SJO football clinches playoff berth with win at BCC

The St. Joseph-Ogden football team can beat teams in multiple ways.

Kodey McKinney can drop back and unleash accurate passes down the field. Or use his feet to gain positive yardage.

When the Spartans quarterback drops back to pass, the number of capable options is plentiful. There’s Coy Taylor. Tanner Siems. Tim Blackburn-Kelley. Kaden Wedig.

And Wyatt Wertz can’t be overlooked, either, with the SJO running back running hard with every carry he gets.

Oh, and the Spartans’ defense is pretty good, too.

SJO played perhaps its most complete game of the season at the right time this past Friday night, defeating Bloomington Central Catholic 38-19 at Bill Hundman Memorial Field in Bloomington to remain at the top of the Illini Prairie Conference standings, stay unbeaten and clinch a playoff berth in the process.

The Spartans (6-0, 5-0 Illini Prairie) now return home for a homecoming game against Pontiac (0-6, 0-6) at 7 p.m. this Friday at Dick Duval Field in St. Joseph.

McKinney accounted for all five of SJO’s touchdowns against BCC (3-3, 3-3), throwing for four and rushing for the other. He went 19 of 27 for 281 passing yards and added 27 rushing yards on 12 carries.
McKinney’s first touchdown pass helped SJO overcome a sluggish first quarter and tie the game at 7 with 11:55 remaining in the second quarter on a 4-yard throw to Siems.

McKinney showed off a deft touch on his second touchdown pass, connecting with Taylor on a 24-yard catch that saw Taylor dive in the end zone to bring in the score. Charlie Schmitz’s second extra point of the night — the SJO kicker made all five he attempted, along with a 27-yard field goal just before halftime — put the Spartans ahead 14-7 with 8:35 left in the second quarter.

After BCC trimmed its deficit to 14-13 a minute later, the Spartans rattled off 24 unanswered points to take control of the game. McKinney found his way into the end zone on a 5-yard run with 5:21 left in the second quarter that upped SJO’s lead to 21-13 and Schmitz’s field goal gave SJO a 24-13 lead heading into halftime.

SJO wasted little time after coming out of the locker room to spoil BCC’s homecoming game. Blackburn-Kelley kept his eyes on the ball — literally — and used his speed to haul in an eventual 57-yard touchdown catch a little more than a minute into the third quarter that increased SJO’s lead to 31-13 with 10:56 left in the quarter. Siems then caught his second touchdown, this time from 11 yards out, to give SJO a 38-13 lead with 6:33 left in the third quarter.

Taylor finished with 10 receptions for 135 yards, while Siems had 88 receiving yards on seven catches. Wertz helped the Spartans chew clock in the fourth quarter with his running ability, and wound up with 123 rushing yards on 26 carries.

SJO enters Week 7 tied with Paxton-Buckley-Loda (6-0, 5-0) for first place in the Illini Prairie. After Friday night’s homecoming game against Pontiac, the Spartans are then set to play at Rantoul (1-5, 1-4) on Oct. 18 before ending the regular season on Oct. 25 with a home game against PBL at Dick Duval Field that could determine the Illini Prairie champion. SJO football has not won an Illini Prairie title since the league was formed in 2017.