Rumors of the demise of the football team have been greatly exaggerated.
Oswego failed to make the playoffs last year for the first time since 2001 and started the season 0-2. That had naysayers leery of the Panthers' 2011 postseason plans.
However, Oswego has started the Southwest Prairie Conference portion of the campaign 2-0 and have benefited greatly from early-season losses during week one and week two.
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“Those first two weeks, even though we lost, those were two quality opponents we played,” said senior quarterback Ryan West, who has thrown for more than 4,500 yards during his career. “That experience will help us down the road.”
West threw for 245 yards and two touchdowns in the Panthers’ 35-28, come-from-behind victory over District 308 nemesis Friday in Ken Pickerill Stadium at Oswego.
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Oswego fell to Marian Central Catholic (4-0) 47-41 and Waubonsie Valley (3-1) 34-14 to open the season. It had the lead and the ball late in the fourth quarter against Marian Central Catholic, which is sure to be ranked among the top 25 teams in the Chicagoland
area after beating Montini Catholic 21-20 Friday.
“We know we can play with anybody and our conference is tough,” head coach Dave Keely said. “Every game is going to be tough, week in and week out.”
Oswego is tied for first place in the loop with Plainfield South (3-1, 2-0) and Minooka (2-2, 2-0).
“This is probably one of the best conferences in the state,” West said. “There’s a lot of talent in this conference, and every Friday night we have to bring it. We have to play Panther football.”
Oswego begins a month-long stretch against teams from Plainfield District 202 when it hosts Plainfield East Friday in Oswego.
Friday, Oswego East led 14-0 and 21-7 in the second quarter, but failed to seal the deal.
Oswego had four personal foul penalties and a turnover in the first half. In the second half, Oswego East turned the ball over four times and featured a host of uncharacteristic penalties.
“Typically, we’re not penalized a whole bunch and in the second half, we had some careless penalties,” said head coach Mark Green. “That’s not what we’re about. You can’t give up 15 yards without them running a play.”
Those are called correctable errors.
“It is week four and we need to continue to work to get better,” Green said. “We know we’re in a tough conference and we’re going to be in a battle like this every week.”
Boys Golf
The Oswego High School boys golf team improved to 4-1 in the Southwest Prairie Conference with a 150-171 league dual win over Plainfield East Wednesday at in Oswego.
Matt Anderson was the medalist by shooting a 1-under-par, 34 for the Panthers (5-1).
Mike Wenc and Chris Britton both fired 38s and Zach Manzella rounded out the scoring with a 40.
Oswego East defeated Minooka 165-169 in a Southwest Prairie Conference dual Wednesday at Blackberry Oaks Golf Course
in Bristol. Austin Hwang led the Wolves with a 39 to earn four conference points.
Oswego East’s Evan Tschida and Minooka's Kent Hudson each earned
1.5 individual league points.
Girls Volleyball
Oswego East hit the road and was dealt a 17-25, 25-18, 25-21 Southwest Prairie Conference loss to Romeoville (7-5, 2-1 in the SPC).
Oswego East’s Jordan Reifsteck broke her own school record by coming up with 35 digs in the match. Natalia Mendieta’s 19 assists and eight service points led the Wolves (3-8, 1-2).
Brittany Warnecke led Oswego East with 10 kills to go along with 12 digs. Aliyah Everson added eight kills and also had 12 digs.
Girls Tennis
Oswego East High School came up with a pair of 7-0 Southwest Prairie Conference dual victories this week to run its league mark to 4-0.
The Wolves beat Minooka and Plainfield South.
In the win over Plainfield South, Oswego East won in straight sets. At No. 3 doubles, Brittney Frederick and Rachel Fairbairn needed three sets to beat Selina Quiroz and Denise Pangilinan.
Sajela Harlow beat Tasha Smith 6-0, 6-1 at No. 1 singles.
Against Minooka, the matches at Nos. 2 and 3 doubles went to three sets each.
Alexa Blackmon and Lorne Hwang won 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 over Mallory Traver and Emily Cranston at No. 2. Fairbairn and Frederick beat Danielle Musgrave and Alyssa Aspan 6-7, (7-5), 6-3, 7-5 at No. 3
doubles.
Oswego swept the singles matches in a 5-2 win over Plainfield East.
Courtney Gooch defeated Adrianna Gimenez 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1 singles.
At No. 1 doubles, Oswego’s Christine Parkinson and Laura Dombkowski beat Plainfield East’s Alora O’Malley and Ashley Peek 6-3, 6-4.
