Week 2 Preview: Minooka vs Oswego East

Jordan Amaskane

March 26, 2021 @ 07:00 AM

This week I will be taking a look at Minooka vs Oswego East. Minooka beat Plainfield East in the season opener 50-26 and Oswego East beat Joliet West 35-14. Let’s take a preview of the matchup and what each team is bringing to the table. <hr /> <a href="https://youtu.be/O6cStB0wL44">Game Preview on The County Pulse Podcast</a> Offense Minooka is going to be focused on getting their receivers Trevor Hudak and Malik Armstrong going early. Both athletes can go up to get the ball and have the speed to take the top off of the defense. They run different formations out of the shotgun, they incorporate inside zone, read option, play action, and take deep shots down the field to their receivers. Oswego Ease runs multiple formations out of the shotgun where they incorporate jet sweeps, outside zone, QB draw, read-option, and play-action passes. What they aim to do is slow play outside zone/jet sweeps until the running lane opens up which is when the ballcarrier will plant his foot and get upfield through the hole. This opens up the rest of the playbook (read-option, QB draw, play action, etc) and will help allow Oswego East to take shots down the field in the air attack. Both of these offenses run a similar offensive scheme, everything plays off of the run. Whichever team can get the run established first will set themselves up for play-action deep shots to the receivers. If the defense bites down on the run the offense will end up getting a huge gain, maybe even a touchdown. Defense Minooka has key players returning on their defense. Those being outside linebacker Mason Cave, middle linebacker [player_tooltip player_id="65509" first="Zach" last="Wingerter"], defensive tackle Dylan Meyer, and defensive end Will DeBold among others. This defensive unit is going to be challenged with quarterback Michael Ford and guard [player_tooltip player_id="65440" first="Coran" last="Woods"] upfront. Oswego East has their two dominant linebackers, [player_tooltip player_id="20910" first="Jared" last="Badie"] and Aidan Bradshaw, to hold down the defense. They have the closing speed to cover sideline to sideline and attack downhill. It is going to be interesting to see how Oswego East defends Trevor Hudak and Malik Armstrong as well as what they decide to focus on (the passing game or the run game). Key Points to Win Minooka On offense, they need to get their receivers going early (whether that’s in the passing game or in jet sweeps) and win the battle against Oswego East for establishing the running game first. On defense, they need to stay disciplined in run fits to limit the yards gained. If they do this they will set themselves up for another win. Oswego East On offense, they need to establish the run as quickly as possible. Everything plays off of the outside run for them, once they do this they will be able to run play-action deep shots downfield and run read-option as well. On defense, they will need to A) limit the big plays that Minooka can produce and B) win the turnover battle. If they do these two things they have a good chance of winning the game. Closing Thoughts Overall, this is going to be a good game to watch as each team has playmakers on both sides of the ball. Both teams run similar offensive schemes so it will be interesting to see how each team plays one another and which team is able to establish the run game first. That being said, I do think that the playmaking abilities on Minooka’s offense and defense are going to be too much for Oswego East and I have them winning 35-24 in a hard-fought contest. <hr /> That’s my preview for the Minooka vs Oswego East game on Friday, March 26th. I look forward to watching the game and seeing these young men compete. Keep an eye out for the post-game report to drop Saturday with the score of the game and the top performers from each team. Be sure to follow @jamaskane regarding news & information for Illinois High School Football, @PrepRedzoneIL, and @PrepRedzone.