November 8, 2025 Local Stories in and Around St. Joseph, Illinois

Ingram shines, but SJO football still seeking first win

Six wins are needed to automatically qualify a high school football team into the playoffs in Illinois.

For St. Joseph-Ogden High School, the Spartans will need to win out in order to make sure they’re in the playoffs this season.

SJO has started with an 0-3 record against fellow Illini Prairie Conference foes following a 34-28 home loss to Prairie Central last Friday night at Dick Duval Field, a 33-8 loss at Unity on Sept. 3 and a 43-8 home loss to Monticello on Aug. 27 at Dick Duval Field.

The Spartans will try to end their three-game skid when they host Chillicothe IVC (0-3) at 7 p.m. in an Illini Prairie game.

Evan Ingram thrived for SJO in its close loss to Prairie Central (2-1) that saw the Spartans trail 6-0 at the end of the first quarter, 20-14 at halftime and 27-22 to start the fourth quarter.

Ingram completed 15 of 23 passes for 203 yards and three touchdowns. Keaton Nolan hauled in seven receptions for 87 yards and two touchdowns, while Griffin Roesch had three catches for 81 yards and a touchdown. Coby Miller and Ingram each rushed for 26 yards.

SJO’s first two losses of the season happened against teams that are currently ranked in the top five of the latest Class 3A Associated Press statewide poll. And the Spartans kept it close early before Unity and Monticello both pulled away.

SJO led Unity 8-6 at the end of the first quarter before the Rockets went ahead 13-8 at halftime. The score remained that way until Unity scored 20 points in the fourth quarter to prevail 33-8.

Miller rushed for a team-high 60 yards on 18 carries and scored SJO’s lone touchdown, with Nolan adding 45 rushing yards on 12 carries. Ingram completed 5 of 14 passes for 32 yards, with Nolan (two catches for 14 yards), Roesch (two catches for 11 yards) and Ethan Vanilew (one catch for seven yards) hauling in passes. Alex Funk and Miller each finished with eight tackles to lead SJO’s defense.

In the season-opening loss to Monticello, SJO led the Sages 8-0 at the end of the first quarter following a touchdown run by Isaiah Moore. Monticello, however, rallied to take a 15-8 lead into halftime and increased it to 36-8 by the start of the fourth quarter.

Six wins are needed to automatically qualify a high school football team into the playoffs in Illinois.

For St. Joseph-Ogden High School, the Spartans will need to win out in order to make sure they’re in the playoffs this season.

SJO has started with an 0-3 record against fellow Illini Prairie Conference foes following a 34-28 home loss to Prairie Central last Friday night at Dick Duval Field, a 33-8 loss at Unity on Sept. 3 and a 43-8 home loss to Monticello on Aug. 27 at Dick Duval Field.

The Spartans will try to end their three-game skid when they host Chillicothe IVC (0-3) at 7 p.m. in an Illini Prairie game.

Evan Ingram thrived for SJO in its close loss to Prairie Central (2-1) that saw the Spartans trail 6-0 at the end of the first quarter, 20-14 at halftime and 27-22 to start the fourth quarter.

Ingram completed 15 of 23 passes for 203 yards and three touchdowns. Keaton Nolan hauled in seven receptions for 87 yards and two touchdowns, while Griffin Roesch had three catches for 81 yards and a touchdown. Coby Miller and Ingram each rushed for 26 yards.

SJO’s first two losses of the season happened against teams that are currently ranked in the top five of the latest Class 3A Associated Press statewide poll. And the Spartans kept it close early before Unity and Monticello both pulled away.

SJO led Unity 8-6 at the end of the first quarter before the Rockets went ahead 13-8 at halftime. The score remained that way until Unity scored 20 points in the fourth quarter to prevail 33-8.

