Wildcats defeat Lena-Winslow

LENA ­ Despite committing five turnovers, visiting Eastland-Pearl City prevailed over Lena-Winslow on Homecoming Night Friday. Lena-Winslow had four turnovers of its own during the mid-season setback.

Lena-Winslow had some early momentum as Trey Griffin knocked the ball loose from an Eastland-Pearl City ballcarrier and teammates Alex Holcomb returned the fumble 25 yards for a touchdown. Lena-Winslow scored 15 seconds into the game but couldn't maintain control.

Eastland-Pearl City got on the scoreboard in its opening drive when Jerime Coombes scored on a 21-yard run.

Lena-Winslow went back out in front and led 14-7 at the conclusion of the opening quarter. The Wildcats, however, owned the second score.

After trading scores, Eastland-Pearl City eventually broke free. The Wildcats carried a 20-14 lead into halftime and outscored host Lena-Winslow 14-7 in the second half.

Walker put Eastland-Pearl City out in front for good in the fourth quarter when he connected with Miller on a 22-yard scoring pass.

Quarterback Carson Walker led Eastland-Pearl City in rushing, picking up 74 yards via four carries. Jerime Coombes was the second-leading rusher for the Wildcats. Coombes rushed for 57 yards and one touchdown on 16 carries. The Eastland-Pearl City running back averaged 3.6 yards per carry.

Through the air, Walker completed nine-of-13 passes for 187 yards and three touchdowns. Lena-Winslow intercepted one of Walker's passes.

Tony Dunlap, Tyler Zumdahl and Cole Miller each had one touchdown reception for the Wildcats. Miller was the leading receiver for Eastland-Pearl City, grabbing five catches for 70 yards. Dunlap and Zumdahl each had two catches for the Wildcats. Dunlap hauled in two receptions for 62 yards.

Running back Wes Ertmer led Lena-Winslow in rushing with a game-high 174 yards on 34 carries.

With the win, Eastland-Pearl City improved to 4-3 overall, 4-1 in the NUIC-Northwest.

Lena-Winslow, following the loss, dropped to 5-2 overall, 4-2 in the NUIC Northwest.

West Carroll outlasts Warren

SAVANNA ­ West Carroll jumped out to a 24-0 lead in the opening quarter and never looked back Friday night en route to a 32-27 win over Warren-River Ridge. The Thunder had to hold on late as Warren held a 27-8 scoring advantage after the first quarter.

The Warriors overcame a slow start coupled with an explosive West Carroll offensive effort. Still, West Carroll had enough left in its tank to prevail at the end.

Travis Morhardt scored a pair of touchdowns for the Thunder. Morhardt scored on an 84-yard. He also returned a kickoff 64 yards for a touchdown.

David Walter opened the scoring for West Carroll, finding the endzone in the opening quarter on a 29-yard run.

West Carroll had two safeties during the first half.

West Carroll was able to dent the Warren defense throughout the night via the run. Thunder quarterback Ethan Baisden also picked up yardage via the pass.

Morhardt led West Carroll in rushing, carrying nine times for 130 yards. One of the area's top high school running backs, Morhardt averaged 14.4 yards per carry.

Johnson Allen scored West Carroll's final touchdown in the fourth quarter on a 22-yard run.

For Warren River Ridge, quarterback Jared McNutt completed 11-of-21 passes for 293 yards and one touchdown.

Charles Deneen was the leading pass-catcher for the Warren-River Ridge football team.

West Carroll will return to the gridiron this Friday night on the road versus Forreston. Kickoff for the West Carroll-Forreston game is set for 7 p.m.

SCOREBOARD

Friday, Oct. 10

Milledgeville 50, Ashton-Franklin Center 6

Eastland-Pearl City 34, Lena-Winslow 21

West Carroll 32, Warren 27

Dixon 14, Ottawa 13

Sterling 24, LaSalle-Peru 21

Aquin 48, Stockton 6

Polo 35, East Dubuque 7

Dakota 24, Orangeville 14

Pecatonica 40, Forreston 21

Harlem 42, Freeport 30

Boylan 42, Auburn 0

Guilford 52, Jefferson 6

Oregon 35, Genoa-Kingston 20

Byron 42, Rockford Lutheran 12

Stillman Valley 34, Winnebago 24

Geneva 35, Rochelle 14

Eastland Grads Shine on the NCC Gridiron

Kniss earns first start, Welch goes over 1,000 yards receiving

CHICAGO ­ Scoring all of its points in a 21-minute stretch of the second and third periods, the North Central College football team improved to 5-0 with a 35-15 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin victory at North Park University.

