Oswego’s Jeremiah Cain knows something about being a difference-maker on the football field.
The athletic 6-foot-2, 170-pound senior has filled that dynamic role time and time again this season as a wide receiver, a defensive back and even a return specialist for the Panthers.
Here he was again, the speedster who can run a 4.48 40-yard dash and high jump 6-foot-7, putting on a show Friday night in the first half for shorthanded Oswego against York.
“Knowing that they ran a man, we were looking for our pass game more than our run game,” Cain said of the Dukes’ pass defense. “We still tried to implement the run game as much as we could.
“But they came out and they’re a really tough team.”
Tough enough for York to rally for a 35-17 victory in a Class 8A second-round playoff game at Ken Pickerill Stadium in Oswego.
The Panthers (10-1) turned senior quarterback Brett Connolly and the aerial attack loose and had some early success before the Dukes came back behind senior quarterback Bruno Massel.
Massel turned the tide with his legs, running 18 times for 170 yards and three TDs to lead the Dukes, who finished with 360 yards on the ground.
“He’s a heck of an athlete,” Cain said of Massel. “I tried to use my track speed on him. He’s quick — really nice player. He’s really good. I can see him going big.”
In the first half, Connolly completed 10 of 20 passes for 123 yards, staking the Panthers to a 10-7 halftime lead. Connolly ended up passing for 207 yards.
Cain, a Northern Iowa recruit, split two defenders on a catch in the second quarter, leaping over one and making a swim move to elude the other, for a 33-yard TD pass that erased a 7-3 deficit.
That was before York turned its quarterback loose, so Cain saw the big plays from both sides.
Massel has 4.43 sprinter speed in the 40 and has qualified for the state track meet three times.
“That was what we had to stop, and we just couldn’t find anything to stop him,” Cain said. “We tried to keep him contained as well as we could, and he still found a way.”
So did Cain. He caught six passes for 120 yards and joined junior slot receiver Teddy Manikas, who had seven catches for 67 yards, in leading Oswego’s attack.
Cain also broke up three throws by Massel in the first half as the Panthers shut down York’s passing game, limiting the Dukes to 15 yards.
York’s dual-threat quarterback found a way, however. The elusive Massel produced TD runs of 65, 11 and 23 yards. Jimmy Conners and Henry Duda also ran for 98 and 92 yards, respectively.
It didn’t help that Oswego played without Iowa-bound senior middle linebacker Carson Cooney, who was sidelined by an ankle injury sustained in a first-round win over Waubonsie Valley.
“It’s football, there’s 10 other dudes on the field,” said Oswego coach Brian Cooney, who is also Carson’s dad. “We’ve got guys who can play, and I’m proud of the kids who did.
”(York) is a good team. It would have been tough sledding no matter who you’ve got.”
Senior running back Dylan King delivered a 2-yard TD run to cut York’s lead to 21-17 with 4:06 remaining in the third quarter, but the Dukes then picked off two passes late in the game to clinch.
It advances York to next week’s quarterfinals against Warren (7-4), which beat Barrington 35-26.
The Panthers, meanwhile, persevered as junior linebacker Brody Main teamed up with seniors Mikey Claycombe and Easton Ruby, Cooney’s running mates all season, in the starting lineup.
“Obviously, it was going to be tough, as much as Carson means to us, but we prepped all week,” Claycombe said. “Brody and Dylan King were rotating in the ‘Mike’ position and they played well.
“Their quarterback is a great player. Leave one gap open and he’ll take advantage of it. He was on fire, and it was hard to stop him.”
