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Sports
FOOTBALL
Forreston handles GCMS 36-7 in Saturday game
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 Forr e s t o n i n a S a t u r d a y a f t e r n o o n non-conference game.
It was no contest, as the Cardinals ran at will against the injury-plagued Falcons in a 36-7 win.
“ W e h a d t h r e e m o r e g o d o w n 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 w a v e o f t h e 7 - m a n f r o n t a n d r a n untouched 43 yards for the touchdown.
Forreston went 87 yards on its second score, with Logan Dyson efficiently directing the offense and conf u s i n g t h e d e f e n s e w i t h d e f t ball-handling. Noah Johnson got the touchdown on a 3-yard run and had a 28-yard gain earlier in the march.
“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 F a n s o n c o n n e c t e d o n a c o u p l e o f 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 visitors, 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.
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.
Oregon Hawks defeats Rock Falls for second w in
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.
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,
Earleen Hinton/Shaw Media Oregon’s Daniel Dominguez runs against Rock Falls.
Polo wins: The Polo Marcos remained undefeated on the season with a 64-8 win over visiting Hiawatha on Oct. 15.
Brock Soltow ran for 183 yards and two touchdowns on seven carries, and Deangelo Fernandez added eight carries for 73 yards for Polo (8-0), ranked No. 1 in 8-man.
Avery Grenoble, Tyler Merdian and Brady Wolber also ran for touchdowns, and Soltow, Grenoble and Kahlil Sankey had touchdown catches from Merdian, who was 4-for-4 for 190 yards through the air.
Grenoble opened the scoring with a 1-yard run, then Soltow scored from 32 yards out before Merdian connected with Sankey on a 37-yard scoring strike for a 24-0 lead after one quarter.
Merdian ran in from 6 yards, then hit Grenoble on a 79-yard scoring pass for a 40-0 lead in the second quarter. After a Hiawatha touchdown, Soltow ran in from 68 yards, then caught a 55-yard scoring pass from Merdian to give the Marcos a 56-8 halftime lead.
Wolber’s 2-yard TD run in the third quarter capped the scoring. In all, Polo amassed 512 yards of offense, while limiting Hiawatha to 65 yards on the ground and 120 through the air.
Volleyball
Tournament action: Rock Falls won the 2021 Linda Ludwig Memorial Tournament held at Eastland High School on Oct. 16. The Rockets defeated Sterling Newan 25-17, 25-17 in the championship match.
Freeport Aquin downed Eastland 25-21, 25-13 in the battle for third place and Oregon beat Stockton 25-22, 25-19 for fourth place.
Milledgeville took 7th place beating Durand 25-14, 25-14 and Riverdale took 9th beating Orangeville 27-25. 25-19.
Oregon’s Jenae Bothe was named to the All-Tournament Team.
Genoa-Kingston def. Oregon 25-12,
25-9: The Hawks fell in a Big Northern match on the road.
Earleen Hinton/Shaw Media Polo’s Avery Grenoble falls on a fumble against Kirkland-Hiawatha.
• OREGON WINS
Continued from page 11
a s b o t h t e a m s h a d f o u r t o u c h downs.
Getting the ball back in good field position following a punt and f a c e m a s k p e n a l t y , R o c k F a l l s looked to make it a 1-score margin, but a 34-yard field goal attempt by Vincent Lombardo was short.
Once again, it was the Oregon blockers opening up big holes for Dominguez and company to march down the field. Dominguez (27-164) carried the final nine yards of the 82-yard drive long drive by the Hawks for a 29-12 advantage.
In he fourth quarter, Cross rallied his team to within 29-19 on a 60-yard bomb to Baraka Board. Then with 1:57 left in the game, he hit Schueler with a 2-yard score to make it 29-25.
Cross finished with 122 yards r u s h i n g o n 2 2 a t t e m p t s a n d 9 8 yards passing.
CROSS COUNTRY
Big Northern Conference Meet
The only question at the Big Northern cross-country meet was not if the Winnebago girls or Rockford Christian boys would win, but whether any one could provide token opposition. In the boys race, no one was able to. The girls race was a different story, though.
Defending 1A state champ Winnebago romped to an easy win with 28 points out of the perfect score of 15, but the real story was the effort by the Dixon girls.
One advantage Dixon had is that ‘Bago is more suited for flatter courses that showcase their team speed, such as what is found at Detweiller Park, site of the state meet where the Indians have won more state titles (12) than any program in the state, regardless of class.
The top freshman finisher was a smiling Ella Danhorn of Oregon with a time of 19:20, good for 13th – and that was even with an untied shoelace.
