SVM-SS4_08272015

Sauk Valley Media • Football Guide 2015 • Thursday, August 27, 2015

Specializing in everything

SAUK VALLEY PLAYERS KNOW FOOTBALL, BUT THAT’S FAR FROM ALL THEY KNOW

Complete resource guide: Team rosters, schedules • Player diaries • 2015 predictions • Preseason All-Area • Much, much more in this 56-page SVM special section!

PAGE 2

Sauk Valley Media • August 27, 2015

FB15 GUIDE

Specializing In Everything | Table of Contents What’s Where Player essays

Sterling’s Grant Jacoby......................

Dixon’s Connor Sperling.....................

Morrison’s Tom Ottens.......................

Rock Falls’ Rollie Elder........................

Newman’s Brady Rude.......................

Amboy’s Drake Barlow.......................

They know football &...

5 7 9 9 11 11

Amboy’s Ryon Richardson................. 14 AFC’s Asan Rushiti............................. 15 Bureau Valley’s Justin Fisher............... 16 Dixon’s Bryce Stanley......................... 19 EPC’s Brighton Haverland.................. 20 Erie-Prophetstown’s Dylan Binion.......... 23 Fulton’s Kegan North.......................... 24 Milledgeville’s Dylan Alexander............ 27 Morrison’s Eric Sipes.......................... 30 Newman’s Logan Whitman................. 33 Oregon’s Brayton Finch........................ 34 Polo’s Clint Merlak.............................. 37 Rock Falls’ Francisco Arellano............. 38 Sterling’s Sterling Thornton................. 41 West Carroll’s Stephen Santeramo..... 42

Conference previews

This and that

Northern Illinois Big 12 West............... 4 Big Northern West.............................. 6 Three Rivers Mississippi..................... 8 Three Rivers Rock.............................. 10 NUIC Northwest................................. 12 NUIC Upstate..................................... 13

Dan Woessner column..................

3 SVM Special Report...................... 28-29 2014 Stat Leaders.........................

43 By the numbers.............................

47 Preseason All-Area........................ 48-49 Games of the week........................ 50-51 SVM Wall of Fame..........................

52 SVM Predictions.............................

53 Week-by-week area schedule.......... 54 Illinois state champions...................

55

Team capsule pages

Amboy...............................................

Ashton-Franklin Center......................

Bureau Valley.....................................

Dixon.................................................

Eastland-Pearl City.............................

Erie-Prophetstown.............................

Fulton.................................................

Milledgeville........................................

Morrison.............................................

Newman............................................

Oregon...............................................

Polo...................................................

Rock Falls..........................................

Sterling..............................................

West Carroll.......................................

Count on us.

17 18 21 22 25 26 31 32 35 36 39 40 44 45 46

Section Credits

SVM Honors > Sauk Valley Media’s Football Guide has won Top 10 awards in the Associated Press Sports Editors’ last eight national competitions.

Best Special Section, under 40,000 circulation 2007 • 2008 • 2009 Best Special Section, under 30,000 circulation 2010 • 2011 • 2012 • 2013 • 2014

Editor, Designer Dan Woessner

Reporters

Cody Cutter Ty Reynolds

Patrick Mason Brian Weidman

Photography

Alex T. Paschal Philip Marruffo Michael Krabbenhoeft

Cover design Alex T. Paschal

94

Total Joint Replacements

learn more at

ksbhospital.com

August 27, 2015 • Sauk Valley Media

PAGE 3

FB15 GUIDE

Hey Clipper Fans…

The Game’s on us!

Follow the entire season of Amboy High School Football with Steve Marco and Paul Smith Catch the first game of 2015 Friday, August 28th Amboy Clippers away vs Peru St. Bede STREAMING LIVE ON WWW.RIVERCOUNTRY1017.COM

Follow The Hawks!

Follow the entire season of Oregon High School Football with Sam Ramirez and Mark Herman Catch the first game of 2015 Friday, August 28th Oregon Hawks away vs Johnsberg

COMMENTARY

Well, isn’t that special O

ne hot, summer day many, many years ago, this sports editor climbed to the back of a barn in Polo, and for the next 8 or 9 hours, bales of hay – three at a time – were sent back to me on a hayfork track.

The wall of hay grew higher, and the heat intensified.

