Short-handed Pontiac looking for a way to win
The nightmare that is the 2022 football season at Pontiac is in its final third part of the schedule. Head coach John Johnson has dealt with issues on and off the field and is still trying to figure what it takes to get the Indians on track.
Johnson will be dealing with more issues this week as PTHS travels to St. Joseph-Ogden for an Illini Prairie Conference contest. The Spartans are a team looking to make the playoffs. The issues include injuries, ineligibilities and decisions not to play Friday night.
The injuries are the biggest problem. The Tribe lost another running back in last week's game as Alex Valenzuela added his name to the injury report. He got hurt early in the Tribe's loss to Tolono and did not return.
Pontiac had also lost DeVonte Chambers, Hunter Melvin and Riley Johnson in the backfield.
To make matters worse, there is a question on who will be quarterback. Johnson said after Wednesday's practice that he wasn't sure who was going to take snaps against the Spartans.
Pontiac's biggest problems this season has been line play. Regular starting quarterback Nick Crane has had to run to escape trouble many times this season, which often leads to inaccurate and hurried throws.
“We still have 4-5 guys injured, two are ineligible and right now I don't know about our quarterback situation,” Johnson said. “Right now, I'm not sure who is going to start.”
Adam Ahrends has been a bright light in receiving when Crane has been able to throw the ball.
The Indians have scored just 81 points, with 50 coming in their win over Rantoul. The Tribe has also been shut out two weeks in a row. Not including the 2020 COVID season, Pontiac hadn't been shut out two weeks in a row since 2011, when it fell to Central Catholic and U-High in Corn Belt Conference play.
Pontiac's offensive challenge will be scoring more than two touchdowns against St. Joe-Ogden. The Spartans have not won a game when allowing more than 14 points.
Pontiac's defense has been troubled, as well. PTHS has given up 238 points on the season, the second most among the Illini Prairie Conference schools.
“This team is having trouble believing in itself. That's a reflection of me and I'll take that,” Johnson said. “We have to play some people who haven't played before. We have to have kids step up and play who haven't really played a whole lot. It's up to them to play.”
The Spartans have scored fewer than 20 points once this season, a 50-7 loss to Tolono. St. Joe-Ogden has defeated Monticello, Illinois Valley Central and Nokomis. Its losses are to Tolono, Prairie Central and Central Catholic.
The Spartans run a multiple-threat offense. They can run the effectively, but can also throw it with success. St. Joe-Ogden needed to go to the air in order to score 28 points against Prairie Central.
“They have that big receiver (Ty Pence), he's really good (and) they can run the ball,” Johnson said. “They have a two-pronged attack and we're going to try to play hard.”
Pontiac will return home next week to host Chillicothe (IVC) and then end its season at Robinson in a nonconference tilt on Oct. 21.
This article originally appeared on Pontiac Daily Leader: Short-handed Pontiac looking for a way to win Indians