The Cardinals and Vikings played to a scoreless stalemate until midway through the second quarter, when Willie Hayes (Fr., Lemont/Lemont) forced a North Park fumble on a punt return, which allowed the visitors to take possession on the Vikings' 38-yard line. Kyle Kniss (Sr., Lanark/Eastland-Pearl City), making his first start of the season at quarterback, completed a 22-yard pass to Matt Jones (So., Mount Zion/Mount Zion) and a 20-yard strike to Joe Sosinski (Sr., New Carlisle, Ind./New Prairie) to move the Cardinals to the one-yard line, and Dominic Sulo (Jr., Oak Forest/Mt. Carmel) covered the remaining distance to put North Central ahead, 7-0, with 6:14 left in the first half.

The Vikings (1-4, 0-2 CCIW) quarterback Shelby Wood, on his eighth consecutive pass, was picked off by the Cardinals' Matt Wenger (Jr., Davis, Ill./Dakota) one yard from the goal line. Wenger returned the ball to the North Park 23, where the Cardinals' second scoring drive of the day would begin.

After two runs by Sulo, totaling 30 yards, moved North Central into the Vikings' half of the field, Kniss found Jones for a 25-yard pass to move his squad to the North Park five-yard line. Two plays later, Kniss threw to Jones once again, with the three-yard TD reception increasing the lead to 14-0 just before halftime.

The Cardinals turned their first possession of the second half into points as well, carving up the North Park defense with five straight running plays. Kniss scrambled 33 yards to provide a first down three yards from the goal line, then called his own number once again on the next play for the score. Just 2:35 into the second half, North Central owned a 21-0 advantage.

North Park broke up the shutout on the next possession, traveling 69 yards in eight plays for the first of two touchdowns. Wood navigated the final 50 yards with two passes, including a 35-yard scoring toss to Sam Cochairo with 8:41 left in the period.

Sulo jumpstarted the Cardinals' fourth scoring drive of the day with runs of 18 and 20 yards, and Mike Mucha (Jr., Orland Park/Univ. of Illinois) charged into the end zone from 10 yards away with 57 seconds remaining in the third quarter as the guests' lead ballooned to 28-7.

North Central's defense forced another Viking turnover on the first play of North Park's next drive, as Tyler Venier (Sr., Dixon/Dixon) stripped the ball from Cochairo. Hayes scooped up the ball and nearly scored, as he was finally brought down two yards short of the goal line. Kniss ran in for his second rushing touchdown of the afternoon with 28 seconds remaining in the period.

Kniss finished the day 11 of 23 passing for 157 yards, while Sulo led the ground game with 141 yards on 23 carries. Jones was the team's top receiver with 50 yards on three catches. Perry Welch (Sr., Lanark/Eastland-Pearl City) became the eighth player in school history to top 1,000 career receiving yards, catching one pass for six yards to boost his four-year total to 1,002.

Now 2-0 in CCIW play, North Central will return home Saturday to host Carthage College (Wis.) in its Homecoming game, with kickoff at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium scheduled for 2 p.m.

IDNR Seeks Applications for Competitive Conservation Grant Program

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) is accepting applications through Oct. 24 for grants to fund projects through the Competitive State Wildlife Grant program.The program provides federal funds for projects intended to assist and conserve wildlife species identified in the Illinois Wildlife Action Plan.

The Illinois Wildlife Action Plan outlines specific steps to conserve wildlife species before they become rare and more costly to protect.The Competitive State Wildlife Grant (CSWG) program provides funding to support cost-effective conservation of those wildlife species.

For CSWG proposals to be considered by the IDNR for submission to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the proposal must:

- Address at least one of the six conservation goals outlined in the U.S. Department of the Interior's "Departmental Guidance: Conservation Grants Coordination" document posted at the following link: http://www.doi.gov/ppa/ #Conservation%20Grants%20Coordination.

Those six conservation priorities include At Risk Species, Wild Birds, Healthy Habitats, Post-Fire Restoration, Coastal Habitat, and Water;

- Meet the requirements of the federal Competitive State Wildlife Grant Program as posted at www.grants.gov.

- Demonstrate a direct benefit to the goals and objectives of the Illinois Wildlife Action Plan.The plan is available on the IDNR web site at this link: http://dnr.state.il.us/orc/wildliferesources/theplan/.

- Provide all necessary matching funding to accomplish the proposed scope of work of the grant project.No state funds are available for this program.

The IDNR will conduct technical and administrative reviews of all proposals that are received by the deadline at 5 p.m. on Fri., Oct. 24.The IDNR will submit to the USFWS only those proposals which best meet the Competitive State Wildlife Grant Program criteria and further the goals and objectives of the Illinois Wildlife Action Plan.

