Keeping up with Oswego East’s Tre Jones is no small feat.
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The dual-threat senior quarterback, a Navy recruit, has shifty moves and speed to leave defenders in his wake, grasping at air.
Now, add a healthy Oshobi Odior at fullback in that backfield for the Wolves, and the task becomes monumental.
“That makes all the difference in the world,” Oswego coach Brian Cooney said of Oshobi, who returned from a six-week layoff. “We were planning on him coming back.
“But you can’t simulate that. The kid is a house, and he runs hard.”
The 6-foot-2, 245-pound Odior looked as good as new Friday night with 87 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries for Oswego East in a 35-21 Southwest Prairie West victory.
While Odior celebrated his comeback from an ankle injury, Jones was unstoppable in a steady drizzle for the Wolves (5-3, 2-2), running 16 times for 262 yards and four TDs.
Odior’s mere presence seems to open up avenues for Jones.
“I knew with my comeback, Tre and I were going to have that connection,” Odior said. “There was going to be no stopping us from what we were doing last year and the beginning of this year in the first game.”
Such was the dilemma facing Oswego (3-5, 1-3), which needed a win against its crosstown rival to keep its streak of 10 straight playoff appearances alive.
It’s just the second win in the 18-games series for the Wolves, who took the Prairie Cup Trophy and became playoff eligible for the seventh straight year under coach Tyson LeBlanc.
“I figured we were going to get the kitchen sink thrown at us, considering this was their playoff game,” Jones said. “All that mattered was when we got the opportunity, we answered the call.”
Oswego did start strong, marching 80 yards on the opening possession to take the early lead on quarterback Cruz Ibarra’s 1-yard TD plunge.
The Panthers then recovered an onside kick from Tanner Stumpenhorst and capitalized with a 38-yard TD run by Noah Vera for a 14-0 lead.
But after Odior softened up the defense, the Wolves forced a 14-14 tie on Jones’ TD runs of 63 and 44 yards.
“You saw the difference,” LeBlanc said. “You can’t just focus on No. 9 (Jones) when 23 (Odior) is back there. We saw some things to get Jones going north and south, and Odior is a tough runner himself.”
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The Wolves then ate up nine minutes with a drive to open the third quarter, capped by Odior’s 3-yard TD for the lead.
Jones, who threw only one pass, added TD runs of 73 and 20 yards, breaking three tackles on the latter.
“Tyson did a good job of using their abilities to do what they needed to do,” Cooney said. “We knew the quarterback was a definite threat, but when you insert that kid off an injury, that’s a good week for them to have him back.”
Ibarra finished completing 17 of 34 passes for 208 yards, connecting with Jordan Katzenbach five times for 116 yards and Deakon Tonielli nine times for 77 yards.
Michael Polubinski intercepted Ibarra once.
“Everyone did a heck of a job blocking,” Odior said. “I loved it. I felt amazing.”
Running behind center Will Chen, guards Timothy Zywicki and Orlando Woodhouse and tackles Tim Savchuk and Zac Clarke, the Wolves piled up 369 yards.
And all came on the ground.
“Our H-back, Aiden Moriarty, had a great night blocking, too,” LeBlanc said.
Odior, who has a scholarship offer from Western Illinois and Division I interest from 10 other schools, could be getting more calls soon.
“It’s a defensive coordinator’s nightmare trying to account for the two of us,” Jones said. “It’s hard to stop a guy like Oshobi.
“Our line put him in position to succeed, but he’s got a little bit of a burst to him, too.”