FITHIAN — Last year, the Oakwood football team saw themselves in the playoffs for the first time under head coach Cameron Lee.
For this season, the Comets (7-2) have worked even harder and with four straight wins to end the regular season, sees them hosting an IHSA Class 1A playoff game today against Carrolton.
“This is the kind of thing, beyond just the football game, is really good for the community and really good for the future of the program,” Lee said. “It is something people get excited about. You get to play an extra game and build excitement and you get a chance to elevate the program moving forward.”
The last month of the season showed how improved the Comets have become with wins against Salt Fork and Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin included in the win streak.
“We have a very good group of athletes who have bought in since the beginning and they could handle anything we threw at them,” Lee said. “They continue to learn and listen and grow as players. We could add a wrinkle here and add this next version of a play and a counter to everything. It keeps the game fun, keeps our kids on our toes and adds that mental component and give us layers that makes it hard for our opponents.”
The buying in has worked well, including for junior quarterback Alex Wallace, who has passed for 1,505 yards with 22 touchdowns, junior running back Kyler Johnson ran for 1,071 yards with 15 touchdowns and sophomore wide receiver Nathan Young picking up 491 yards and eight touchdowns.
“Our team chemistry has been great,” Johnson said. “We have grown up together and always been friends. We wanted to have a great season, so we just started to work harder and we have been able to execute and win some great team.”
Carrollton is 6-3 and has won six of its last seven games after losing its first two games.
“Carrollton is a great program, they played in the state championship some years ago and this is something that they are used to,” Lee said. “When you talk about being a great program, you have to beat great programs. We are trying to climb that ladder. We have a home playoff game and everything is out there for us. There is a good team that is going to be here and it is on us to take care of business.”
Lee said that this year is about doing a little bit more than last year and doing a whole lot to get the program to a point where it can make a noise the whole region can hear.
“Last year, we got into the playoffs and we had a feeling that we were happy to be here. This year, we can do something special and put our program on the map,” Lee said. “We want to be one of those programs where when people think of high school football in central Illinois, we want them to think about the Oakwood Comets. We have to find a way to execute and take advantage of that opportunity.”
“I think it is pretty cool and shows how hard we have worked and to have our fans come out and hopefully get a win to get to the second round,” Johnson said. “They are not the biggest team, but they play hard. If we cover their passes and stop them at the line of scrimmage, we should do well.”
The game starts at 2 p.m. and will be broadcast on WITY-AM 980 and WITY-FM 99.5.
Also in Class 1A, Salt Fork (5-4) goes on the road to take on Dupo (8-1) today at 1 p.m.
The Storm come in off losing their last two games while the Tigers have won their last two after their only loss of the season to Chester. While Salt Fork’s Zayden Bromley has shown to be a double threat in his first season as starting quarterback, Dupo quarterback Deegan Prater is also a double threat. Prater has passed for 2.034 yards and 26 touchdowns and has rushed for 396 yards and 10 scores.