Wolves Charged to Play in the Second Round of the Playoffs

The Wolves made history on Saturday when they defeated Belleville West 21-14 in their first playoff game, and are now 7-3 with 2 consecutive wins.

 “It feels great to win the first game of the playoffs,” junior safety Corey Kennedy said.  “We started it all and it’s just going to get better and better. We set the example for the future of Oswego East.”

To ensure their success for each game, the boys worked tirelessly in the offseason and even came in for 6 a.m. meetings to do some film breakdowns.

“Throughout the season we’ve done film breakdowns where we study our opponents,” head coach Tyson Leblanc said. “On Mondays and Wednesday mornings, we bring in the kids early to watch more film and get a better understanding of ourselves and find the things we’re doing wrong or we’re doing right.”

Head Captain senior Keagan Griffin believed that the ‘act right’ rule the coach implemented allowed for the team to go far in the season.

“Coach Leblanc wants nothing but the best for our team. He pushes us everyday mentally and physically sometimes even emotionally but we know it’s because he wants us to succeed and when he talks we all listen. He has one rule and that’s act right, and that applies to on and off the field activities and I think if we follow that one rule, things will fall into place. Without him I don’t know where we would have been.”

The boys definitely felt the nerves as they were up against the 2 seed Belleville West, but conquered them by being completely focused during the four hour bus ride.

“We knew that there was a possibility that we could win as long as we did what we were supposed to do and what we’ve worked on throughout the week,” linebacker junior Zachary Prinz said.  “Everyone kind of just had to believe in themselves in order to keep themselves going. We’re going into this next week’s game and it’s still nerve-racking because now [Lincoln -Way East] are a 3 seed.”

Quarterback junior Tyler Kennedy deemed that the win against Belleville West portrayed their potential for the team as they made their mark on the school, which is why they have to play their “best game ever” against Lincoln-Way East.

“They’re probably going to be the best team we’ve played all year. We can’t come out flat; we have to jump on them early,” Kennedy said.

Due to the unfortunate weather, the team is going to head up to the sports dome in Oswego for practice. Leblanc wants to make sure the team gets a good practice in and does not miss an opportunity to earn respect for their program.

“I’m excited to be here with a great group of kids excited for an opportunity to play a great program like Lincoln-Way East. They’re one of the premier programs in the state year in and year out and we talked to our kids about getting respect and getting recognition of our program -and this is an opportunity this week if we get a win, people will look at our program in a different way,” Leblanc said.  

The game is Saturday, November 9  at 1 p.m.