Week 2 Post Game Report: Minooka vs Oswego East

Friday Night’s game was electric, to say the least, it was a back and forth battle that went down to the wire. Enough talk, let’s dive into it Minooka (1-0) vs Oswego East (1-0) week 2 matchup. <hr /> Quick Preview I knew coming into the game that it was going to be a hard-fought battle between these two teams. They both run similar offensive schemes as their base offense and I was interested to see how each would defend the other. The key for each team heading in was getting their run game going, whichever team that got it going first had a good chance to win the game. That being said I predicted that Minooka’s playmaking abilities would be too much for Oswego East in the end and picked them winning 35 - 24. Let’s take a look at what went down and if I got proved wrong. First Half Kicking off the first half the Wolves got the ball and drove down the field with a 42-yard run to break the score 7 - 0. The Indian’s defense got punched in the mouth on the opening drive and responded well not letting up any points for the remainder of the half. Minooka answered back strong with [player_tooltip player_id="65509" first="Zach" last="Wingerter"]’s 1 yard TD run and a 24-yard TD pass from Josh Davis to Trevor Hudak to put the Indians up 14 - 7. Halftime Takeaways Minooka On offense, they got the run game going early on with Hunter Ryan which set up the play-action shot down the field to Trevor Hudak. On defense, they got punched in the mouth and responded well the remainder of the half by shutting down the Wolves offense. They also had two great back-to-back goal-line stands at the one-yard line to close out the half keeping the momentum in their favor. Oswego East On offense, they got shut down after the first drive which was the name of the game for the rest of the half. Once Jackson Lamboley went down with an injury their offense struggles to move the chains. Their receivers had trouble securing catches in the second half and the pressure on QB Michael Ford caused him to scramble in the first half with a net gain of 21 yards. On defense, the penalties are extending the drives for the Indians which is a big reason why they are down 14 - 7. What to look for going into the second half Minooka Look for Minooka to continue to pound the rock on offense with Hunter Ryan to set up another deep shot to Trevor Hudak. On defense, look for them to bring pressure and stack the box since the wolves passing game is non-existent at this point in the game. Oswego East Look for Oswego East to get their run game going in the second half to gain momentum since they’ve been shut down for most of the first half. On defense, they need to stack the box to limit Hunter Ryan and bring pressure to create turnovers. Josh Davis has been going untouched in the first half when dropping back, this needs to change if the Wolves want to make a comeback. Second Half The Wolves received the second-half kickoff and came out swinging with Darquel Sanders 1 yard TD run and blocking the Indian’s punt resulting in Oshobi Odior’s 11 yard TD run. This put the wolves up 21 - 14 against the Indians to end the 3rd Quarter. On defense, the Wolves caused turnover after turnover for the Indians. The Indian’s drives to start off the second half went turnover on downs, blocked punt, turnover on downs, and another turnover on downs in the third quarter. The halftime adjustments that they made are working and have shut down Minooka’s offense so far. Heading into the 4th Quarter the Indians needed to get things doing and they did so by feeding Hunter Ryan in the ground game and Trevor Hudak in the passing game. This resulted in a 5 yard TD run by Hunter Ryan to tie the game 21 - 21. The Wolves got the ball back starting on their own 31 and answered back with a 60 yard TD run by Darquel Sanders. They missed the extra point and went up 27 - 21 with less than half of the 4th Quarter left to play. At this point in the game, it felt as if Oswego East just closed out this game and sealed the win. But the Indians weren’t going to go down easily as Trevor Hudak takes the kick return 95 yards for a TD to tie the game 27 - 27. The Wolves resulting drive ended in a punt and the Indians capitalized with an 18 yard TD pass from Josh Davis to Trevor Hudak to go up 34 - 27. There was still time left on the clock for the Wolves to tie the game up, they were driving down the field and got to the other side of the 50. It was a nail-biter finish as they ended the game with a deep shot into the endzone, but the Indian’s defense was able to shut it down to secure the win. Game Stats Minooka <ul> <li>Josh Davis: 18/28 for 188 yards, 2 TDs, 17 carries for 40 yards</li> <li>Hunter Ryan: 25 carries for 81 yards, 1 TD</li> <li>Malik Armstrong: 2 carries for 16 yards, 2 receptions for 25 yards</li> <li>Trevor Hudak: 9 receptions for 103 yards, 2 TDs, 95 yard KOR TD</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="65509" first="Zach" last="Wingerter"]: 1 carry for 1 yard TD, 6 assist tackles</li> <li>Miles Moody: 5 tackles, 1 assist</li> </ul> Oswego East <ul> <li>Darquel Sanders: 9 carries for 136 yards, 2 TDs</li> <li>Oshobi Odior: 10 carries for 98 yards, 1 reception for 27 yards</li> <li>Michael Ford: 9/21 for 128 yards, 9 carries for 31 yards</li> <li>[player_tooltip player_id="20910" first="Jared" last="Badie"]: 3 tackles, 2 assists</li> </ul> End of Game Minooka 34 (2-0) - Oswego East 27 (1-1) I had Minooka winning 35 - 24 heading into this contest and I'd say that I was fairly accurate. This was a great game played between these two teams and a determining factor to Minooka's success was their starting field position. Minooka started each drive around the 35 except for a few while Oswego East started a majority of their drives inside the 30. The biggest factor that hurt Oswego East was the defensive penalties that they accumulated throughout the game which continued to extend Minooka's offensive drives. Oswego East had 9 penalties for 89 yards compared to Minooka's 6 penalties for 40 yards Key Takeaways Minooka <ul> <li>Have an underrated running back in Hunter Ryan, he’s a workhorse</li> <li>Have a bright future at receiver with Trevor Hudak and Malik Armstrong</li> <li>Defensive unit is one to keep an eye on, they made two back to back stands at the one-yard line</li> <li>Josh Davis impressive with his playmaking ability under pressure (can get it done in the air & the ground game)</li> </ul> Oswego East <ul> <li>Backs Darquel Sanders & Oshobi Odior names to keep an eye on, both dominant in the run game</li> <li>Keep an eye on Jackson Lamboley the rest of the season, was a focal point for this offense before leaving the game with an injury</li> <li>Defensive unit can bring the pressure with [player_tooltip player_id="20910" first="Jared" last="Badie"] & Braydon Grabavoy</li> <li>Michael Ford had a tough game, look for him to bounce back in week 3</li> </ul> <hr /> Overall, this was a hard-fought battle between the Minooka Indians and Oswego East Wolves. The momentum was swinging back and forth throughout the game where each team was able to throw punches and counter the other. It was a great game and I wish the best to both of these teams for the remainder of the season. Minooka takes on Plainfield North at home on April 2nd at 7:00 pm and Oswego East takes on Yorkville at home on April 2nd at 7:00 pm. Be sure to follow @jamaskane regarding news & information for Illinois High School Football, @PrepRedzoneIL, and @PrepRedzone.