When the St. Joseph-Ogden football team needed a big play last Friday night, the Spartans
turned to a connection that is already working out well this season.
Kodey McKinney passing to Kaden Wedig has generated plenty of yards through the Spartans’
first two games, and the SJO quarterback-wide receiver combination will try to do that again on
Friday night. Fresh off a 35-12 home win against Paxton-Buckley-Loda last Friday night at Dick
Duval Field in St. Joseph, SJO will make the long trek to Chillicothe to play Illinois Valley Central
at 7 p.m. Friday in another Illini Prairie Conference game.
McKinney, SJO’s senior quarterback, completed 16 of 18 passes for 197 yards and two
touchdowns in the win against PBL. Wedig, a junior wide receiver, topped 100 receiving yards
for the second straight game by hauling in six catches for 132 yards, including a 30-yard
touchdown catch in the second quarter that extended SJO’s lead to 14-0.
“I think teams have really kind of dictated the connection thus far,” SJO coach Shawn Skinner
said. “Kodey is doing a nice job of finding the open wide receiver, and it just so happens it’s
been Wedig to start these first two games. We will continue to look at our passing game in that
same manner as we move on.”
The passing game will take on even more importance for the Spartans with senior running back
Wyatt Wertz sidelined. Wertz hurt his arm in the win against PBL after producing two carries for
31 yards. Sophomore Logan Umbarger stepped in and finished with 58 rushing yards on 13
carries, including an 11-yard touchdown run with less than three minutes left in the second
quarter that increased the Spartans’ lead to 21-0.
“Logan had a nice summer from a lifting and attendance standpoint,” Skinner said. “Ideally, the
intent was for him to be our top junior varsity running back and to back up Wertz, but he did a
really nice job against PBL stepping into that role. He ran hard, and he’s going to give you all
he’s got every play. He’s going to get more time moving forward, and we will get him ready for
that.”
Along with Wertz and Umbarger, McKinney (23 rushing yards on five carries, including a 2-yard
touchdown run) and his younger brother, sophomore Lane McKinney (10 rushing yards on three
carries, including a 3-yard touchdown run) also contributed in the run game.
Senior Tim Blackburn-Kelley added a 17-yard touchdown catch to finish with six receptions for
40 yards and Lane McKinney chipped in four catches for 25 yards.
SJO kept PBL scoreless until less than five minutes remained in the third quarter, at which point
the Spartans enjoyed a 28-0 lead.
“The defense did a really nice job of limiting them to a few big plays,” Skinner said. “We played very well inside the red zone and held them the first three trips to zero points. We once again had solid team pursuit and our effort was very solid.
Senior Logan Rosenthal had a team-high eight tackles, while seniors Jonathon Moore (seven
tackles), Lucas Smith (six tackles) and Will Franklin (six tackles) also contributed.
“Coy Hayes played well again,” Skinner said of the senior linebacker,” and had a big fourth-
down stop in the second quarter that led to great field position for us. We just need to keep getting better on that side of the ball.”
They’ll look to do against a Chillicothe IVC team that has been outscored 80-6 in its first two
games. The Grey Ghosts (0-2) lost 21-6 at home against Monticello in Week 1 before getting
shut out 59-0 at Bloomington Central Catholic last Friday night.
“We don’t have the luxury to overlook anyone,” Skinner said. “Again, so many of our guys are
just learning how to play on Friday nights. IVC returns nine defensive starters, and we respect
their experience and understand that we will have a challenge going on the long road trip. I
know last week didn’t go the way they wanted it, so we are going to get a heck of an effort from
them.”
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