Miller rushed for a team-high 60 yards on 18 carries and scored SJO’s lone touchdown, with Nolan adding 45 rushing yards on 12 carries. Ingram completed 5 of 14 passes for 32 yards, with Nolan (two catches for 14 yards), Roesch (two catches for 11 yards) and Ethan Vanilew (one catch for seven yards) hauling in passes. Alex Funk and Miller each finished with eight tackles to lead SJO’s defense.

In the season-opening loss to Monticello, SJO led the Sages 8-0 at the end of the first quarter following a touchdown run by Isaiah Moore. Monticello, however, rallied to take a 15-8 lead into halftime and increased it to 36-8 by the start of the fourth quarter.

Nolan rushed for 79 yards on 17 carries, with Ingram picking up 78 rushing yards on just three carries and Justice Wertz adding 37 rushing yards on 12 carries. Ingram was 10 of 19 passing for 82 yards, but also threw two interceptions. Miller (five catches for 27 yards), Nolan (three catches for 16 yards) and Roesch (one catch for 28 yards) were the recipients of Ingram’s passes.

Banner
Related Posts

Athlete of the Month… Keegan McCarty

September 3, 2019

September 3, 2019

Every month in season coaches at St. Joseph-Ogden High School nominate athletes to be the student-athlete of the month. A...

SJO boys’ basketball to host 14-team Christie Clinic Shootout on Saturday

January 6, 2024

January 6, 2024

An annual staple on the high school boys’ basketball calendar is back in St. Joseph again this year.The Christie Clinic...

SJO baseball off to superb start

April 7, 2022

April 7, 2022

High-scoring wins. Dominant pitching performances. Balanced hitting up and down the lineup. These are just some of the staples the...

Ward, Martlage and Immke help SJO softball get back in win column

May 5, 2021

May 5, 2021

A flurry of games is usually the norm for St. Joseph-Ogden softball.But usually, at this juncture in the calendar, the...

SJO girls’ basketball vies for sectional title tonight

February 14, 2019

February 14, 2019

Win on Thursday night and the St. Joseph-Ogden High School girls’ basketball team achieves a milestone only one other team...

SJO softball rallies to win season opener

March 20, 2019

March 20, 2019

The spring sports season is a little more than a week old for St. Joseph-Ogden High School. Here’s how the...

It’s opening day for SJO softball

March 18, 2019

March 18, 2019

The expectations haven’t changed for the St. Joseph-Ogden High School softball team. Even with a new coach for the 2019...

Bagby picks Indiana State

March 21, 2019

March 21, 2019

Next year, Cassidy Bagby will be a Sycamore. Earlier this month, St. Joseph-Ogden senior Cassidy Bagby signed her letter of...

SJO softball vies for 11th straight regional title on Saturday

May 16, 2019

May 16, 2019

A year ago, the St. Joseph-Ogden High School softball team defeated Maroa-Forsyth to win a Class 2A sectional title. On...

SJO to discuss basketball in December

December 3, 2020

December 3, 2020

The St. Joseph-Ogden Board of Education decided to wait until December to make any final recommendation about basketball. The state...

Sparks plans on continuing Spartan success

March 14, 2019

March 14, 2019

Replacing a legend is not an easy task. However, when the legend is the all-time winningest softball coach in the...

Hamilton, relay team win state titles as Spartans place third

May 21, 2019

May 21, 2019

Bringing state trophies home isn’t an easy task. But the St. Joseph-Ogden High School girls’ track and field team sure...

Landrus, Waller help SJO baseball get off to strong start

April 1, 2024

April 1, 2024

Playing a competitive schedule is nothing new for the St. Joseph-Ogden baseball team.Neither is racking up win after win after...

Spartan Classic up next after Mattsey, Plotner run well in Peoria

September 27, 2019

September 27, 2019

It’s the only chance for St. Joseph residents to see the St. Joseph-Ogden High School cross-country teams in action in...

Scholarship honors, remembers Dick Duval: ‘His legend will live on in St. Joe’

October 5, 2021

October 5, 2021

If you want to know who Dick Duval truly was, all you have to do is ask St. Joseph-Ogden Superintendent...

Comments
Leave a Reply