When the final hayrack pulled out of the barn, I climbed out, took my hard-earned check, and dropped behind the wheel of the truck with arms that felt like spaghetti.

As I blasted the air conditioning and probably sucked down a cola, I wondered how many of my football teammates had ever experienced a day like that.

There isn’t any sort of special talent to baling hay, other than being able to lift 50 pounds or so a few thousand times.

In the next 50-some pages, you’re going to see a lot of unique ways that

STREAMING LIVE ON WWW.KOOLFM957.COM

Catch The Dukes!

Here’s to a great season!

Follow the entire season of Dixon High School Football with Nick Mahan Catch the second game of 2015 and John Kutz Friday, Sept 4th Dixon Dukes away vs Burlington Central The first game on August 29th has been forfeited by Chicago Clemente

STREAMING LIVE ON WWW.AM1460WIXN.COM

GOOD LUCK

AREA TEAMS!

danWOESSNER Sports Editor Reach him at dwoessner@ saukvalley. com or 800798-4085, ext. 5555.

local kids prepare for the football season.

Some of them are close to my heart, like Amboy’s Ryon Richardson, who works on his grandfather’s cattle farm. You can bet that Ryon has put in long days in the heat that maybe didn’t add a ton of muscle, but sure did make him tougher.

Then there’s Brighton Haverland from EastlandPearl City. We’ve noted Haverland’s talents on the field, the basketball court, and the baseball diamond over the last couple of years. But the dude keeps busy in lots of other ways. He even runs his own lawn-mowing company in Lanark. It takes an advanced sense of responsibility to undertake something like that.

Don’t think for a second that his teammates won’t notice some of those traits, and be willing to follow him into whatever battle stands in front of the defending 2A champs.

Those are things I had thought about when we decided to take this route for the 2015 SVM football guide.

But several popped up that never would have occurred to me.

On page 33, you’re going to read about Logan Whitman, the steady quarterback for the Newman Comets’ ground-andpound offense. Whitman

is going to tell you how his hobby of bass fishing has made him a better quarterback. I’m not kidding you, and I’ve read the story, and by gosh, I believe it. That’s the kind of tale that our outdoors writer Matt “CatMatt” Jones would love.

On page 42, West Carroll’s Stephen Santeramo flips the script. He spins a tale of how playing football has improved his abilities to sing in the choir. You see, the extra conditioning he puts in during these hot summer days improves his lung capacity, thus allowing him to belt out tunes for longer. Awesome.

This is the special thing about covering prep sports in a place like the Sauk Valley. In a few months, I’ll see football tabs from all over the country where half the guide is focused on breaking down every 5-, 4-, 3- and 2-star recruit in the state.

That’s not a big concern here. Yes, we have some tough-nosed football players, and a few will go on to one small college or another in the midwest, but football isn’t the ultimate goal for these kids.

So, we don’t get to chase down D-I stars all day long. We get to know these kids, and find out the neat things they do.

Now you get a chance to meet them too. And maybe it’ll get you thinking about the jobs, activities, and athletics you were involved in growing up, and how each helped form you into the person you are now.

And maybe it’ll encourage you to take in a game or two this fall.

Oh, by the way, there’s also plenty of information within the coming pages talking about players and teams to watch in 2015.

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Sauk Valley Media • August 27, 2015

FB15 GUIDE

conference preview 2015

northern illinois big 12 west past • The NIB-12 started play in 2010 with two divisions (east, west). The east comprised schools from the defunct western sun conference.

The west comprised schools from the NCIC Reagan. Those divisions stayed the same until the start of the 2014-15 year.

present • Dixon and Streator left at start of the past school year, leaving the conference with 10 schools. Rochelle moved over to the NIB-12 West, team divisions. That alignment remains the same this year.

future • Neither the NIB12 East nor West receive automatic playoff bid for its division champions, because each has NIB-12 is looking for new additions, while traveling distances and a growing gap in enrollments make the future tenuous for the conference.

2015 svm prediction

rochelle

sterling geneseo rochelle ottawa lasalle-peru

•

•

sterling

geneseo

•

•

ottawa

geneseo maple leafs

lasalle-peru cavaliers

2015 enrollment: 814 class: 4A/5A coach: larry johnsen jr (99-29, 12th year) 2014: 12-1 (4-0, 1st) playoff record: 74-34 (1st in 1976, ’77, ’78, ’82) returning all-conference: jacob vandoren, sr. ol; justin scott, sr. lb fyi: won last two nib-12 west titles.