For more information on the CSWG program or to submit a proposal, contact Joel Cross, IDNR, One Natural Resources Way, Springfield, IL 62702-1271, phone .

Kids Fishing Opportunities Enhanced by Pond Renovation

LENA ­ The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) is renovating a former fish rearing pond at Lake Le-Aqua-Na State Recreation Area in Stephenson County for use as a kids fishing pond available for fishing clinics and recreational fishing opportunities for families.

The pond renovation project is being supported by a $10,000 grant from the FishAmerica Foundation's Family Fishing Waters Program and Pro Line Manufacturing.

"Getting kids involved in fishing is one of the best investments we can make in the future of outdoor recreation and conservation stewardship," said Dan Sallee, IDNR Division of Fisheries regional administrator in Sterling. "We are very pleased to be able to enhance fishing opportunities for young people at Lake Le-Aqua-Na State Recreation Area thanks to the support of the FishAmerica Foundation and Pro Line.When this project is completed, we'll have terrific fishing on the lake and on the renovated kids fishing pond."

Grant funds were used to purchase and install water control equipment.The IDNR Heavy Equipment Crew will work on sediment removal and reshape the pond basin to better accommodate fishing opportunities for children and families.IDNR Land Management personnel will seed and prepare the access area around the pond.

Once completed, IDNR Fisheries staff will stock the renovated pond with a number of sport fish species, including bass, bluegill, sunfish, and channel catfish.Fishing during kids fishing clinics will be catch-and-release, but it is expected that anglers will be able to keep a limited number of fish they catch at other times.

The project is expected to be completed sometime in 2009.Work on the project has been delayed several times this year by heavy rains and flooding.

For more information on the project, contact the IDNR Division of Fisheries regional office at .

H.S. Volleyball Results

Oct. 6

(F) Eastland 2 West Carroll 0 (25-10, 25-13)

(F/S) Eastland 2 West Carroll 0 (25-20, 25-14)

(V) Eastland 2 West Carroll 1 (23-25, 25-13, 25-13)

Oct. 7

(F/S) Milledgeville 2 Dakota 0 (25-11, 25-22)

(V) Dakota 2 Milledgeville 0 (25-19, 25-22)

(F) West Carroll 1 Pearl City 1 (25-18, 21-25)

(F/S) West Carroll 2 Pearl City 0 (25-16, 25-5)

(V) West Carroll 2 Pearl City 1 (21-25, 25-16, 2515)

Oct. 9

(F) Milledgeville 2 AFC 0 (25-11, 25-22)

(F/S) Milledgeville 2 AFC 1 (23-25, 25-23, 25-13)

(V) AFC 2 Milledgeville 0 (25-22, 27-25)

H.S. Volleyball Schedule

Oct. 15

Eastland at Dakota

Oct. 16

Pearl City at Eastland

Milledgeville at Polo

Stockton at West Carroll

Oct. 18

Eastland at Bradley-Bourbonnais Tourney

West Carroll at Pecatonica Tourney

Oct. 20

Eastland at River Ridge

Oct. 21

Forreston at Milledgeville

West Carroll at Le-Win

H.S. Football Results

Oct. 10

EPC-7-13-6-8-34

Le-Win-14-0-7-0-21

Scoring:

1st Quarter

LW-25 yd. fumble return by Holcomb (kick good)

EPC-22 yd. run by Coombes (kick good)

LW- 1 yd. run by Werhane (kick good)

2nd Quarter

EPC- 20 yd. pass from Walker to Zumdahl (kick good)

EPC- 55 yd. pass from Walker to Dunlap (2 pt. conv. failed)

3rd Quarter

LW- 5 yd. run by Ertmer (kick good)

EPC- 90 yd. kickoff return by Myers (2 pt. conv. failed)

4th Quarter

EPC- 22 yd. pass from Walker to Miller (2 pt. conv. good)

Milledgeville-0-36-14-0-50

AFC-0-0-0-6-6

Scoring:

2nd Quarter

M- 3 yd. pass from Engelkens to Landis (2 pt. conv. good)

M- 13 yd. pass from Engelkens to Workman (2 pt. conv. good)

M- 59 yd. run by Engelkens (2 pt. conv. good)

M- 35 yd. run by Engelkens (kick failed)

M- 36 yd. run by Workman (Kick failed)

3rd Quarter

M- 73 yd. kickoff return by Fredericks (kick good)

M- 22 yd. run by Engelkens (kick good)

4th Quarter

AFC- 1 yd. run by Chacon (kick failed)

