The Times Football Notebook: Where Marquette can improve, Ottawa controls the clock, and Streator’s best Week 1 since ...

When the clock finally ran out Friday night at EastSide Centre in Streator’s 52-0 win over East Peoria, it brought with it a little history. The Bulldogs’ margin of victory and point total were the highest ever for a season opener, replacing their previous Week 1 best when coach Lowell “Pops” Dale’s squad rolled to a 45-0 first-game victory over visiting Forrest on Sept. 28, 1923.

The 52 points scored and margin of victory in a shutout was the most in a game since Oct. 10, 2003, when coach Kelly Kane’s club topped Dixon, 54-0, which clinched Streator’s first playoff berth since 1977.

With keeping the Raiders off the scoreboard, Streator recorded its first shutout since it blanked Westmont, 14-0, in Week 8 of the 2017 season – the last year the program made the playoffs.

– Brian Hoxsey

Marquette hopes to clean up little mistakes

There were high spirits floating around Gould Stadium on Friday night in Ottawa after Marquette’s come-from-behind, 26-20 victory over Aurora Christian. However, the chill of film review probably will wash over coach Tom Jobst and his staff like a bucket of ice water when prep begins for Week 2′s home game against Chicago Christian.

The absence of graduated twin linemen Beau and Brady Ewers was evident in MA’s first game without them. The larger, more physical Eagles defensive line had Crusaders quarterback Alex Graham running for his life almost all night. It was his ability to scramble that provided the two decisive touchdowns in the fourth quarter, and the hard running of Jurnee Reed and Tommy Durdan that earned the halftime tie.

The Crusaders also will have to get rid of silly penalties. They were flagged seven times for 65 yards vs. AC, ranging from two personal fouls to two 5-yarders for a lineman not having his mouthguard in.

“If we can make as many mistakes as we did and still beat a team of this caliber, there’s a lot of good things coming if we can straighten things out,” Jobst said. “And we will do that. First-game jitters get everybody.”

– Charlie Ellerbrock

Second-half time of possession was what?

Simply put, Ottawa’s 13-12 victory over Plano was driven by limiting the Reapers’ offense and just plain old playing keepaway.

The Pirates won the time pf possession battle, 30:21-17:39 – a statistic even more lopsided in a second half that saw the Pirates run 34 offensive plays to Plano’s 11. Second-half time of possession ended up an incredible 19:44-4:16 in Ottawa’s favor.

Part of the Pirates’ success stopping the Reapers was creating negative plays, with Cody Sprowls, Levi Sheehan, Ryder Miller, Matt Haerle, Branden Aguirre, Dillan Quatrano and Miles Fredrickson all recording tackles for loss.

Defensive back Conner Price had a big game himself, recording an interception – the seventh of his varsity career – and batting down two other Plano passes.

“We trust both Levi and Conner at the corners and let them go a lot on their own,” Pirates coach Chad Gross said. “They made plays all night, both of them, and [Price] is in-phase all night. We have a ton of confidence in him, and he stepped up big again tonight.”

– J.T. Pedelty

Fighting Irish ran wild in Week 1

It really can’t be overstated just how impressive Seneca’s 35-33 Week 1 victory Saturday night at Westville was … particularly the Fighting Irish run game.

Seneca averaged 8.1 yards per carry on a whopping 58 rushing attempts, attempting only three passes (with only one completion, Paxton Giertz-to-Kysen Klinker for 25 yards). Six backs carried the ball, with Asher Hamby, Collin Wright and Nathan Grant all topping 100 yards individually.

Incidentally, the Irish did it against a Westville team that held Seneca to one touchdown last season in a 25-6 loss.

– J.T. Pedelty

Bulldogs defense solid throughout

The Streator defensive unit put together quite an opening act in the Bulldogs’ win over East Peoria, allowing only 9 total yards.

Of East Peoria’s 24 running plays, 14 ended in lost yardage, including seven tackles for loss with DJ White and Aiden Stevens collecting two each, as well as James Pawelczyk, Sabby Nieto and Christian Benning. The pass rush forced EP quarterbacks into a 6-for-19 night passing, with Benning picking off a pair of passes (returning one for a TD) and Nieto also hauling in an errant attempt. SHS also picked up a fourth turnover when Dylan Taylor forced a fumble and Austin Taylor recovered it.

– Brian Hoxsey

Doug Dieken in the ‘Dog house

Friday’s Ottawa-Streator game between two 1-0 teams is sure to be a fun one, and it will be even more so with Streator choosing the Route 23 Rivalry marquee matchup to rechristen its football facility “Doug Dieken Stadium” after the Streator High all-stater, University of Illinois All-Big Ten performer and Cleveland Browns Pro Bowler and longtime announcer.

The ceremony is slated to take place between the sophomore and varsity contests, with an approximate starting time of 6:30 p.m. Dieken is expected to attend and address the crowd as part of the ceremony, which will be followed by the 98th meeting between the Bulldogs and Pirates.

“I think the word ‘humbling’ is the best way to say it,” Dieken said when the honor was announced in late June. “It caught me off guard, and I can’t think of another word other than ‘humbled.’ It’s just a humbling experience for me.”

– J.T. Pedelty