Football: Plainfield Central Staves Off Oswego East

Breaking It Down: In a game that played out like computer football, with the two teams combining for 82 points and 813 yards total offense, a throwback player stepped to the forefront in the final 4 minutes. Plainfield Central’s Jordan Ellingwood rumbled for the tough yardage that helped the Wildcats’ stave off Oswego East 42-40 on Friday night in Southwest Prairie Conference play.

Ellingwood carried five times for 34 yards as Plainfield Central ran out the clock after Oswego East pulled within 42-40 on a 4-yard touchdown run by Sean Kennedy with 4:08 remaining. Kennedy’s two-point pass to Chris Cooper fell incomplete and the Wolves were unable to stop Ellingwood.

Kennedy completed 25-of-36 passes for 341 yards and five touchdowns.

Patch’s MVP: Jordan Ellingwood, 5-10, 210-pound senior running back, Plainfield Central. He rushed for a game-high 180 yards on 27 carries and scored one touchdown. And he wouldn’t go down when Oswego East stacked its defense to stop him in the final minutes.

Plainfield Central Stat Pack: Jordan Ellingwood (27 carries, 180 yards, 1 TD), Tyler Erdman (140 yards, 17 carries, 1 TD), Gino Giarratano (51 yards, 12 carries, 1 TD), Mike Smiles (7-of-10 passing, 137 yards, 3 TDs), Duvane Goodlow (3 catches, 45 yards, 1 TD), Dane Moscatelli (2 catches, 67 yards, 2 TDs).

Oswego East Stat Pack: Sean Kennedy (25-of-36 passing, 341 yards, 5 TDs; 8 rushes, minus-4 yards, 1 TD), Scooter Smith (7 catches, 89 yards, 2 TDs), Chase Skenandore (6 catches, 118 yards, 1 TD), Branden Lowe (4 catches, 68 yards, 2 TDs), Chris Cooper (14 carries, 92 yards; 5 catches, 19 yards).

Quotable I: “We were just trying to keep our linemen’s heads in check, telling them to move their feet, get off the ball and just take their blocks, and we were going to do the rest from there,” Plainfield Central’s Jordan Ellingwood said. “We were busting tackles. And we were just busting our (butts).”

Quotable II: “I expected them to be playing well,” Plainfield Central coach John Jackson said. “They’re an improving team with a new coach. He’s doing a really good job. He’s really bringing some things to their program. I was concerned. I wasn’t sure if we could get this game or not. I thought we were pretty evenly matched teams and the score showed that. I think one thing we had going for us was we were able to control the ball more so we could eat up a lot more clock.”

Quotable III: “Anytime you can get up to over 300 yards throwing the ball, it’s a great day at the office,” Oswego East coach Tyson LeBlanc said of Sean Kennedy’s passing. “Unfortunately, we weren’t able to run the ball very well to help him out. We try to be as balanced as we can, but we got ourselves in a big hole there. So, we had to throw the ball a little bit more.”

Team Records: Plainfield Central is 4-2 overall and 2-2 in the Southwest Prairie. Oswego East is 3-3 and 1-3.

What’s Next: Oswego East plays at Minooka on Friday, Oct. 5. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. Plainfield South is at Plainfield Central at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 6.

Scores of Interest: Plainfield North 55, Romeoville 23; Oswego 42, Plainfield East 7. For more scores, go to IHSA ScoreZone.