Senior quarterback Niko Villacci — the leader of this group — agreed that despite most of the right notes being hit Friday night, the harmonies could still use some more work for Oswego East.
But the band was back together again, and the final result seemed to reflect it.
“We were definitely not the sharpest, but we were just trying to sharpen things up,” Villacci said. “We knew it might not be too much of a challenge, but we wanted to sharpen up and get ready.”
The host Wolves looked ready and ran roughshod, grinding out 449 yards on the ground during a 51-6 victory over Romeoville in a Southwest Prairie Conference crossover game.
Senior running back Jasiah Watson led the way for Oswego East (5-1), ending up with 192 yards on 22 carries. That included touchdown runs of 1, 7 and 10 yards to rout the Spartans (3-3).
Oswego coach Tyson LeBlanc pointed out that Watson had just one negative run all season entering the game.
“Any time you’ve got a guy who can make people miss, gets yards after contact and has decent speed,” LeBlanc said, “you give it to him.”
Villacci, meanwhile, completed 8 of 15 passes for 100 yards. He ran for 60 yards, with TDs of 27 and 4 yards. It helps that senior receivers Lincoln Ijams and Donavin Eason are back in the mix.
Both have missed time with injuries this fall but were on the field playing together again for the first time. Each caught three passes from Villacci, with Ijams gaining 50 yards and Eason adding 41.
“Now, we’ve gotta just get the groove back and get some consistency with that, having them both back,” LeBlanc said. “Donny was out early and Lincoln got hurt in the second game.”
Villacci, Watson and Ijams are all three-year starters
“The three of us have had a bigger leadership role this year,” Villacci said. “There’s more eyes on us to perform at a higher level because a lot of guys look up to us.”
Baseball is Villacci’s No. 1 sport, where he will also be in his third year as a starter. A pitcher and center fielder, he wants to play baseball at the next level, but he also enjoys football.
“It’s fun playing for your hometown, and we’re a good football town,” said Villacci, hoping to get the Wolves back to the playoffs after missing a year ago. “It feels like I’ve been a senior for two years.”
“He’s athletic, he’s got a strong arm and he’s tough,” LeBlanc said of Villacci. “He understands what we want out of our offense.”
Villacci also looks forward to getting in sync with Ijams.
“It’s definitely a big help to have him back,” Villacci said. “He had a big impact those first two games. He’s a big part of our passing game — blocking and running good routes.
“I just have to get him the ball. I missed him a couple times. We have to get our timing on the same page.”
Ijams was feeling some rust, not having done much full-speed running for nearly a month.
“Our timing was off,” Ijams said. “I didn’t feel that confident going up and getting the ball. Throughout practices next week, I’ll be doing fine. I struggled but didn’t do too bad.
“The first part of the season we were fine. I don’t have any doubts we’re gonna get back to that.”
Oswego East’s defense took care of the rest, drawing an intentional grounding penalty on a pass thrown from the end zone. Junior cornerback Laterrion Thomas returned an interception for a TD.
Up next at home for the Wolves is Yorkville (6-0, 2-0), which leads the Southwest Prairie West. Oswego East is one of four teams tied at 1-1 in the conference.
“They’re definitely a good opponent,” Villacci said.
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