Warren/RR-0-7-7-13-27

West Carroll-24-2-0-6-32

Scoring:

1st Quarter

WC- 29 yd. run by Walter (2 pt. conv. good)

WC- 84 yd. run by Morhardt (kick good)

WC- Safety

WC- 65 yd. kickoff return by Morhardt (kick good)

2nd Quarter

WC- Safety

W/RR- 96 yd. pass from McNutt to Deneen (kick good)

3rd Quarter

W/RR- 3 yd. run by Dawson (kick good)

4th Quarter

W/RR- 18 yd. pass from McNutt to Steele (kick good)

WC- 22 yd. run by Allen (2 pt. conv. failed)

W/RR- 1 yd. run by Zito (2 pt. conv. failed)

Area Football Scores

Dakota 24 Orangeville 14

Galena 45 Durand 17

Polo 34 East Dubuque 7

Pecatonica 40 Forreston 21

Freeport Aquin 48 Stockton 6

Sterling 24 LaSalle-Peru 21

Sterling Newman 22 Amboy 15

Mendota 22 Rock Falls 0

Fulton 24 Erie-P'town 0

Morrison 28 Bureau Valley0

Peru-St. Bede 51 Riverdale 6

Ottawa Marq. 35 River Valley 18

Dixon 14 Ottawa 13

NUIC Football Standings

Northwest Division

1. Dakota-Conf. 5-0 Overall-7-0 PF- 252 PA- 87 2. EPC-Conf. 4-1 Overall- 4-3 PF- 194 PA- 189 3. Le-Win-Conf. 4-2 Overall 5-2 PF- 244 PA- 257 4. Pecatonica-Conf. 3-2 Overall 3-4 PF- 151 PA- 167 5. Forreston-Conf. 2-3 Overall 4-3 PF- 179 PA- 146 6. West Carroll-Conf. 2-3 Overall 3-4 PF- 88 PA- 191 7. South Beloit-Conf. 1-5 Overall 1-5 8. Warren/River Ridge-Conf. 0-5 Overall 0-7 PF- 127 PA- 244

Upstate Division

1. Milledgeville-Conf. 6-0 Overall 7-0 PF- 260 PA- 88 2. Galena-Conf. 5-1 Overall 6-1 PF- 243 PA- 85 3. Polo-Conf. 4-2 Overall 5-2 PF- 210 PA- 101 4. Orangeville-Conf. 4-2 Overall 4-3 PF- 130 PA- 101 5. Freeport Aquin-Conf. 4-3 Overall 4-3 PF- 157 PA- 157 6. East Dubuque-Conf. 2-4 Overall 3-4 PF- 128 PA- 145 7. AFC-Conf. 2-4 Overall 2-5 PF- 75 PA- 173 8. Stockton-Conf. 1-6 Overall 1-6 PF- 61 PA- 227 9. Durand-Conf. 0-6 Overall 0-7 PF- 66 PA- 253

H.S. Football Schedule

Oct. 17

EPC v.s. South Beloit @ Lanark

West Carroll at Forreston

Milledgeville at Orangeville

Dakota at Pecatonica

Warren/River Ridge at Le-Win

AFC at Polo

Durand at East Dubuque

Galena at Stockton

H.S. Golf Regional

(at Lake Carroll)

Oct. 7

Team Totals

1. East Dubuque-343 2. Le-Win-362 3. Dakota-364 4. Eastland-367 5. Forreston-370 6. West Carroll-404 7. Galena-405 8. Warren-416 9. Pearl City-428 10. River Ridge-470 11. Stockton-478

Individual Advancers

Eric Obert, Orangeville-76; Drew Carroll, Eastland-78; Mike Johnson, Forreston-80; Chad Bald, Freeport Aquin-87; Kyle Benning, Dakota-87; Zac Martin, Freeport Aquin; Zeke Hartman, Eastland-89; Michael Osterloo, Forreston-89

NFL Schedule

Oct. 19

San Diego at Buffalo-noon

Minnesota at Chicago-noon

Pittsburgh at Cincinnati-noon

Tennessee at Kansas City-noon

Dallas at St. Louis-noon

Baltimore at Miami-noon

San Francisco at N.Y. Giants-noon

New Orleans at Carolina-noon

Detroit at Houston-3:05pm

N.Y. Jets at Oakland-3:15pm

Indianapolis at Green Bay-3:15pm

Cleveland at Washington-3:15pm

Seattle at Tampa Bay-7:15pm

Oct. 20

Denver at New England-7:30pm

Bye: Atlanta, Philadelphia, Arizona, Jacksonville