Sports

EPC Dodges a Bullet, Wins 14-13

By Tom Kocal,

MELROSE PARK ­ The Eastland/Pearl City Wildcats made the best of their long drive to Melrose Park in the western suburbs of Chicago Saturday afternoon - but just barely. After a sluggish first half, they escaped with a 1-point victory against Walther Lutheran, 14-13. The Wildcats (5-1) scored twice in the second half to overcome a 13-0 deficit.

The Broncos scored a pair of touchdowns to lead 13-0 at halftime. Walther quarterback Sean Cotton threw a 40-yard TD pass to Tyreese Russell on the first possession with 7:42 to play in the opening quarter. Will Moran added the extra point.

Walther got lucky on its second score with James Glinka recovering a fumble by Andre Cooper in the end zone with 18 seconds to play in the first quarter to go up 13-0. They missed the PAT.

The Wildcats had a tough time offensively in the first half, and the defense simply could not contain the Broncos quarterback. But the defense tightened up in the second half.

EPC tailback Alex Maurer broke free for a 57-yard touchdown run with 1:29 to play in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 13-6 after the PAT attempt missed. After Maurer scored the touchdown, the momentum noticeably shifted to EPC's favor. The defense played with passion, keeping the high-powered Walther offense in check.

With 2:04 left in the game, the Wildcats scored on a 16-yard TD pass from quarterback Drake Walker to Tony Dunlap. EPC went for the victory on a two-point conversion attempt. The offensive line got the push they needed, and Maurer ran it up the middle for the 14-13 lead.

Statistically, Walther should have creamed EPC, but the 1-5 Broncos continually shot themselves in the foot. The Broncos finished the game with 499 yards of offense, and would have gained even more if not for 15 penalties for 299 yards. Two touchdowns were called back because of those penalties, and the Bronco's missed a field goal attempt.

The #10-ranked Wildcats take on Warren/River Ridge Friday night.

Morrison Takes Battle Of Unbeatens

By Craig Lang

Prairie Advocate Sports

AMBOY ­ In what was billed as possibly the game of the season, the Morrison Mustangs took care of business and made it look easy Friday evening in Amboy. A twenty-one point third quarter put the game out of reach for the Clippers and the Mustangs came away with the 35-6 win.

The first half was close as Morrison went in with a slim 7-0 lead. Mustang running back Josh Vos scored on a 1 yard run in the first quarter to wrap up the first half's only scoring.

But, the third quarter was the killer for Amboy, as two turnovers were turned into two quick scores to put the game out of reach. The Clippers also let penalties do them in as they had more penalties than first downs. They also had seven fumbles, losing four of them.

Vos led the Mustang's on the ground, carrying the ball 18 times for 116 yards. The victory improves state-ranked #2 Morrison's record to 6-0 and puts them atop the Three Rivers conference. They travel to Bureau Valley Friday night to take on the second place Storm.

Missiles Grounded In East Dubuque 28-8

By Craig Lang

Prairie Advocate Sports

The man of the hour was East Dubuque quarterback Chance Oster, who completed 10 of 18 passes for 214 yards and 3 touchdowns. The Missiles did take an early 8-6 lead on a 2 yard run by Dillon Eich and the 2 point conversion by Kurt Landis.

The Warriors air attack did in the Missiles as Oster connected on scoring strikes of 55, 13 and 40 yards to Tyler McClane and Kyle Huseman.

The Missiles host AFC at Floyd Daub Field while East Dubuque travels to Orangeville.

Thunder Make It Look Easy Against Sobos

By Craig Lang

Prairie Advocate Sports

West Carroll's Ethan Baisden was on fire in Savanna against the South Beloit Sobos. He accounted for almost three hundred yards of offense and four touchdowns as the Thunder beat the Sobos 40-26. Baisden threw for 186 yards and 2 scores while rushing for 113 yards and 2 scores.

Ethan scored the games first touchdown on a 21 yard run, following that with a 79 scoring strike to David Walter. The Thunder went in with a 27-6 halftime lead. Behind Baisden's 113 yards rushing, Walter added 64 rushing and 85 through the air.

The Thunder evened their record at 3-3 and must win out to qualify for playoff contention, Their final games are against Walther Lutheran, Pecatonica and Dakota.

Friday night West Carroll hosts Walther Lutheran, who lost to the EPC Wildcats on Saturday.

