If it seems like the Polubinski brothers do a lot for Oswego East, it’s because they do.
It’s understandable since seniors Josh, Mike and Zach Polubinski are triplets.
At 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds, Josh plays wide receiver and returns kicks. Mike, at 6-3 and 188, plays wide receiver and safety and returns punts. Zach, at 6-2 and 190, plays linebacker and tight end.
According to Josh, the difference during a rare Thursday night game was Mike sparking the defense with two of the Wolves’ five interceptions.
“It’s a good thing we had those turnovers because there were a lot of chances out there,” Josh said. “It’s good we could execute. (Mike) put us in good field position actually. And we finally put it in the end zone.”
Oswego East needed every one of those turnovers for a 34-20 victory over Plainfield East in a herky-jerky Southwest Prairie Conference crossover.
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The Thursday night start is part of a two-week experiment by the conference, which moved some games in an effort to makes things easier due to the referee shortage.
Navy-bound senior quarterback Tre Jones ran for 161 yards and two TDs and threw for 56 yards and another TD to lead Oswego East (2-1).
Sophomore quarterback Brandon Parades passed for 411 yards and three TDs for Plainfield East (1-2). The host Bengals were penalized 12 times for 130 yards.
The Wolves were penalized nine times for 86 yards.
“There was no flow to this game,” Oswego East coach Tyson LeBlanc said. “It seemed every other play there was a flag or something. Even when you had something good go your way there, you were going back 14 yards and it was both ways.
“Obviously, winning is better than losing. The way we played (Thursday) isn’t going to get it done on our side of the conference.”
In the third quarter, Mike Polubinski returned an interception 63 yards to the Bengals’ 27 but the drive ended with a missed field goal.
“It was one (step) away from going all the way,” he said. “I got my feet tangled on the last cutback. I was so mad. It was great blocking. Everybody stayed in it.”
Later in the third, his second interception gave the Wolves the ball at the 50 for a short-lived drive that ended with a punt.
Josh Polubinski caught two passes for 25 yards and returned two kickoffs for 49 yards. Zach Polubinski had two pass breakups and several key tackles.
“The deep routes were killing us throughout the game,” Zach said. “We just have to be better keeping everything in front of us.”
Mike Polubinski added two key punt returns, one of 15 yards to the 50 and another of 28 yards to the Bengals’ 20 that led to scoring runs of 41 and 7 yards from Christian Martyn.
The junior running back helped fill in for injured fullback Oshobi Odior, who was sidelined for a second game.
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“He was the guy who stepped up,” Mike Polubinski said of Martyn, who finished with 14 carries for 126 yards.
That provided a nice complement to Jones, who had scoring runs of 31 yards and 82 yards.
Tre Jones’ 11-yard TD pass to Jalen Lewis came while rolling left and throwing across his body.
“It was a sloppy game,” he said. “It was odd playing on Thursday, but that’s no excuse. We scored five times, but you have to finish the meal. We left too much stuff on the table.
“It goes to show how much talent we have in the program when you can have a night like this and still put up 34.”