Niko Villacci’s big night leads Oswego East past Yorkville

YORKVILLE – Niko Villacci and Oswego East were playing to better their playoff chances as the Wolves entered 3-4.

The junior quarterback answered the bell, accumulating 324 all-purpose yards and three total touchdowns.

Where does this rank among the second-year starter’s career performances?

“It ranks pretty high,” he said. “I had some pretty crazy games my freshman ranks, but tonight is definitely up there.”

The Wolves, catapulted by the effort of their quarterback, defeated Yorkville 34-14 on Friday night.

Oswego East (4-4, 2-2 SPC West) opened the night with a three-and-out. After a punt, the Yorkville offense drove into the red zone and lined up for a 30-yard field goal attempt.

The Wolves blocking unit got into the backfield and got a hand on the kick. The loose ball was scooped up at the 30-yard line by Jake Boissiere and returned 70 yards for a touchdown.

“We’ve had our struggles this year on special teams,” Oswego East coach Tyson LeBlanc said. “This week our emphasis was on that phase of the game, and it resulted in seven points and a couple of extra possessions for us.”

The Oswego East special teams unit also executed an onside kick and a fake punt.

“It was very crucial,” Villacci said. “It really got the momentum going.”

Later in the quarter, the Wolves were driving in Yorkville territory, and Villacci threw a screen pass to his left that fell incomplete. Or so he and everyone on Oswego East thought.

Yorkville’s (3-5. 1-3) Bryce Griffin scooped up the loose ball and took it 70 yards to the house, tying the game. The pass had been deemed backwards by the officials, and thus, a fumble.

Villacci and the Oswego East offense was unfazed. The unit responded with a 37-yard drive that ended in a 35-yard field goal from Caden Bregar, one of two field goals he made.

On the next drive, Villacci found Lincoln Ijams for a 40-yard catch and run. The first of six 20-plus yard completions for Villacci.

“We haven’t gotten into the deep ball a lot this year,” Villacci said. “Before this game I talked to my receivers and we thought we could go up and get it.”

Villacci’s air raid approach earned him 262 yards passing and two touchdowns while completing 12 of his 19 attempts.

“He’s a ballplayer,” LeBlanc said. “Offensively, were going to go as he goes.”

On the following drive, Villacci found Andrew Pohlman on the first play from scrimmage for another 40-yard completion. Villacci finished the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run.

Villacci, traditionally a pocket passer, used his legs in addition to his arm a he scampered for 60 yards and a touchdown. The read option was a success for Wolves offense.

“Their defensive ends are very aggressive,” Villacci said. “That gave me a lot of opportunities to keep the ball.”

The second half was more of the same from Villacci and the Wolves. He found Ijams for a 22-yard touchdown and Juan Cepeda for a 45-yard TD to put the game away.

Villacci spread the ball around as four different Wolves caught passes. Leading the way was Ijams with four receptions for 93 yards and a TD.

“We felt that coming in we were going to be able to throw the ball down the field a little bit,” LeBlanc said. “That’s one of Niko’s strong suits.”

Yorkville’s offense finally got clicking early in the fourth as Jack Beetham dissected a soft zone defense from the Wolves to the tune of 39 yards on three completions, ending the drive with a 12-yard touchdown run.

Yorkville running back Tavaris Harland Jr. led the offense with 11 carries for 96 yards.

“We made too many mistakes,” Yorkville coach Dan McGuire said. “You can’t turn the ball over and you can’t give up special teams touchdowns.”

The Foxes turned the ball over twice, and five of their 11 drives ended in four plays or less.

“We have to play to win,” McGuire said. “We just have to play football, and it didn’t happen tonight.”

Oswego East is one win away from all but guaranteeing its playoff eligibility.

“We don’t want to sit and wait on Saturday seeing if we’re in,” LeBlanc said. “We’re going to come out and give the guys on the other side of town a fight.”