{"id":472724,"date":"2026-10-21T23:08:39","date_gmt":"2026-10-21T23:08:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/472724\/"},"modified":"2026-10-21T23:08:39","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T23:08:39","slug":"plano-sneaks-into-the-playoffs-quinten-jackson-jr-steady-for-oswego-kendall-county-football-notebook-shaw-local","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/472724\/","title":{"rendered":"Plano sneaks into the playoffs, Quinten Jackson Jr. steady for Oswego: Kendall County football notebook \u2013 Shaw Local"},"content":{"rendered":"

For a Plano<\/a> football player, few things are more special than ringing the victory bell at Reaper Stadium after a win.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s something that everyone wants to do as you grow up as a kid and get to hear that sound,\u201d Plano coach Kyle Tutt said. \u201cThat sound reverberates throughout town, and it just kind of shows the pride that we have in the community and what we\u2019re trying to build here at Plano.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Reapers haven\u2019t been able to do much ringing this season. Entering last week\u2019s regular-season finale, Plano had just one win \u2014 a 47-0 trouncing of Harvard \u2014 and sat at 1-7.<\/p>\n

Its playoff chances were looking bleak. Though not officially eliminated, the Reapers had a less than 5% chance of reaching the postseason, according to Steve Soucie<\/a>, even with a win over Marengo.<\/p>\n

But Plano defied those odds Friday night, beating the Indians 35-20 behind a dominant rushing performance that produced 418 yards and five touchdowns.<\/p>\n

Ethan Taxis led the way with 188 yards and a TD, while QB Braylon Schmidt ran for 150 yards and three scores. Cooper Beaty added an 80-yard TD run.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt felt amazing,\u201d Taxis said. \u201cSenior night win \u2026 everyone was there. We needed it to make the playoffs. It was a really great senior night to end it on Reaper field and ring the bell.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a win worthy of celebration, but it didn\u2019t guarantee the Reapers another game.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t really have much,\u201d Tutt said. \u201cWe talked about it Friday night, and we really celebrated our senior night win and took that to heart, and guys were really excited. We told them we\u2019d reach out as soon as we knew.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tutt said he got the confirmation at 5:15 p.m. Saturday. The team gathered at Reaper Stadium soon after to watch the IHSA football pairing show on the stadium\u2019s jumbotron and learn where they would be headed.<\/p>\n

Plano drew the No. 23 seed in the Class 4A bracket and an opening-round matchup against the 10th-seeded Dixon Dukes, a heavyweight out of the Big Northern Conference. The Reapers will make the near-hour-long trek to Dixon on Friday.<\/p>\n

For their seniors, the playoffs means at least one more week together.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s exciting to have another week to play, especially that I\u2019m a senior,\u201d Taxis said. \u201cI enjoy having another week with my boys, a chance to go prove that we\u2019re meant to be there.\u201d<\/p>\n

The matchup also brings a familiar opponent. Plano\u2019s last playoff appearance, in 2023, ended at Dixon, where the Dukes edged the Reapers<\/a> 10-7.<\/p>\n

Plano will look to avoid a repeat of that outcome this time around, and Tutt said it\u2019ll start with containing Dixon senior QB Jagger Kemp.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think you\u2019ve got to control Jagger, no matter what,\u201d Tutt said. \u201cI think the offense runs through him, the emotion runs through him being the senior leader, and they have some other great athletes on their team. But offensively, it all goes through him.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefensively, we feel like they\u2019re one of the harder hitting teams we\u2019ll see all year, and so we\u2019re ready to match that physicality and be ready to show that we can compete in the playoffs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Oswego's<\/p>\n

Football: Oswego East at Oswego Oswego’s Quinten Jackson Jr. (32) runs back an interception to ice the game between Oswego East and Oswego on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025, in Oswego. (Gary E Duncan Sr. for Shaw Local)<\/p>\n

\u2018We know we can count on him:\u2019 Quinten Jackson Jr. a steady presence for Oswego<\/p>\n

During the second half of Friday night\u2019s Crosstown Classic<\/a>, Ammar Banire, still out with a foot injury, made a point to single out a teammate for kudos on the Oswego<\/a> sideline.<\/p>\n

He wanted to push the spotlight onto one of his fellow seniors: Quinten Jackson Jr.<\/p>\n

When asked why Jackson, of all players on a Panthers squad jam-packed with talent, Banire raved about the cornerback\u2019s ability to play above his frame and his football IQ.<\/p>\n

He even compared Jackson to former Ohio State standout and Dallas Cowboys first-round pick Caleb Downs.<\/p>\n

\u201cComing down and hitting, that\u2019s a big role he\u2019s good at,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cI can see why Ammar would say that.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Jackson, who stands at 5-foot-8 1\/2 and 180 pounds, actually tries to model himself after a different Big Ten alum and 2026 draftee.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a short corner, I low-key look up to D\u2019Angelo Ponds,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cI get all my play-styling from him and study him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like Jackson, Ponds is considered undersized for the cornerback position. Listed at 5-foot-8 5\/8 and 182 pounds coming out of Indiana, Ponds was selected in the second round of April\u2019s NFL draft by the New York Jets.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just the way he doesn\u2019t let any of that get to him,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cPeople say he\u2019s short, he won\u2019t make it, just because he\u2019s short, and he just doesn\u2019t let none of that get to him, because it\u2019s his height.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite his size, Jackson isn\u2019t afraid to hit people, something Oswego coach Brian Cooney has taken notice of.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s gotten some opportunities to get some hits in, and he does a pretty good job,\u201d Cooney said. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t shy away from contact too often, considering he\u2019s a cornerback.<\/p>\n