Area Football Scores

Le-Win 14 Pecatonica 0

Dakota 22 Forreston 8

Stockton 28 Warren/River Ridge 18

Galena 13 Freeport Aquin 12

Durand 19 Orangeville 18

Polo 28 AFC 0

Bureau Valley 44 Fulton 6

Sterling Newman 60 River Valley 0

Riverdale 23 Ottawa Marquette 7

Peru St. Bede 28 Erie-Prophetstown 0

Sterling 21 Morris 0

Mendota 55 Rock Falls 8

Stillman Valley 40 Byron 14

Winnebago 28 Oregon

Freeport 30 Rockford Auburn 14

HS Football Schedule

October 9

EPC at Warren/River Ridge

Walther Lutheran at West Carroll

Milledgeville vs. AFC

Dakota at South Beloit

Pecatonica at Forreston

Durand at Le-Win

East Dubuque at Orangeville

Freeport Aquin at Polo

Stockton at Galena

Morrison at Bureau Valley

Amboy at Sterling Newman

Erie-Prophetstown at Fulton

Peru St. Bede at Riverdale

River Valley at Ottawa Marquette

Winnebago at Stillman Valley

Genoa-Kingston at Oregon

Rockford Lutheran at Byron

Mendota at Kewanee

Spring Valley Hall at Rock Falls

LaSalle-Peru at Geneseo

Sterling at Streator

Hononegah at Freeport

Dixon at Grayslake North

Football Standings

NUIC Northwest

1. Dakota 5-0 conf 6-0 overall 2. Le-Win 4-1 conf 5-1 overall 3. EPC 3-1 conf 5-1 overall 4. West Carroll 3-2 conf 3-3 overall 5. Pecatonica 2-2 conf 4-2 overall 6. Forreston 1-4 conf 1-5 overall 7. South Beloit 1-5 conf 1-5 overall 8. Warren/River Ridge 0-4 conf 0-6 overallNUIC Upstate

1. East Dubuque 5-0 conf 6-0 overall 2. Freeport Aquin 4-1 conf 5-1 overall 3. Polo 4-1 conf 5-1 overall 4. Stockton 3-2 conf 4-2 overall 5. Galena 3-2 conf 3-3 overall 6. AFC 2-4 conf 2-4 overall 7. Orangeville 1-4 conf 1-5 overall 8. Milledgeville 1-5 conf 1-5 overall 9. Durand 1-5 conf 1-5 overall

Big Rivers

1. Morrison 6-0 conf 6-0 overall 2. Amboy 5-1 conf 5-1 overall 3. Bureau Valley 5-1 conf 5-1 overall 4. Sterling Newman 5-1 conf 5-1 overall 5. Riverdale 3-3 conf 3-3 overall 6. Erie-Prophetstown 2-4 conf 2-4 overall 7. Fulton 2-4 conf 2-4 overall 8. Peru St. Bede 2-4 conf 2-4 overall 9. Ottawa Marquette 0-6 conf 0-6 overall 10. River Valley 0-6 conf 0-6 overall

HS Volleyball

Lady Cougars Beat Galena

By Craig Lang, Prairie Advocate Sports

The Eastland Lady Cougars took 2 out of 3 from the Galena Lady Pirates Thursday night in Lanark. Eastland won by scores of 20-25, 25-18 and 25-18 in the NUIC West matchup. Courtney Blair had 11 blocks and 9 kills, while Katelyn Hasken and Megan Bunyer chipped in with 10 kills each. Hope Linker added 24 assists for the Lady Cougars (18-2, 7-1).

Lady Missiles Dispatch Durand

By Craig Lang, Prairie Advocate Sports

The Lady Missiles took two out of three from Durand on Thursday night in Milledgeville by scores of 25-19, 22-25 and 25-20 to win the NUIC East game. Andrea Herin led the Lady Missiles with 33 assists and 10 digs while Keali Engelkens added 16 digs and 13 kills and Becka Whitmarsh had 14 kills.

West Carroll Volleyball

The West Carroll varsity volleyball team will participate in the Pecatonica Varsity Volleyball Classic on Saturday, October 17th. Other teams competing are Pecatonica, East Dubuque, Dixon, Dakota and Winnebago. All Matches will consist of the best two out of three. The first match will start at 9:00. West Carroll will start the tournament with the second match immediately following the 9:00 match. A concession stand will be available. Admission will be $4 for adults and $3 for students.

