ST. PAUL — Two teams moved towards the mean, albeit on opposite trajectories, as the Oswego Indians ousted the St. Paul Indians, 53-8, on Friday night. The Week 2 contest was called at halftime with the mercy rule put into effect.
“We were ready to go right off the bat,” Oswego head coach Matt Fowler said. “We opened the game with an onside kick, fell on it, and our offensive line went right to work. St. Paul is a great program and they’re well-coached. They’re young and have some athletes. But we just kind of overwhelmed them at the beginning. I’m proud of the effort all around.”
Oswego hung 32 points on the board and immediately put its foot on the gas.
“Oswego is a very good football team that is well-coached and physical,” St. Paul head coach Keith Wiatrak said. “They just picked us apart before we knew what was going on.”
After recovering an onside kick to start the game, which led to a touchdown, Oswego notched an interception on its first defensive snap.
“Early in the game, I wanted to take a shot,” Wiatrak said. “It was probably a bad play call. We should’ve tried to work down the field. We had recovered their onside kick and returned it about 20 yards. So I wanted to try play-action, not thinking they’d expect that.”
In total, Oswego ran for 383 yards on 20 carries while St. Paul was limited to 82 yards of total offense.
“Physicality was a big thing,” Fowler said. “We established the line of scrimmage and took on blocks well. It was good, fundamental team defense. We were disruptive in the middle. St. Paul likes to run the option and if you can take away the fullback — if that’s not clicking — it lets everybody play their assignments well.”
It was a coming-of-age party for Oswego freshman Demitri Wilson, who scored three times on four carries while tallying 163 yards.
“He had a great game last week at defensive back,” Fowler said. “He had a touchdown run as well. Tonight, we were trying to get some different backs some touches. We had several guys score and he made the most of his opportunities. He found the open space and our offensive line did a great job opening the holes.”
Ten different Oswego players got carries in the 8-Man showdown between Three Rivers League rivals. Hunter Kelly, Chance Mills and Tanner O’Neal were all able to find the endzone.
“Some of it is trying to keep guys healthy,” Fowler said. “It was really physical last week, so we wanted to divide up the carries. We’ll have our featured backs. But as the game progressed, we were able to put the JV in. The JV offense converted for a score, so that was big.”
For Oswego, the win was a bounceback after a snakebitten Week 1 loss to Marmaton Valley. For St. Paul, the loss to Oswego was deflating after a season-opening victory over Northeast.
Up next
Oswego will hit the road again to face Crest.
“Every week is a new challenge,” Fowler said. “Hopefully the momentum helps. Being physical on both sides of the ball is our calling card. Crest is 2-0 and haven’t been scored on yet. They beat Yates Center and Northeast. So they’re doing a lot of things right. We’ve got to be dialed in.”
As for St. Paul, it travels to Yates Center.
“We’ll break down the film and move on to the next game,” Wiatrak said. “We can’t dwell on it. We’ll get ready for Yates Center. I’m hoping we can match up with them and get a competitive football game. Then we’ll wipe our hands and keep moving on. Maybe there’s a bright future, but we’ve got to start somewhere.”
