Oswego is the area’s new high school sports hotbed. Both local schools regularly produce high-level athletes and teams. It isn’t difficult to figure out why. The village in Kendall County has grown from 3,876 residents in 1990 to nearly 40,000 today.
High school football has always been a focal point of the community. Oswego won the 7A state title in 2003 and a 4A title in 1992. But last season was even bigger, despite losing the 8A title game to Mount Carmel.
“The semifinal crowd was unbelievable,” Panthers quarterback Drew Kleinhans said. “I’ve never seen that many people at a high school football game. Some people said it was one of the best games they had ever been to, crowd-wise.”
The Panthers were the Cinderella story of last season’s state tournament, upsetting Maine South on the road in the quarterfinals and beating Lockport at home in the semifinals. Then they gave heavily-favored Mount Carmel a stern test in the title game.
Coach Brian Cooney was a linebacker on the 1992 state championship team and an assistant coach with the 2003 team. His tenure as head coach has been stellar, leading Oswego to a 126-36 record in 15 seasons. The Panthers have only missed the playoffs once since 2010.
All that success has probably been mildly underappreciated across the state. That has changed after last season’s run, and the community is buying in as well.
“It seems there is more interest in football around here,” Cooney said. “Our typical numbers in the summer are about 180-190. This summer we had well over 200 sign up.”
Oswego, ranked No. 6 in the preseason Super 25, won’t be sneaking up on anyone this season.
“We aren’t worried about having a target on our back,” said Iowa State recruit Dontrell Young, a defensive back. “We have pretty high standards and plan to finish things off this year and bring the state championship home.”
The Panthers return around eight starters on offense and seven on defense. The offensive line, with returners Ryan Stork, Gabriel Guzman, Nathan Overstreet and Alejandro Acosta, should be a major strength.
Kleinhans threw for 18 TD passes last season, his first on varsity.
“There were some times last year where the game felt a little fast,” Kleinhans said. “Already this year in practice against our great defense and the scrimmages against Batavia, the game feels a lot slower to me, and everything feels a lot smoother.”
Cooney has been impressed with 6-4 senior tight end Ryan Wynn’s improvement over the offseason, and junior running back Ammar Banire, a part-time player last season, recently earned scholarship offers from eight schools including Illinois, Indiana and Iowa. He will partner with fullback Graham Schwab in a dynamic backfield.
“We haven’t been listening to any outside noise,” Banire said. “All we did was work harder. This season we have the chip on our shoulder that we can go and win it all.”
Young, who won three medals at the state track and field meet, leads the defense along with linebacker Cam Loghmani. The 5-10, 205-pound senior finished with 82 tackles and 10 TFLs last season.
“With more guys back this year, the installs have been a little bit smoother,” Cooney said. “They have been able to pick things up a little bit more, and we have more at our disposal in Week 1. It has been a good summer; the kids have been working hard.”
@michaelsobriensports Oswego checks in at No. 6 in the preseason Super 25. Iowa State recruit Dontrell Young leads the defense. #ihsa #football #oswego #iowastate ♬ original sound – michaelsobriensports