SJO football rolls in season opener

The season couldn’t have started off on a better note for the St. Joseph-Ogden High School football team.

Paced by a breakout game from senior running back Jarrett Stevenson, the Spartans cruised to a 36-8 home win this past Friday night against St. Thomas More.

Stevenson bulled his way to a game-high 173 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 20 carries, powering SJO’s offense against the Sabers in Illini Prairie Conference action.

SJO (1-0, 1-0) fell behind 8-0 and trailed by that margin after the first quarter before scoring 36 unanswered points against STM (0-1, 0-1). Stevenson scored the first touchdown of the season for SJO on a 4-yard run early in the second quarter, and his subsequent two-point conversion run tied the game at 8.

The Spartans went ahead 16-8 shortly before halftime when Stevenson scored on a 17-yard run and then added a successful two-point conversion with a run.

Another Stevenson touchdown run, this from 10 yards out, put SJO ahead 22-8 midway through the third quarter. The Spartans’ two-point conversion attempt failed, but a 34-yard touchdown run by Brayden Weaver three minutes later gave SJO a 28-8 lead with just under four minutes left in the third quarter, with the two-point conversion unsuccessful again.

With the Spartans’ defense keeping STM at bay, a 5-yard touchdown run by Stevenson with a little more than five minutes left in the fourth quarter — and successful two-point conversion run by Stevenson — put SJO up 36-8.

Along with Stevenson’s strong performance, sophomore Keaton Nolan added 41 rushing yards on five carries, Weaver finished with 38 rushing yards on only three carries and sophomore Coby Miller chipped in with 24 rushing yards on three carries.

SJO quarterback Crayton Burnett went 4 of 7 for 29 passing yards and one interception. Junior Brady Buss hauled in two receptions for 12 yards, while senior Chance Izard (9 yards) and Weaver (8 yards) each had one catch.

As solid as SJO’s run game was against STM, so was the Spartans’ defense. SJO only allowed five first downs and 113 yards of total offense to the Sabers.

Now, the Spartans will turn their attention this week to Rantoul (0-1, 0-1). SJO and the Eagles are set to kick off their Illini Prairie game at 7 p.m. on Friday at Bill Walsh Field in Rantoul. The Eagles suffered a 42-20 loss at Prairie Central in Week 1.