The Times Week 4 Football Notebook: A little music, a little offense, a little history, a little defense, a little celebration

Homecoming celebrations on football Friday nights are always special, and last week Marquette coach Tom Jobst made the Crusaders’ event even more so by having his team led into battle against Annawan-Wethersfield by music – specifically, bagpipes.

To implement something he’d been thinking of doing for quite a while, Jobst searched the web and found Shawn McDonald of Dundee to play the pipes as the Cru marched two-by-two down Hudson Street to the gates of Gould Stadium.

“It’s homecoming, so we wanted to make it special,” Jobst said. “I didn’t know him, but he’s a good guy … and everyone enjoyed it.”

Seneca continues to light up the scoreboard

The Seneca Fighting Irish have scored an eye-popping 183 points in the first four games of the season, their most in program history according to The Times records.

The 4-0 start to the season is the 10th time since 1989 that an Irish team sat undefeated heading into Week 5, and the first since the 2013 club under then second-year head coach Ted O’Boyle. The prior two seasons, in the both the spring and fall of 2021, Seneca started 1-3.

Seneca is also on a six-game winning streak (winning its final two games last season), the longest such streak since the 2001 playoff squad won seven consecutive times from Week 3 to Week 9.

Sheehan 2nd in catches in Ottawa history

According to Ottawa statistician Dan Eilts, with three receptions against Sycamore, Ottawa senior Levi Sheehan remained in second place on the Pirates’ all-time receiving yards list with 53 receptions for 811 yards. Those 53 catches have Sheehan in fourth place on the all-time catches list in Ottawa history.

The all-time leader in receptions and receiving yards is Steve Sipula (1965-66), who had 65 receptions for 1,032 yards.

Streator getting ‘Mohr’ from special teams

Although Streator’s late-game passing attack gave the home crowd something to cheer about in the Bulldogs’ 35-28 loss to Lisle in Week 4, another player who didn’t figure into the team’s offensive statistics made a good impression as well.

Sophomore wide receiver/defensive back Anthony Mohr was a special teams standout for Streator, an effort that included a 38-yard kickoff return to the 50-yard line early in the second quarter and a recovery of a Parker Phillis onside kick with 3:53 to play that kept the Bulldogs’ comeback hopes alive.

Marquette defense ripping through foes

When it held Annawan-Wethersfield to 63 yards of offense in a 24-7 homecoming win Friday, it was the second time in the past three games the Marquette Crusaders held their opponent to fewer than 70 yards in a game. Marquette is allowing only 134.3 yards a contest overall, but throw out the 251 yards by Aurora Christian in the opener, and that figure drops to 95.3 yards.

“We just added a twist here and there. I don’t want to say too much about it, but we’ll ride that horse as long as it’ll run,” Cru coach Tom Jobst said. “The kids are executing very well, doing less thinking and more playing, which is what it boils down to. We’re just letting ‘em rip.”

That should make their Week 5 matchup against Class 1A No. 6-ranked Chicago Hope Academy on Friday at Altgeld Park interesting. The Eagles bested Walther Christian 69-0 last week and have put up 198 points through the first four games.

FCW welcoming back former Falcons, Warriors, Cardinals

The Flanagan-Cornell/Woodland football program will have an alumni appreciation day in conjunction with its Oct. 1 home game in Flanagan against Martinsville. All former players and coaches in Flanagan, Woodland, Cornell, Flanagan-Cornell and Flanagan-Cornell/Woodland history are welcome to be part of the event, during which they will be recognized at halftime. A postgame reception also is planned.

Former Falcons, Warriors and Cardinals can sign up through the program’s Facebook page. Kickoff of the Saturday game is scheduled for noon.