In addition to his physicality, Jackson brings a veteran presence to the Panther defense as a second-year starter. He started all 14 games during Oswego\u2019s run to the Class 8A state title game last year, entrenching himself as a boundary corner after initially playing nickel.<\/p>\n

\"Oswego<\/p>\n

Oswego junior Quinten Jackson (ALEX RODRIGUEZ)<\/p>\n

And Jackson\u2019s impact goes beyond his play on the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s really respected by the team, always got a smile on his face,\u201d Cooney said. \u201cHe\u2019s an absolutely great kid, so it\u2019s fun watching him have fun and seeing some success on the football field.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for where Jackson gets his leadership abilities, the apple doesn\u2019t fall far from the tree. The senior looks to his father, who played linebacker at Drake, for guidance in his football career.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really listen to what he has to say, because he was a leader back in his day,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cSo I just go out there and do what is expected from him.\u201d<\/p>\n

The younger Jackson, known for his on-field smarts, also devotes much of his time watching film, whether it be at home or at school.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really do watch a lot of film with my dad, too,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cWe go over what I do wrong in games, and with my coaches as well. And on my free time, I will watch a film and see where I mess up and fix that later on in practices.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though Jackson isn\u2019t the flashiest player, he doesn\u2019t need to be on a team rife with playmakers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he\u2019s just been a consistent brand of football,\u201d Cooney said. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t spike too often. Not too high, not too low. He\u2019s just pretty steady. We know we can count on him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oswego East\u2019s Tyson LeBlanc ready for rematch with former team Curie<\/p>\n

Curie Metropolitan High School holds a special place in Oswego East<\/a> coach Tyson LeBlanc\u2019s football career.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s where LeBlanc landed his first head coaching job in 2007 and led the Condors to five consecutive Class 8A playoff appearances in five seasons before leaving for Oswego East in 2011.<\/p>\n

Fifteen years later, LeBlanc is preparing to face his former team for the second time since his departure. But this reunion doesn\u2019t carry nearly as much weight as the first one did a decade ago.<\/p>\n

The teams\u2019 last meeting came in first round of the Class 8A playoffs on Oct. 29, 2016, when the Wolves routed Curie 56-14 in Oswego.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been gone from that place for 15 years, so it\u2019s not as fresh as it was the last time we played,\u201d LeBlanc said.<\/p>\n

\u201cReally, we\u2019re just happy to have an opportunity to play in the postseason and getting ready. I don\u2019t know anybody on their coaching staff. The connection\u2019s not there like it was a few years back.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Condors, now led by Jarve Lewis-Bey, have undergone several coaching changes since LeBlanc\u2019s tenure \u2014 and with them, plenty of scheme changes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re a little bit different than we were,\u201d LeBlanc said. \u201cWe were a little bit more spread, a little more more multiple when I was there. I\u2019d say they\u2019re a little bit more run heavy than we were.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Oswego East head coach Tyson LeBlanc, a former Curie football coach, shakes hands with a Curie coach after an 8A varsity football playoff game against Currie at Oswego East High School on Saturday, October 29, 2016. Steven Buyansky for Shaw Media (Steven Buyansky)<\/p>\n

For Oswego East, this week\u2019s focus is less on LeBlanc\u2019s history with its opponent and more on playing its best football as the Wolves seek their first playoff win since that 2016 game.<\/p>\n

To do that, LeBlanc said the Wolves will count on the unit that\u2019s anchored them all year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to continue to lean heavy on our defense,\u201d LeBlanc said. \u201cThat\u2019s where the bulk of our experience is \u2026 guys like Jack Ponto, Carson Fell, the English brothers (Jack and Frank), those guys are the guys we\u2019re going to be counting on \u2014 our seniors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oswego East will also have to adjust to a different rhythm, with this week\u2019s matchup scheduled for a noon Saturday start in Chicago instead of the usual Friday night kickoff.<\/p>\n

\u201cReally, it\u2019s the unfamiliar environment \u2026 making the adjustment to playing early on a Saturday as opposed to the Friday night,\u201d LeBlanc said. \u201cSo just the adjustment in the schedule I think poses a bit of a threat to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though the Wolves finished winless in the SPC West for the first time this season, that\u2019s hardly a testament against them \u2014 especially against some of the state\u2019s strongest teams.<\/p>\n

The division also includes Oswego and Bolingbrook, both 9-1 teams ranked among the top five in the Class 8A bracket. That competiton, LeBlanc believes, has prepared his team nicely for the postseason ahead.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got two of the top six teams in the state in Class 8A in our conference,\u201d LeBlanc said. \u201cThere\u2019s not too many conferences out there that I think are as difficult and as competitive as ours is.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For a Plano football player, few things are more special than ringing the victory bell at Reaper Stadium…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":472725,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[135877,586,2291,1440,147242,147241,160,162,161,41688],"class_list":["post-472724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-plano","tag-fnd-kendall-county","tag-high-school-football","tag-high-school-sports","tag-kendall-county","tag-oswego-east-preps","tag-oswego-preps","tag-plano","tag-plano-headlines","tag-plano-news","tag-plano-preps"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=472724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472724\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/472725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=472724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=472724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=472724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}