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Sports
Fight continues another round : Sports : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisFight continues another round
| Wolves' defense has strong showing despite loss to Minooka
| by Laura M. Medina
| 10/11/2012
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Finding balance on both sides of the ball has a goal for the Oswego East football team throughout the season.
Last Friday, however, in exchange for a relatively strong defensive showing, the Wolves' offense bore the brunt of a 31-7 loss at Minooka in a Southwest Prairie Conference matchup.
After conceding 92 total points in its previous two losses, including a 42-40 loss at Plainfield Central on Sept. 28, Oswego East (3-4, 1-4) was looking to find an answer for its defense, and it was hoping to do so against a Minooka team seeking to maintain its postseason hopes.
The Wolves were on the prowl in the first half, limiting the Indians (3-4, 3-2) to seven points, while forcing and recovering two fumbles in that span. The second of those miscues allowed senior quarterback Sean Kennedy (16-for-32, 128 yards) to set up a 12-yard touchdown play to junior tight end Conor Nally with 10:32 left in the second quarter and make it a 7-7 game.
"Our defense stepped up," Oswego East head coach Tyson LeBlanc said. "We've been riding them a little bit for the way they played the last few weeks, and even though we gave up 31 points, 24 of those points are on the offense. We're piece-mealing it together, and one of these days, we're going to get it all together on the same night."
In the second half, though, things started to unravel for Oswego East, which was outscored 24-0 and committed five of its six turnovers in the final 24 minutes of play. Three of those mistakes led to Minooka scores.
Late in the third, a Wolves fumble turned into a 20-yard field goal by Jake Stytz, who faltered on a 33-yard try in the first half, to break the tie with 5:33 left in the quarter.
Just 10 seconds later, Kennedy eluded a few tacklers, but was intercepted to set up the ensuing Indians drive on their own 49-yard line. It only took one snap for the hosts to score again, as receiver Max Brozovich took a handoff from quarterback Joe Carnagio and tossed a 51-yard pass to receiver Mark Fox for another touchdown, making it a 17-7 game.
"We give a turnover, and then, they hit us with the reverse shift up top, and that's the momentum swing," LeBlanc said. "You get a little momentum on the turnover, and then you get the big momentum on the play right after that. The score wasn't indicative of how things played out. They were more fortunate than we were on the bounces and the ball."
These teams traded possessions, and eventually, Minooka was back in the endzone on its own accord this time, as running back Nate Gunn muscled 12 yards for the score just 29 seconds into the fourth quarter.
Gunn and the rest of the Indians' rushers combined for 254 yards, and the group contributed to a nearly doubled advantage on the game's overall yardage, as the Wolves had just 212 to the home team's 414.
Oswego East had the ball with about 4:30 left on the clock, but an interception at its own 42-yard line put Minooka in prime scoring position, and six plays later, running back Matt Hoh rumbled through for four yards and a touchdown with 1:32 remaining in the game to hand the Wolves their third straight loss, 31-7, in SPC play.
With the victory, Minooka kept itself in the hunt for another playoff bid.
"One thing that we've done as a program is that we've grown up," LeBlanc said. "We fight to the end of the game, and we did that. (Against Plainfield Central), the defense wasn't able to hold up its end of the bargain, and (last) week, it was the offense. But you'll have that. We're an up and down team, and we're fighting, and that's what I'm proud of.
"Their hearts are in it, and a lot of times, especially when you get into certain situations in our program, and you reach this point in the season, you start to lose that. The fact that guys are still putting their heart into it, that's going to help our program turn the corner. The wins might not be there right now, but that's what's going to help our program down the line."
For as valiant as Oswego East's effort was against Minooka, its expectations will be much higher on Friday, with a Homecoming matchup scheduled against a winless Romeoville team (0-7, 0-4) - a team that LeBlanc hopes the Wolves won't take too lightly.
"Homecoming is always a lot more fun when you win," LeBlanc said. "We don't overlook anybody, because we're not in a situation where we can overlook anybody."
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