BLOOMINGTON -- It almost slipped away in the mud at Fred Carlton Field, but the Oswego defense wouldn't let it go.
"We didn't want to turn our stuff in on Monday," senior linebacker Dan Howell said of the equipment ritual that follows every high school football team's season finale.
The Panthers won't have to perform that ritual this week, however. They held off Bloomington 28-26 on Friday in a first-round Class 6A playoff game and move on to next week's second-round matchup with Providence.
"I told the kids I thought the ball could be on the carpet," Oswego coach Dave Keely said, noting that Bloomington had turned the ball over a lot in its seventh game of the season in the rain against Normal.
He couldn't have been more right.
The Raiders turned the ball over five times in the first half, three on fumbles and twice on interceptions. They also snapped the ball over the punter's head, giving the Panthers the ball in the red zone.
Oswego (8-2) capitalized with four first-half scores, all on short drives.
The Panthers' longest scoring drive of the night covered 35 yards and took nine plays. The visitors won the turnover battle 6-3. Bloomington fumbled seven times in the slop, losing three, and junior quarterback Tyler Dicken, who passed for 203 yards and three scores, was intercepted three times.
Bloomington had taken a 7-0 lead on the first of three big scoring plays, a 67-yard screen pass and run from Dicken to older brother and senior Ryne Dicken. James Wimp's extra point made it 7-0.
Two possessions later, Bloomington's long snapper sent the ball over head of Wimp, who had dropped back to punt. Oswego took over at the Raiders' 15, and five plays later John Hugunin (16 carries, 56 yards) bulled in from 2 yards out. The first of four extra points by senior Drew Boldridge tied it.
The hosts then lost three straight fumbles and Oswego scored on a 13-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Ryan West to Ryan Prinzing, and Hugunin added scoring runs of 7 and 3 yards to stake the visitors to a 28-7 lead with 1:32 left in the half.
A funny thing happened on the way to the rout, though.
Bloomington answered on another Tyler Dicken-to-Ryan Dicken screen pass, this one covering 61 yards, for a score with 18 seconds left in the half.
"That score kept them in the game," said Keely, whose offense was stopped cold on the first drive of the second half.
The Raiders (8-2) scored on their next two possessions, on a 19-yard pass from Tyler Dicken to Torrey Harrell and on a 64-yard run by senior tailback Derrick Simmons. Wimp missed two of the extra points, however, setting the stage for Oswego's fourth-quarter defensive stands.
"As our motto goes, bend but don't break," said Hugunin, who also plays linebacker.
On the Raiders' final four possessions, the Oswego defense forced three punts and a 37-yard field goal attempt that went awry when the snap was fumbled by the holder.
"The field conditions were so bad everybody was getting stuck up in the mud," Oswego defensive back Josh Wagner said. "That was probably the best skill position players we've seen."
Wagner had one of the Oswego interceptions, with Chris Bagley (who returned it 36 yards) and Joe Kwiatkowski grabbing the others. Linebacker Trevor Taves recovered one fumble, Hugunin another and Bagley yet another.
It was the 23rd straight playoff appearance for Bloomington, which claimed a 276-183 advantage in total yards. Oswego had nine first downs in the first half but just three in the second half, when the offense could get nothing going in the muck.
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