FOOTBALL
BY ANDY COLBERT For Shaw Media
It was a battle of state-title pedigree when Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley traveled three hours north to take on Forreston in a Saturday afternoon non-conference game. It was no contest, as the Cardinals ran at will against the injury-plagued Falcons in a 36-7 win. “We had three more go down today,” GCMS coach Mike Allen said. “I’m not using that as an excuse, but it is tough to get continuity going.” GCMS was especially hurt by Illinois recruit and sprint star Aidan Laughery playing with a hip flexor and knee injury. Other key players were at less than 100 percent coming into the game in what had to be Allen’s worst injury bug in 21 years at the school. Winning the toss, Forreston elected to go on offense first and had little trouble advancing 68 yards in nine plays for an 8-0 lead. Sophomore Kaleb Sanders was stopped at the line of scrimmage, but got past the initial wave of the 7-man front and ran untouched 43 yards for the touchdown. Forreston went 87 yards on its second score, with Logan Dyson efficiently directing the offense and confusing the defense with deft ball-handling. Noah Johnson got the touchdown on a 3-yard run and had a 28-yard gain earlier in the march.
Earleen Hinton/Shaw Media
Despite being on the bottom of the pile, Forreston’s Jacob Fiorello stretches to get the ball into the end zone during Saturday action against Gibson City. “They ran the double dive better in person than on film,” Allen said. “You can’t simulate that in practice.” Cole Becker recovered a fumble on GCMS next play from scrimmage. The Cardinals could not take advantage of the short field and the drive stalled at the 2-yard line. QB Kellen DeSchepper and Kellen Fanson connected on a couple of
passes until Mason Fox stymied the Falcon drive with a 3-yard tackle for loss. After receiving a punt, Forreston quickly went 45 yards for its third score of the first half. Joseph Fiorello, one of five backs to score, went 3 yards for the touchdown. Using its no-huddle offense and rotating backs every play, the Cardinals wore down the vis-
itors, taking a 20-0 lead into the break. “It all starts with the line,” said Forreston coach Keynon Janicke at halftime. “They are finally hitting their stride and communicating.” On GSMS’ first play from scrimmage in the second half, Devonte KingBlack blew it up with a tackle for loss. That started a string of negative play by the Falcons. “Forreston reacts and flies to ball well,” Allen said. The teams traded fumbles before sophomore Micah Nelson got his first varsity touchdown on a 31-yard run in the third quarter. A Fiorello PAT run made it 28-0. A fumble set up another short field for Forreston. It was King running untouched for a 23-yard score and Becker catching a PAT pass for a 36-0 lead. Forreston had 214 yards rushing in the first half and ended up with 317 for the game. It was a balanced attack with Johnson (8-72), Matthew Beltran (8-54), King (5-52), Sanders (6-59), Nelson (6-42) and Fiorello (7-27) getting the bulk of yards. GCMS was held to 59 rushing yards and 82 in the air. The loss also eliminated the Falcons (3-5) from playoff consideration. Forreston (6-2), travels to LenaWinslow (7-1) for a regular-season finale with their chief rivals. “It becomes more of an intense week,” Janicke said.
Oregon Hawks defeats Rock Falls for second win BY ANDY COLBERT For Shaw Media
Going into its BNC clash with Rock Falls on Oct. 15, the biggest worry for Oregon coach Nick Schneiderman was Booker Cross. The all-everything running back and quarterback gave the Hawks all they could handle, but Oregon’s team strength and ability to make extra points was the difference in a 29-25 win. In total yardage, both teams were nearly identical with 271 for Oregon and 264 for RF. With a second-quarter injury to freshman quarterback Easton Canales, Cross was forced into signal-calling duties and the immediate result was a 28-yard pass completion, a 9-yard run and 3-yard touchdown with .7 seconds remaining in the first half to cut the Hawks’ lead to 15-6. “It definitely changed their offensive game plan,” Schneiderman said. “He plays hard and had incredible bursts. I’d say he is the most athletic kid in the conference.” After being stuffed on a fourth down to start the game, fumbling on the first play of its next offensive possession and failing to cover an onside kick, Cross gave Rock Falls a much-needed spark.
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Oregon’s Daniel Dominguez runs against Rock Falls.
Daniel Dominguez put Oregon ahead 8-0 lead on a 17-yard TD run and subsequent PAT run. Issac Reber made it 15-0 later in the first quarter on a 26-yard sweep around left end, with nobody home for Rock Falls on a fourth-and-4.
In the second quarter, Canales connected on passes to fellow freshman Austin Castaneda and a nifty sideline grab by Dillon Schueler, but the drive ended when Seth Stevens nailed Cross for a 3-yard loss on a jarring tackle. However, a punt to the 1-yard line put Oregon in a deep hole and helped lead to the Rockets’ first score. Any momentum Rock Falls had coming out of second half was stymied by a 67-yard scoring drive powered by the Hawk O-line of Jonathon Alaniz, Jackson Fox, Ethan George, Kaydin Reber and Evan Flaherty. It was Gabe Eckerd capping the drive off with a 2-yard score to make it 23-6. “This was our hardest fought game,” Schneiderman said. “We took our lumps the last couple weeks. Once, we got the ball rolling, it boost our confidence.” Three plays later, it was the Booker Cross show again. Operating in the shot gun, Cross out-maneuvered the Oregon defense for a 53-yard touchdown run, using his track speed to race past the finals defenders. The extra point attempt failed and those failed attempts would prove the deciding factor in the loss,
See OREGON WINS, Page 12
OGLE COUNTY NEWS Ogle County Newspapers / oglecountynews.com • Friday, Oct 22, 2021
Forreston handles GCMS 36-7 in Saturday game
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