ST. JOSEPH -- Standing next to a wall inside Bloomington Central Catholic High School on the first Friday night in October, Tanner Siems' eyes lit up.

A few feet away, from the space he just left, the St. Joseph-Ogden football team Siems plays a critical role on was relishing its 38-19 road win against the Saints.

The bass from the song, 'Diamonds,' by Rihanna, thumped loudly from the portable speakers the Spartans had set up inside their visiting locker room, with the SJ-O players relishing their sixth victory of the season that clinched a playoff berth for the program.

But Siems was relishing two other moments he had a hand in earlier in the night. Not exactly two moments one would expect from the 6-foot-4, 185-pound senior wide receiver for SJ-O.

But rather two plays that don't necessarily get much attention -- recovering an onside kick and recovering a fumble on offense.

"When I was on kickoff return, they had an onside kick right down the middle, so I had to dive on it," Siems said of BCC's strategy to open the second half with this attempt. "Then, on the fumble, I saw the ball bobbled, and I jumped on the ground as fast as I could."

Why, exactly, did Siems seem to take more pride in those two plays than the seven catches for 88 yards and two scores he had while factoring prominently into SJ-O's offense?

Siems looked at the question like it was a defensive back he was about to block.

"I mean," Siems said, tilting his head slightly, "I'm just trying to do whatever it takes to get the win."

Exactly. Those around the SJ-O program can probably nod their heads in agreement upon reading this. The Spartans are still unbeaten and still leading the Illini Prairie Conference, following up their road win against BCC with a 59-8 home rout of Pontiac last Friday night.

A main reason why an undefeated regular season and first Illini Prairie title is still possible for SJ-O (7-0, 6-0 Illini Prairie) as it prepares to play at Rantoul (1-6, 1-5) this Friday night and then host Paxton-Buckley-Loda (6-1, 5-1) in the regular-season finale on Oct. 25 at Dick Duval Field in St. Joseph?

The unselfish and talented nature of Siems, whose dad, Mike, played for the Spartans as a wide receiver and defensive back, graduating from SJ-O in 1994. Tanner grew up going to SJ-O football games, admittedly paying more attention to the pickup games he and his friends would play on the practice field behind the bright lights glaring from Dick Duval Field than the actual high school games.

"It's pretty cool because I remember when they would walk through the tunnel there, the players would all be high-fiving kids," Siems said. "I used to always look up to every one."

Now, the younger fans who attend SJ-O games this season are looking up to what No. 22 can do. And he does a lot. Even if the spotlight isn't always on him every single play.

"We don't want to talk about Tanner Siems," SJ-O coach Shawn Skinner said, a slight grin spreading on his face. "I don't want anybody else to know how good he is. He is so, so good. He's got a catch radius about as big as my garage, and he's a tremendous blocker. Ultimate team player. Great kid."

Siems isn't the primary option in the Spartans' passing game. That distinction falls on fellow senior Coy Taylor, who has hauled in 56 receptions for 724 yards and five touchdowns going into Friday night's game against Rantoul.

The contributions of Siems, though, go beyond the 21 catches for 291 yards and team-high eight touchdowns he has produced so far this season.

"I probably don't give him the ball enough, to be honest, and he might be our best blocker on the whole team," SJ-O offensive coordinator Dalton Walsh said. "He's that important for us."

Taylor and junior wide receiver Tim Blackburn-Kelley can stretch opposing defenses -- and have this season -- when SJ-O quarterback Kodey McKinney is looking for a big play downfield. But Taylor and Blackburn-Kelley are also valuable with short and intermediate throws. Siems is usually there, too, leading a cavalcade of blockers for the pair to follow.

"That's the part of being a wide receiver that most don't like, but I like to take pride in blocking," Siems said. "You have to be able to catch the ball and score and then you have to be able to block when you don't have the ball."

Mastering the craft of blocking hasn't always come naturally to Siems.

"I've always been pretty tall, but I've always been pretty skinny, too," he said. "I had to put a lot of weight on in the offseason and hit the weight room. That's important so I'm not getting bullied by other people."

Siems' growth away from the field is an aspect not lost on the SJ-O coaching staff.

"He's really dedicated himself to the weight room," Walsh said. "He's gotten so much stronger and developed that way. He's grown just maturity-wise, too."

Siems had a productive 2023 season for the Spartans, finishing with 35 catches for 630 yards and 10 touchdowns.

"A lot of versatility," Taylor said. "He's a big, deep threat for us and a big target. You can depend on him to make a catch anytime. He does his job."

So Siems didn't come into his senior season overlooked or an unknown commodity.

But he also didn't enter this season at the top of opposing scouting reports, either. That's a role Taylor and Blackburn-Kelley, who has 23 receptions for 288 yards and four touchdowns, often fill.

"Coming into the year, I honestly thought he might have less catches than he did last year, just with the way we had to go about some things offensively," Walsh said. "Again, because he's that important of a blocker for us, we had to move him around some places. I was really happy with the way he played against BCC because he deserves that. We ask him to do the hard stuff all the time, and when he's able to catch a lot of passes and get in the end zone, I was really happy for him."

McKinney has completed 75 percent of his passes for 1,525 yards, 19 touchdowns and only three interceptions to go along with 319 rushing yards on 61 carries and eight touchdowns. SJ-O junior running back Wyatt Wertz is another offensive option with his team-high 484 rushing yards on 93 carries and three touchdowns, along with sophomore wide receiver Kaden Wedig and his 11 catches for 204 yards and two touchdowns.

But Siems has his role. A mighty important one, too, around the SJ-O program.

"He's a senior leader," Walsh said. "He knows everything, and he knows what we want him to do. I always want to reward our guys who block the best and give them the ball more. As the year has gone on, I'm trying to get some more stuff for him and design some more things for him. It showed against BCC what he was able to do with the ball.

"Tanner really cares about everything as far as our program goes. He'll do anything that it takes to win."

Even if that means making countless blocks each game, outjumping a defensive back to catch a touchdown pass on a fade route, dragging defenders to pick up an important first down after catching a slant across the middle, or heck, even recovering an onside kick. Playing on those Friday nights, wearing the SJ-O jersey, means a little more for Siems.

"I like the thought that my dad went through this program and that I'm going through this program," he said. "I'd like for my kids to go through this program someday, too. It's just a good feeling and pretty cool."