Volleyball Scores

Sept. 28

Galena 2 Pearl City 0 (25-13, 25-18)

Sept. 30

Scales Mound 2 Pearl City 1 (26-24, 18-25, 25-12)

Oct. 3

Sterling Tourney

1. Sycamore 2. Sterling 3. Milledgeville 4. Sterling Newman

Milledgeville 2 Prophetstown 1 (20-12, 19-21, 15-9)

Milledgeville 2 Rock Island Alleman 0 (20-13, 20-17)

Milledgeville 2 Rockford Jefferson 0 (20-10, 20-7)

Sycamore 2 Milledgeville 0 (20-12, 20-9)

Milledgeville 2 Sterling newman 0 (25-16, 25-20)

Oct. 3

River Ridge Tourney

Pearl City 2 River Ridge 0

AFC 2 Pearl City 0 (25-23, 27-25)

Polo 2 Pearl City 0 (25-23, 27-25)

Pearl City 2 Dakota 0

Pearl City 2 Polo 1

Dig Pink at PC Volleyball

The 1st Annual Pearl City "Dig Pink" Volleyball game to raise money for Breast Cancer Awareness will be held Tues., Oct. 13 in the Pearl City HS Gym. Freshman match is at 5pm, Fresh/Soph at 6pm, and the varsity match is at 7pm.

There will be a 50/50 raffle, Bake Sale, Silent Auction for items such as name engraved stone, free hotel stay, & tie blanket, Raffle Baskets for hardware, golf, cooking, Mary Kay, and kids, and T-shirt sales. Wear Pink and earn free beads.

Proceeds of these events, as well as 40% of Concession sales and admission (thanks to the PC Boosters!) will go to the Side-Out Foundation. For more information or to make a donation, call Jennifer Maurer at .

2009 Northwest Illinois Sports Hall Of Fame

The 2009 Northwest Illinois Sports Hall of Fame Induction Banquet will be held on Saturday, October 10th at Buck's Barn, north of Thomson. Cocktails will be served at 5:45, with dinner at 6:30, and the program to follow. Adult tickets are $20 and children's tickets are $10. Reservations are a must and may be made by calling Buck's Barn at , payment may be made at the door.

The Northwest Sports Hall of Fame was created in 1987 to honor those who have made a lasting contribution to athletics in the area, or who hail from the area. The 2009 inductees are: Monica Ottens-Settles/Chadwick, Matthew Hammer/Shannon (Eastland), Robin (Martz) Hammer/Lanark (Eastland), Robert Knauer/Elizabeth, Scott Whitmore/Fulton, Dorothy "Dode" Wullweber/Galena, Matthew Stewart/Le-Win, Patrick Davis/Mt. Carroll, Jeff Jenkins/Morrison, Dave Edlund/Morrison, Voncile Carlson/Mt. Morris (Forreston), Robert Asche/Pearl City, Joe Fosdick/Savanna, Tracy Boyer/Stockton, Bruce Bielema/Thomson, Stephanie (Holland) Lewis/Warren. The 2009 Honor Teams are: '54-'55/'55-'56 Chadwick Boy's Basketball & 1989-90 Warren Girls (Elite 8) Basketball Teams.

West Carroll Track Teams Qualify For Award

The West Carroll Girl's Track and Field team achieved a 3.68 total cumulative Team grade point average during the 2008-09 season, qualifying them for the IHSA Team Academic Achievement Award. This award is given to varsity teams who achieve a 3.0 grade point average or higher for their entire season.

The West Carroll Boy's Track and Field team achieved this award with a 3.0 total cumulative team grade point average during their 2008-09 season. The West Carroll softball team also earned this award for the 2008-09 season by achieving a 3.48 total cumulative team grade point average. "It is very rewarding to see teamwork both in competition and in the classroom," said Dave Baisden.

NFL Schedule

Sun. Oct. 11

Cleveland at Buffalo

Dallas at Kansas City

Minnesota at St. Louis

Oakland at NY Giants

Tampa Bay at Philadelphia

Pittsburgh at Detroit

Washington at Carolina

Cincinnati at Baltimore

Atlanta at San Francisco

Jacksonville at Seattle

Houston at Arizona

New England at Denver

Indianapolis at Tennessee

Mon. Oct. 12

NY Jets at Miami

Byes: Chicago, Green Bay, New Orleans & San Diego