The program: St. Joseph-Ogden linebackers playing the hits

ST. JOSEPH — James Barron heard the offseason chatter. Didn’t necessarily like it, either.

The St. Joseph-Ogden football team would thrive this season because of an up-tempo, no-huddle offense. The Spartans’ defense? Well, that was another narrative that didn’t necessarily forecast much optimism.

“I have a couple older friends who would talk about how our offense would be dominant and how our defense wouldn’t be too good,” said Barron, a 5-foot-9, 175-pound senior outside linebacker for SJ-O. “That did make me mad. I’m happy we’re doing the best job we can.”

The Spartans are giving up an average of 23.4 points this season and have allowed at least three touchdowns in every game. But the strides SJ-O coach Shawn Skinner has seen from this unit gives him confidence before the Spartans (5-0) play at Bloomington Central Catholic (3-2) at 7 p.m. Friday in an Illini Prairie Conference showdown.

Mainly because of the play from Barron and his fellow linebackers, who will need to contain a run-first offense the Saints will use on their home field in Bloomington on Friday night. Barron and senior Carson Sarnecki (6-0, 175) hold down the outside linebacker spots for SJ-O. Senior Nolan Earley (5-10, 190) and junior Ryker Lockhart (5-10, 165) man the inside linebacker positions, with senior Jared Altenbaumer (5-7, 165) starting at middle linebacker in the Spartans’ 3-5-3 defense.

“We don’t have a ton of big dudes,” Skinner said, “but we run this hybrid defense because we have a ton of linebackers in our program.”

Case in point: Last Friday night in a 26-20 home win against Carterville. Altenbaumer missed the nonconference game because of a shoulder injury he sustained in Week 4 at Chillicothe IVC, but junior Logan Rosenthal filled in for him and made seven tackles. Another example of making adjustments happened in Week 2 during an eventual 24-21 home win against Unity. The Rockets moved the ball effectively with running back Garrett Richardson, but only managed one second-half touchdown. A key reason? Earley, a starting offensive lineman, contributing at linebacker in a mid-game decision.

“For a guy that never really practiced it until the last two weeks, he’s really starting to have it take hold,” Skinner said of Earley, who is tied with Altenbaumer for second on the team in tackles with 44. “He was a force against Carterville.”

Lockhart leads the Spartans with 47 tackles and knew he’d have an increased role on an SJ-O defense this fall that only returned three starters from a year ago. So he hit the weight room, adding 15 pounds to his frame this offseason.

“That was a big thing for me because weighing around 150 last year, I knew I needed to gain weight to play linebacker in the Illini Prairie Conference,” Lockhart said. “It’s helped me a lot.”

Altenbaumer was one of the only returning starters the SJ-O defense had before this season, but he’s seen growth from his side of the ball all fall.

“A lot of us have figured out our roles on the defense,” said Altenbaumer, one of SJ-O’s captains who should play Friday night after missing the Carterville win. “We’re starting to put the pieces together.”

Playing better in the second half, though, is a focus for Altenbaumer and the rest of the SJ-O defense. The Spartans have outscored their opponents 125-28 in the first half, but have been outscored 89-56 after halftime.

“First half, we’re making a statement every time,” Altenbaumer said. “In the second half, we come out lackadaisical and give up easy stuff by not paying attention. Everyone needs to focus on doing their jobs.”

Playing hard — a talking point Skinner brings up often and one his players have started using — isn’t lacking for the Spartans.

“Our effort has been great all year,” Lockhart said. “We’ve made minor mistakes, but we’re very quick and we have a nonstop pursuit to the football.”

And a mindset of wanting to tackle helps, too.

“My freshman and sophomore year, I didn’t really like hitting anyone,” Sarnecki said with a grin. “My sophomore year, I started wrestling, and wrestling really helped me a lot with that because it helped me get into the mindset that I can go out there and go toe-to-toe with anyone.”

That belief has spread through the SJ-O defense. Winning an Illini Prairie regular-season title — something the Spartans haven’t done since the league formed in 2017 — is a goal. Same for hosting a Class 3A first-round playoff game and playing well into November.

Winning on Friday night at Bloomington Central Catholic will boost those aspirations.

It’s not lost on Skinner what SJ-O position group could have a major say in determining the outcome.

“What makes this defense go is the outside linebackers,” Skinner said. “When those guys do their job, our defense looks really good.”