Plainfield South Holds Off Oswego East, 34-27

After Oswego East rallied to tie Friday night at 27 points each, it didn't take South long to respond.

Dantrell Wright took a screen pass from Austin Horvath and raced 62 yards to the Oswego East two-yard line. On the next play, Wright lined up at quarterback and ran two yards for his second touchdown of the night and boosted the Cougars (2-1, 1-0) to the Southwest Prairie Conference win.

Wright finished with 72 rushing yards and two TDs, with five receptions for 125 yards. Horvath was 10-of-17 for 213 yards and two touchdowns. Josh Harris carried four times for 89 yards, including an 80-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.

Chris Cooper led Oswego East (2-1, 0-1) with 138 yards on 33 carries. Dakoda Skenandore ran for two touchdowns and went 15-of-21 for 126 yards and a touchdown.

Oswego East got on the board first when Skenandore capped the game's opening drive with a two-yard plunge for a touchdown. There was a bad snap on the conversion and East led 6-0.

The Cougars answered quickly, going 3-for-3 on third-down conversions before Wright scored from two yards out from the wildcat formation. Matthew Imburgia's kick gave South a 7-6 lead.

South forced a punt and started its next drive from its own 10. The Cougars went 3-for-3 on third downs again, and Horvath hit Ricky Luna with a 26-yard touchdown pass over the middle for a 14-6 lead.

The Cougar defense came up big on fourth down, stuffing a run by Cooper for no gain at the East 44, and on the first play, Horvath lofted a beautiful pass over two East defenders, hitting Jason Ochoa in stride along the left sideline for a 44-yard score and a 21-6 lead.

"We got it going with the passing game," Horvath said. "The line did a great job protecting me and the receivers ran great routes and got open."

Skenandore scored from five yards out with :18 left in the first half, but the kick was blocked and South took a 21-12 lead into halftime.

East opened the second half by intercepting a Horvath pass at its own 15 and marched 85 yards, capped by Cooper's four-yard run. The kick by Cooper Fell made it 21-19.

After a South punt, East was on the march again, but Brandon Davis picked off a Skenandore pass at the South 15. Two plays later, Josh Harris went 80 yards for a touchdown, picking up a key block downfield from Wright. The kick was blocked and South led 27-19.

East answered, getting a key 23-yard pass from Skenandore to Ryan Kossakowski on fourth-and-1. Later, Skenandore found Scooter Smith in the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown, and Skenandore's conversion pass to Jordan Sullivan tied the game, setting up Wright's heroics.

"Dantrell is a playmaker for us," South coach Ken Bublitz said. "We want to get him the ball as much as possible. He broke two tackled and was facemasked, so that was a heck of a play by him.

"I was real happy with the way the guys bounced right back after they tied it up. Oswego East is a real good team."