Oswego junior linebacker Cam Loghmani walked into the postgame interview room carrying the Class 8A runner-up trophy, and briefly put it in the center of the table.

He could indeed hold it high.

Oswego football has a proud history. It has two state championships in its display case and many other achievements it can boast of.

But this group of Panthers that took the season for a ride all the way into December, the first time that’s ever been done in the IHSA playoffs, will not soon be forgotten. Not after Oswego went toe-to-toe with 17-time state champion Mount Carmel for four quarters in an eventual 20-3 loss.

“Panther football is known for a lot of things. I think we have a template that we are proud of,” Oswego coach Brian Cooney said. “I think these kids might have altered that template a little bit by the way they handled themselves. Real proud of them.”

The template for what was perhaps an improbable playoff run was this: play tremendous defense, get a couple big plays and win the game in the second half.

That defense showed out Wednesday night at NIU’s Huskie Stadium.

It shut out a Mount Carmel offense that had scored 500 points coming in for nearly a half. It held the Caravan to its lowest point total of the season. For three quarters, Oswego had out-gained Mount Carmel. The Caravan managed 194 total yards. The home run plays Mount Carmel knocked out against every other team never happened.

Perhaps the most telling stat? Mount Carmel had punted 13 times in 13 games leading up to the final. It punted nine times Wednesday.

“Our guys on defense are not afraid to lock horns,” Cooney said. “We knew tonight was a tough task but they in no way shape or form will they back down from anybody.”

That was apparent early on.

Oswego’s defense was flying around. The Panthers forced three-and-outs on Mount Carmel’s first two drives, and punts on the first four.

Kaleb Stumpenhorst’s 45-yard field goal with 2:14 left in the first quarter gave Oswego a 3-0 lead which held until just before halftime.

“I think the first few stops got us flying high. Our defense, after those first few possessions, we knew that we could stop them,” Oswego senior linebacker Conor Tully said. “As a group we just played together. We knew that we could stop them if we just executed.”

Mariano Velasco and his Oswego teammates were well aware what they were up against.

The history of Mount Carmel, an Illinois football blue blood, is one thing. But this Caravan roster chock full of Power Four prospects has been touted as the most talented in school history – maybe in Chicago history.

“We knew they had a lot of talent on that side of the ball,” said Velasco, an All-State defensive back/wide receiver, “but we knew they were the same age as us, wake up and go to school every day just like us. We knew we had talent on our team, too. We’ve been showing it all year. Just had to go out and trust our principles.”

Oswego’s junior defensive back Quinten Jackson grew emotional, his eyes moistened, as he slowly answered how he did not get intimidated facing a Mount Carmel offense with two future Division I receivers.

“I just believed,” Jacksen said.

Mount Carmel’s massive offensive averaged 6-foot-3, 290 pounds across the board. Still, the Caravan managed just 2.9 yards per carry.

“Sticking to our fundamentals,” Oswego senior defensive tackle Gianni Casurella said. “Trusting my linebackers. Trusting my teammates.”

Oswego’s defense that had given up just one second-half touchdown in four games over its playoff run, allowed just one late Wednesday.

The big plays that checkered Oswego’s playoff run, though, didn’t service.

The breaks didn’t bounce their way, like a Mount Carmel blocked punt returned for a touchdown to make it a 14-3 game in the third quarter. An earlier Mount Carmel punt of its own that started with a bounced snap ended up pinning Oswego deep at its 1-yard line, leading to the Caravan’s first touchdown.

Oswego twice had possessions on the Mount Carmel side late in the third and beginning of the fourth, but came up empty both times.

But the defense rarely budged, and Cooney was adamant to commend the coach who was the architect of it.

“It has to be mentioned the job that our defensive coordinator coach [John] Hugunin does,” Cooney said. “This year, I gave up calling the defense and truthfully we’re probably not sitting here had I not. The job that he has done this year with this group has been absolutely phenomenal. He’s a defensive junkie. Loves the game, is great with kids.”

Hugunin inherited a defense that graduated its entire front seven off a 2024 team that went 9-0 during the regular season.

Oswego returned just four starters from that group. With it came modest expectations.

The Panthers took their lumps. Two losses in three weeks to Yorkville and Minooka midway through the season.

But they kept the faith.

“The kids learned a lot from those two losses,” Cooney said. “We were in conflict in every single one of those playoff games and we found a way. We are going to miss this collective group. This team faced numerous challenges and met them head on.”

“It’s kind of incredible, even from the start we have been doubted. We used it as fuel,” Tully said. “Can’t really say anything more than we showed them what we are.”