Gianni Casurella and Andrew Shaw combine forces to dominate at defensive tackle for Oswego. ‘A tag team combo.’

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When the season started several months ago, few admittedly did, but senior defensive tackles Gianni Casurella and Andrew Shaw are getting properly noticed for Oswego.

They clog up the middle for Panthers’ line on defense, and much like the unit overall, they’ve emerged as a force to be reckoned with in what has to be termed a breakout season.

Shaw moved in from Plainfield Central the summer before their junior seasons. After Shaw sahred reserve duty last season with Casurella, they became offseason workout partners.

“After every lift, we would go out on the track and just start sprinting and doing conditioning,” Shaw said. “Running, running, running. We had no worry about what was going on from last year.

“We wanted to focus on this year.”

It was evident Friday night as the 5-foot-11, 255-pound Shaw and 6-2, 250-pound Casurella combined to key a huge defensive effort for host Oswego in a 10-7 nailbiter win over Lockport in a Class 8A state semifinal.

Shaw made four tackles and Casurella came up with three as the Panthers (11-2) limited the offensive opportunities of Lockport (9-4) in advancing to a 7 p.m. Saturday state championship game against juggernaut Mount Carmel (13-0) at Hancock Stadium in Normal.

Two turning-point plays in the fourth quarter — a 63-yard touchdown run by sophomore running back Ammar Banire and a 42-yard field goal by senior kicker Kaleb Stumpenhorst — earned Oswego a Rocky-like title shot against the Caravan, a 42-21 winner Saturday over Fremd.

Mount Carmel, bumped up to 8A this season, has won three straight 7A state titles. Casurella, meanwhile, entered Saturday’s game with 47 tackles. Shaw had 38. And it all started a year ago.

“They subbed in last year for the starters,” Oswego coach Brian Cooney said. “I met with them at the end of last year and said, ‘If you want it, that’s you next year.’

“They held their own. I mean Lockport, tackle to tackle, is the biggest team we’ve seen and they held their own. They seem to be a tag team combo. They travel together.”

Oswego continued its playoff trend, trailing early before rallying for the win.

Lockport led 7-0 at halftime on a 9-yard TD run from dual-threat senior quarterback Brendan Mecher at 8:02 of the second quarter.

“The way we shut down Maine South’s quarterback last week, I was very confident heading into the second half,” Casurella said. “We have that mindset. You’re one of 11. Just do your job.”

Oswego’s defense did it exceptionally well, forcing punts on Lockport’s first five drives of the second half. Banire then went around the right end to force a tie at 11:10 of the fourth quarter.

“Unbelievable,” Banire said. “I saw I had a great block, and after that, it was chicken time. That means I knew I was going all the way. My fullback, Graham Schwab, had that block.”

Stumpenhorst’s kick capped a 60-yard drive with 1:00 remaining, but Lockport wasn’t done, driving to the Oswego 22 before missing a 38-yard field goal.

Cooney credited defensive coordinator John Hugunin for “having our kids in the right spot.” Hugunin, however, credited the players for making names for themselves.

“All year, the word on us was, ‘They graduated everyone. Who’s gonna step up?’” Hugunin said. “Those two in the middle didn’t see a lot of time last year because of who we had.

“They came in and they’ve done the job about as well as you can.”

Casurella and Shaw are flanked at defensive end by junior Ethan Pilip and senior Tristan Thomas.

“Defense works around the line,” Hugunin said. “That’s always how it is. It starts and ends up front. Those two (Casurella and Shaw) and our defensive ends?

“I couldn’t be more proud of how we were up front — this game and the whole year really.”