Football Recap: St. Joseph-Ogden Takes Down Roxana in a Playoff Battle

It's playoff time, and St. Joseph-Ogden had no trouble coming through when it counted. They came out on top against the Roxana Shells by a score of 42-32 on Saturday. This was payback for the Spartans, who suffered a 48-47 defeat the last time these two teams met.

Wyatt Wertz

Rushing Yards

11/08/25 @ Roxana	185
11/01/25 vs Benton	36
10/24/25 vs Pontiac	215
10/17/25 @ Seneca	59
10/10/25 @ Bloomington Central Catholic	99
+ 2 more games

St. Joseph-Ogden had a senior duo take command as Wyatt Wertz rushed for 185 yards and one touchdown and Kodey McKinney rushed for 72 yards and a pair of scores. With that strong performance, Wertz is now averaging an impressive 107.6 rushing yards per game.

St. Joseph-Ogden was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 275 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since the start of last season.

St. Joseph-Ogden didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. In fact, those interceptions all came courtesy of defensive juggernaut McKinney. His passing game has become a key predictor of St. Joseph-Ogden's success: the team is 6-1 when his passer rating is 100 or higher, but only 1-3 otherwise.

When it comes to explaining why Roxana lost, don't look at Mekhi Shorter. Despite the final result, he rushed for 142 yards and one TD while picking up 7.1 yards per carry.

The victory (which was St. Joseph-Ogden's third in a row) raised their record to 7-4. Those wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 38.3 points over those games. As for Roxana, the loss snapped their winning streak at three games and leaves them with a 7-4 record.

Looking ahead, St. Joseph-Ogden will square off against Vandalia at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. The Spartans will need to watch out since the Vandals have now posted at least 31 points in their last five contests. Roxana does not have any more games scheduled as of now.