bolingbrook last Friday, and played with that sense of urgency.

The Wolves jumped out to a 21-0 lead just minutes into the second quarter of that game. Niko Villacci threw touchdown passes to Connor Konken and Lincoln Ijams. Jasiah Watson ran in a third TD.

“Offensively we got out of our way for once, we didn’t have too many penalties,” LeBlanc said. “The offensive line is starting to come together a little bit. Niko has been in the system for a couple years and is starting to get better at his end. We had a good week of practice and again, more than anything, a lot less mistakes at key times.”

Defensively, Oswego East allowed just 113 yards of offense. Senior safety Andy Pohlman led the way with eight tackles, three tackles for loss and an interception.

“Andy is Andy,” LeBlanc said. “He has been consistent the whole year He has been key on both sides of the ball and a key punt returner. He is a good football player week in and week out.”

Oswego East’s win sets up a matchup of 3-4 teams this Friday between the Wolves and Yorkville critical to both teams’ playoff chances. Oswego East and Yorkville are two of four teams in the Southwest Prairie West sitting at 3-4, along with Bolingbrook and Plainfield North.

“Each week, no matter where you look at it on the slate, there are games in our league decided by no more than 10 points. The games are relatively close,” LeBlanc said. “Everybody in our league plays good defense, and when you play good defense the games are lower scoring and competitive.”