In the boys race, it was complete domination by Rockford Christian, as it took the top three places and six of top 11 in a 23-63 win over second-place Rock Falls in what has become a non-competitive boys conference. Five schools did not even field full teams, including Dixon, which had previously contended with the Royal Lions for league titles.
Oregon’s top finishers were Aidan Guida (19:44.24) and Christopher Smith (20:10.14) in 40th and 41st.
NUIC tournament
For the first time in the history of the NUIC, cross country was recognized as a sport. The teams competed at Pecatonica Middle School’s campus and was hosted by Du-Pec.
Polo hosted a full team on both sides. The boys team placed third and was led by a third place overall finish from Carson Jones in 17:49.9 and a seventh place finish from Ben Plachno in 19:14.2. They were followed by three freshmen Kale Grobe, 22.32.6; Micah Sankey, 23:04.6; and Kameron Grobel, 23:09.3.
The girls also placed third and were led by three First Team All-Conference runners in Bekah Zeigler in sixth place in 21:01.4; Kamryn Stockton eighth, 24:25.3; and Courtney Grobe 11th, 24.54.5.
Ramsie Grenoble was also named All-Conference Honorable Mention with her 19th place finish among NUIC runners in 25:46.4. Ellia Escobar rounded out the scoring for the Marcos finishing 25th in 28:40.4.
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Earleen Hinton/Shaw Media Oregon’s Jenae Bothe plays the ball over an Orangeville player in Lanark on Saturday.
Fulton def. Polo 25-17, 25-15: The Steamers picked up an NUIC victory on the road over the Marcos.
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SPORTS
Sunny after noon for another For reston football w in
It was nice to beat the western storms back home last week and take in a couple football games and the BNC cross country meet.
Big win for Oregon over Rock Falls in a battle of 1-6 football teams. Booker Cross of Rofk Falls was worth price of admission, but what impressed me was Oregon finally getting physical with an opponent.
The offensive line moved people and there was hard hitting from the defense. Running back Daniel Dominguez continues to prove he is one of the top players in the BNC and is a shoo-in as an all-conference selection.
This is the seventh year in a row that the Hawks will finish with three wins or less. Prior to that, they had a stretch of 12 playoff appearances in 16 years.
On the positive, the program has been milking as many wins as possible with a dearth of talent over that time period.
Another positive is game experience. A top-notch stadium, replete with quality band and cheer teams make Fridays at Lander-Loomis a good time.
Saturday morning started with the league cross-country meet at the Byron Forest Preserve. The quality of competition has really regressed, with only Rockford Christian boys and Winnebago girls fielding state-caliber teams.
Nonetheless, any kid that goes out for cross country deserves credit for doing an unglamorous sport requiring lots of work.
I was excited to learn the NUIC had their first-ever cross country meet. Four boys and three girls teams, including Polo in both, had full scoring teams.
In all, 40 boys and 31 girls competed in the meet at Pecatonica. Hopefully, those numbers will increase, as that conference doesn’t have soccer to have take athletes away.
It seems like numbers for golf in the NUIC have gone down over the years, but that likely been the case all over the popularity of the sport has declined.
Finally got to see Forreston play football and it was the same brand of ball as I remember – non-huddle efficient offense, rotating backs and decent hitting.
Its game with Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley had a lot of potential when it was scheduled, but injuries devastated the visitors’ chances.
At least it was a pleasant, sunny Saturday afternoon to be in Forreston, amongst a typical large Cardinal crowd. Of the six Ogle county schools, I’m still convinced Forreston has the best overall fan support.
On to Polo this Friday for a key match up with Aquin. Though the Marcos are undefeated and Bulldogs have a couple losses (Milledgeville and Orangeville), this game could be a toss up.
These four NUIC teams are legitimately the best in all of 8-man. Surprise, surprise.
Volleyball regionals crank up next week and the top three BNC teams (Genoa-Kingston 31-0, Rock Falls 29-1, Lutheran 20-4) vying for the right to move on to the Oregon sectional.
The NUIC caught a break with IHSA pairings for 1A. Half of the schools are in one sectional complex and the other half in another.
No. 2 state-ranked Galena and No. 4 Aquin appear headed for a showdown at the Elgin sectional final, while No. 9 Pearl City, No. 14 Eastland and Newman from the Three Rivers look to advance to the Serena sectional.
GUEST VIEW Andy Colbert
• Andy Colbert, an avid runner, has been a sports writer for Shaw Media and has covered high school sports in Ogle County for more than 30 years. Forreston’s Devonte KingBlack breaks up a pass play during Saturday action.
Earleen Hinton/Shaw Media
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