Run it back: McKinney, SJ-O football defeats Monticello to remain undefeated
· Yahoo Sports
Sep. 26—MONTICELLO — Lane McKinney bent down with a silver Sharpie in his hand late Friday night.
Visit biznow.biz for more information.
St. Joseph-Ogden assistant coach Ian Sweeney held a maroon shield at the same time, appropriately named the turnover shield.
"Every time you get a turnover," McKinney said, "you sign the shield."
McKinney added his signature to the apparatus thanks to a first-quarter interception he hauled in against Monticello quarterback Colton Shubert.
But McKinney didn't just make plays on defense for the Spartans in a marquee Illini Prairie Conference game. Far from it. Because he played like he was carrying a shield himself when he received every snap as the SJ-O quarterback.
The hard-charging, dependable and durable run style McKinney employed against the Monticello defense allowed the visiting Spartans to earn a 34-20 victory and keep their undefeated season intact.
"He's a very good runner. He's a very athletic kid," Monticello coach Cully Welter said. "When they needed to, they threw the ball well, too. At the end, they were able to keep churning out the yards. Credit to him for being a good player."
McKinney rushed for a game-high 186 yards on 36 carries and three touchdowns behind the SJ-O offensive line, with McKinney in sync with his blockers on a game-changing drive that took nearly nine minutes off the clock in the fourth quarter and ended with — you guessed it — a McKinney touchdown run.
"Nobody is a weakness on our offensive line," said Cameron Wagner, the SJ-O left tackle and Oregon commit. "We can run anywhere, anytime. People are going to overload my side where I'm at, but we have trust in every single guy on our team."
With SJ-O only leading 28-20 with 9 minutes, 35 seconds left in the fourth quarter, the Spartans kept the ball in McKinney's hand. Repeatedly. By the time he weave his way through the Monticello defense on a 6-yard touchdown run to cap off the 73-yard drive, the Spartans led 34-20 with only 54 seconds remaining.
Ballgame.
"It was so fun because we used three downs nearly every time on that drive, and then finished and made it on the third and fourth down," SJ-O senior fullback Brayden Waller said. "That helped run the clock down, and running the ball is fun. It's so much fun. Especially when you're winning."
Which is what the Spartans (6-0, 6-0 Illini Prairie) are doing this season. And they expect to continue the trend. Even with one of their top players likely sidelined for the rest of the regular season after sustaining an injury during Friday night's game.
SJ-O wide receiver Kaden Wedig had three catches for 83 yards in the first quarter, but he crumpled to the turf with 27 seconds remaining in the opening quarter and had to be helped to the sideline. He couldn't put any pressure on his right leg, and SJ-O coach Shawn Skinner said after the game that Wedig suffered a dislocated ankle. The early timeline is he'll miss three to six weeks with the injury.
"Kaden going down takes away a huge part from our passing because he's the best wide receiver in the conference," Wagner said, "but it just gives other guys an opportunity to show what we can do."
Logan Wedig, Kaden's younger brother, contributed with four catches for 66 yards and scored the game's first touchdown on an 11-yard run.
McKinney finished 9 of 14 for 167 passing yards, but it was his running that made up for a costly third-quarter interception he threw. Monticello linebacker Ayden McCool stepped in front of a pass by McKinney and returned it 26 yards for a touchdown that trimmed SJ-O's lead to 20-12 with 10:52 left in the third quarter, firing up the large Monticello home crowd in the process during the Sages' homecoming game.
"Great play by (McCool)," Skinner said. "What a tremendous play."
The same sentiment applied to McKinney's running ability in the second half. His 4-yard touchdown run and successful two-point conversion pass to Brock Franzen increased SJ-O's lead to 28-12 with 5:10 left in the third quarter.
"I just kept putting my head down," McKinney said. "Getting as many yards as I could felt great."
Thanks to some accurate passes by Colton Shubert, however, and creative play-calling, Monticello didn't wilt. Even after SJ-O scored on its first three possessions to take a 20-0 lead with 2:50 left in the first quarter after an 8-yard touchdown run by Logan Umbarger.
Daniel Moore scored on a 1-yard touchdown run for Monticello and then a two-point conversion pass that ended up in Shubert's hands before he bulled his way into the end zone helped Monticello only trail 28-20 with 9:40 left in the game.
Shubert finished 16 of 26 for 201 yards, with Zeke Young catching six passes for 87 yards. Young also got involved by throwing a 6-yard touchdown pass to Eli Tharp after taking a jet sweep handoff from Shubert for Monticello's first touchdown with 6:06 left in the second quarter. That cut the SJ-O lead to 20-6 before the Sages kept it close and competitive well into the second half. But the early deficit was too much to overcome for the Sages (4-2, 3-2) in their second consecutive loss.
"We're not really big on moral victories, but there are positives to take from this," Welter said. "We're just going to keep building and get better, but I was proud of our kids for the way they came back."
Monticello lost two fumbles, however, and finished with three turnovers on the night.
"It's the old cliche,," Welter said, "but against a team like that, you cannot lose the turnover battle."
Especially when SJ-O relied on successful run after successful run by McKinney to chew the clock down at a critical juncture in the fourth quarter that decided the outcome of the game.
"The formations might not look like vintage St. Joe, but that is how we want to close out a game," Skinner said. "That was outstanding. I thought it was great play-calling. I thought it was a great job by the guys up front. Then, again, kudos to Lane. That was fantastic."
And a message sent, too. The Spartans are trying to win their second Illini Prairie title in the last three seasons and will get a chance to stay alone atop the league standings when SJ-O hosts Bloomington Central Catholic (5-1, 4-1) at Dick Duval Field in St. Joseph next Friday. With McKinney leading the way, watch out.
"He's got a fiery mentality to him," Waller said. "The second he gets down after a play, he's right back saying, 'Give me the ball, give me the ball, give me the ball.' It's awesome having somebody who wants to get after it every single play."