Ottawa ‘finishes’ for 5th win in 34-9 triumph over Woodstock

OTTAWA – With a chance of a likely playoff berth for the first time in 10 years dangling in front of them all week like a golden carrot, the Ottawa football team grabbed it in Friday’s Kishwaukee River/Interstate 8 White Division game against Woodstock at King Field.

The Pirates, behind the tough running of senior backs Ryder Miller and Dillan Quatrano, as well as a solid defense, scored on all three first-half drives to lead 20-3 at halftime. The hosts then added two touchdowns in the third quarter to eventually register a 34-9 victory to push their record to 5-4 (2-4 in the league. Those five wins likely will be enough to have them playing in Week 10 for the first time since 2012.

“The key word all season long has been ‘finish’. Finish plays, finish drives, finish games. We did all three tonight,” Ottawa senior receiver Levi Sheehan said after becoming the program’s all-time leader in receiving yards (1,138) and TDs (12) in the contest.

“For a lot of us, we have been playing since our sophomore year, and we’ve had some rough games. There have been rough games this year as well, but we wanted to get the goal we all had before the season started, and that was to make the playoffs.

“We saw some [preseason] projections that had us going 1-8 ... we took that to heart.”

Ottawa won the toss, and on the opening drive Miller completed the 10-play, 65-yard march with a TD dash from the 17. The Pirates defense then stopped the Blue Streaks on fourth down on the Ottawa 35, and nine plays later Quatrano ran it in from the 18 for a 13-0 lead.

Woodstock (2-7, 1-5) dented the scoreboard on a 30-yard field goal from Samuel Tafoya, but Miller scored again from the 9 to make it 20-3 at the half.

Miller finished with 136 yards on 16 carries, while Quatrano had 84 yards on nine tries.

For the game, Ottawa outgained Woodstock 300-283, including 261-196 on the ground.

“Tonight started with a great week of practice, the best focus we’ve had all season,” Ottawa head coach Chad Gross said. “Everyone from the coaches to the players knew what was at stake.

“We always defer on the opening kickoff, but walking out to the flip I changed my mind. I told the captains that win or lose, we wanted the ball first. I thought our offense sent a message right away on that opening drive, and then our defense followed that up on Woodstock’s first drive.”

Ottawa forced a three-and-out on Woodstock’s first second-half drive, and eight plays later QB Colby Mortenson (6 of 6, 39 yards) hit Sheehan down the middle for a 21-yard scoring pass.

On the ensuing Blue Streaks drive, senior Branden Aguirre returned an interception 35 yards for another TD to make it 34-3.

Woodstock QB Charlie Walrod ran a TD in from the 23 to close out the scoring.

Kaden Sandoval led the Blue Streaks with 86 yards rushing on 15 carries, with Adriane Perry adding 57 on 10. Charles Gilmore had three catches for 58 yards.

“I thought Ottawa’s offensive line did a great job, and when we would hit No. 13 (Miller) in the hole, he would just keep his legs moving and pick up 4 or 5 extra yards,” Woodstock head coach Mike Brasile said, his club facing seven potential playoff teams this season. “Getting 4 or 5 yards a run is winning football.

“We had a few times in the first half where we were able to get them behind the chains on third down, but we just weren’t able to get that stop when we needed it. We were kind of the opposite where we were making mistakes, either a bad snap or a fumbled pitch, in those situations, and they took advantage of that.”