Minooka’s roller-coaster season hit another high point Friday.
A week after a last-minute loss at Morris, the host Indians rebounded in impressive fashion to stun No. 15 Oswego 14-12.
Senior quarterback Zach Vogt ran for one touchdown and threw for another, but it was the defense that finally won it for Minooka (4-2, 1-1 Suburban Prairie South).
On the biggest play of the game, a pack of Minooka defenders prevented Oswego running back Jeff Davis from scoring what would have been a game-tying two-point coversion with 48 seconds left.
“With five minutes [to play], it was real close, and this defense stuck it out,” Vogt said.
“It was a great defensive effort. They played real tough.”
Oswego (5-1, 1-1) had difficulty sustaining drives all night but pulled off a strong one at the end, marching 77 yards over a nearly five-minute span and closed the gap to two points on a 5-yard Davis touchdown run.
But a bid for overtime was thwarted when Davis was tripped at the 3-yard line on his conversion attempt, and Minooka proceeded to run out the clock.
Vogt gave Minooka the lead midway through the opening quarter when he capped a 51-yard drive with a 1-yard plunge.
Oswego cut the advantage to 7-6 with 8:41 left in the half on a 1-yard TD run from Dwayne Staniezewaki.
The extra-point attempt by Brian Schaffer, however, went wide.
Minooka went up 14-6 just before halftime on a 42-yard touchdown pass from Vogt to wide receiver Adam Kimble.
