Oregon Republican Reporter, Mt. Morris Times / oglecountynews.com • Friday, December 14, 2018
| SPORTS
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BOYS BASKETBALL
Plenty of talented teams at the Forreston tourney Action set to begin Saturday, Dec. 15 BY ANDY COLBERT acolbert@oglecountynews.com When it comes to the 59th Annual Forreston Tournament, it’s hard to say what is more difficult - seeding it or winning it? “This tournament will be especially challenging due to the talented teams,” Forreston athletic director Kyle Zick said. “This year’s teams combine for a 60-31 record with only three teams having a losing record.” Milledgeville nearly wins the Oregon Thanksgiving Tournament, but can only garner a No. 10 seed. Polo has one of its better teams and ended up No. 6. Always strong Freeport
“I think the brackAquin is No. 12 et might look like The Marcos face the first week of the off against a pretty NCAAs. You’ll see decent Pearl City upsets all around,” squad, ranked No. 11 Messer said. “I just who also has some hope we’re not one talented football of them.” players back. No. 13 Oregon “In my 13 years plays River Ridge of going there, this (No. 4) at 4:30 p.m. one is the toughest on Saturday. Hopeto seed,” Polo coach fully the Hawks are Matt Messer said. on the mend after “They are all good team illness forced teams. It’s going to the postponement of be brutal.” Riley Birnbaum drives to the last weekend’s games The undefeated Rockford host school Forreston basket during a recent game. against Lutheran and Harcouldn’t even catch a break, ending up at No. 8 and meet- vard. “Schools like Oregon and Stilling Eastland (4-1) in the first round. Both Polo and Forreston play Satur- man Valley at number seven, who have been down before, are on the day night at 7:30.
upswing,” Messer said. Compared to previous years when Winnebago tended to dominate, this year’s event is more wide open. Sterling Newman, another traditional force at Forreston comes in as the No. 1 seed with a non-traditional Lena-Winslow No. 2. Byron, one of four BNC entrants is No. 3 and ‘Bago No. 5. Last year, Winnebago beat Byron 68-49 to claim its second consecutive title. “No matter where you’re at (in the seedings), this tourney is going to be hard to figure out,” Messer said. Messer was one of the 16 coaches that vote 1-15 on how the tournament should be seeded. A coach can not vote for their own team. Action concludes on Friday Dec. 21 with consolation, championship and third-place title games.
OPINION
IHSA member schools voting on football changes Proposal would drastically alter high school football
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rom Dec. 3-17, IHSA member schools are voting on a proposal that would drastically alter the state of high school football in Illinois. If approved, Proposal 23 would allow the IHSA to implement scheduling based upon districts instead of conference. Each district would have eight teams in them, with the top four earning berths in the playoffs. Two of the major reasons for districts is to provide stability in conferences and eliminate difficulties schools had in finding opponents to play. This is for football only and will not affect any other sport. It’s controversial, but football has gotten out of control in conference-jumping and uncertainties in scheduling. With its inception in 1974, the football playoffs have been a boon. However, they completely changed the structure of traditional conferences. Prior to 1974, the number one goal of a school was to be a conference champs. Now, it is to qualify for the playoffs and advance as far as one
COMMENTARY Andy Colbert can. To avoid problems associated with a school’s conference affiliation, the IHSA proposal is cut and dried in how it would be administered. Your team is geographically and enrollment classified. For example, Oregon’s 3A district could include Byron, Erie-Prophetstown, Hall, North Boone, Peru St. Bede, Princeton and Winnebago. For the Hawks, it would be plus. Gone are 4A schools Dixon, G-K, Lutheran and Stillman Valley. All eight of the schools in Oregon’s district are relatively close, especially when one considers how far other districts are spread apart. For larger schools with few schools of similar enrollment nearby, the travel will be a negative to the district concept. Even some of the smaller schools may feel the same pinch. In a sample set-up for 2A, Amboy and Pecatonica are aligned with Chicago schools. Besides the long travel, the home gates would be reduced because Chicago teams are notoriously bad for road attendance. Located in the northwest part of the state, Forreston will be seeing
the same teams in a 1A district. A scenario would be Galena, Milledgeville, Stockton, Le-Win, Orangeville, East Dubuque and Aquin. Thus, business as usual. If passed, this proposal would not take affect until 2020. A lot could happen between now and then. Schools may change classification because of enrollment, be multiplied or maybe go to 8-man football. In fact, don’t be surprised if the IHSA begins consideration on playoffs for 8-man teams. In districts, schools still have flexibility in scheduling two non-conference games which will not count towards playoff eligibility. Certainly, Oregon would want to find a spot for traditional rival Stillman Valley. What about a Forreston-Oregon game? From 1A to 8A, there would be eight districts each, with the same number of teams (256) making the playoffs. The only difference is how you get there. The results will be announced Dec.
Looking Ahead to 2019
Before we put a wrap on football for the year, let’s look ahead to 2019. As previously mentioned, Byron and Forreston will enter the year ranked near of the top of the state, with the Tigers potentially being pre-season No. 1. Those two schools got all the publicity, but credit needs to go to Ore-
gon for getting the most of out its talent as possible and working through key injuries. The only game that could have gone the other way was a loss to favored Winnebago. Otherwise, a 3-6 record is commendable. Getting that opener in overtime over Lutheran was instrumental for confidence building. Another thing that stood out was how tough Oregon played during the first half in losses to teams with more depth. Eventually, the Hawks got worn down. With a good junior class coming in and some key skill positions returning, it’s possible for improvement on 3-6. It’s is imperative, though, that participation numbers go up. Stillman Valley also has a quality junior group coming in and will be a program to keep an eye on for. They did play 4A state champ EIC close for one half, but eventually EIC’s talent won out. Next year will give us a better handle on how Polo fits into 8-man football. One would think they will be one of the better teams in Illinois playing it. This past fall, there was an unofficial 8-man state championship game between Alden-Hebron and Milford at Monmouth College. Maybe, the Marcos will be there in 2019. That sure beats betting pummeled in the 1A playoffs.