2015 enrollment: 1,206 class: 5A coach: jose medina (0-0, 1st year) 2014: 0-9 (0-4, 5th) playoff record: 14-11 (2nd in 1977, ’78, ’79) returning all-conference: kobey fusinetti, sr. p fyi: medina was assistant for 13 years.

ottawa pirates

all 7-2 8-1 4-5 3-6 0-9

game of the week

lasalleperu

•

conf.

4-0 3-1 2-2 1-3 0-4

rochelle hubs

sterling golden warriors

2015 enrollment: 1,396 class: 6A coach: trent swords (4642, 10th year) 2014: 2-7 (2-2, 3rd) playoff record: 8-12

2015 enrollment: 918 class: 5A coach: kevin crandall (143-81, 22nd year) 2014: 3-6 (1-3, 4th) playoff record: 20-20

2015 enrollment: 1,008 class: 5A coach: jon schlemmer (18-12, 4th year) 2014: 7-4 (3-1, 2nd) playoff record: 17-27

2012) returning all-conference: cooper wilkinson, sr. lb fyi: suffered its worst season last year in 29 years (went 1-8 in 1986).

returning all-conference: none fyi: have missed the playoffs only three times since 1996, & have not missed in consecutive years since 1994 and ’95.

’94, ’95, ’99, 2006) returning all-conference: turner morse, jr. wr; sterling thornton, sr. qb fyi: went undefeated at home last season during regular season.

friday, aug. 28 • sterling at rock falls friday, sept. 4 • galesburg at lasalle-peru friday, sept. 11 • yorkville at rochelle friday, sept. 18 • sterling at morris friday, sept. 25 • rochelle at geneseo friday, oct. 2 • geneseo at yorkville friday, oct. 9 • geneseo at sterling friday, oct. 16 • sterling at rochelle friday, oct. 23 • sycamore at sterling

2014 standings conf. all geneseo 4-0 12-1 sterling 3-1 7-4 ottawa 2-2 2-7 rochelle 1-3 3-6 lasalle-peru 0-4 0-9 playoff results first round • 5A, geneseo 30, belvidere 20 • 5A, sterling 31, burlington central 20 second round • 5A, geneseo 41, rich east 16 • 5A, woodstock marian 38, sterling 17 quarterfinals • 5A, geneseo 23, sycamore 13 semifinals • 5A, montini 52, geneseo 15

August 27, 2015 • Sauk Valley Media

PAGE 5

FB15 GUIDE

HOW THE GOLDEN WARRIORS PREPARE FOR THE SEASON... BY GRANT JACOBY, STERLING SENIOR

Warriors rarely rest in summer H

i, I am Grant Jacoby, a senior at Sterling High School.

I play slot receiver and cornerback.

Our football program does a lot of things over the summer to get ready for the upcoming season. After last season came to an end, we started hitting the weight room right away.

We lifted 4 days a week for an 8-week cycle, then we repeated it over again.

In June, we started having practice early in the morning.

Also, we would do some mental stuff, like going over plays and learning our coverages and schemes.

When we get into July, we start doing a lot of 7-on-7’s.

We went to the University of Illinois for 7-on-7. On our way there, we stopped at Illinois State University and played against another team.

Also in July, we have camp where we can pad up. Every football player loves the feeling when you pad up, and are able to get the pads clacking.

We do a lot of stuff in August.

We have a week that every football player knows as “Hell Week.” In 6 days, we had 15 practices we had to grind through.

We’re ready for the season.

We’ve been working our butts off all summer for nine games, and I believe that we will have more than that.

In the 2013 season, which was my sophomore year, we fell short of making the playoffs. It gave my class and the class above us a reason to come out and do better.

During the 2014 season, we made it to the second round of

Philip Marruffo/pmarruffo@saukvalley.com

Sterling senior Grant Jacoby writes that the Goldern Warriors spend the summer lifting weights, practicing, and going to 7-on-7 camps. It’s all part of the process to prepare for another playoff run for Sterling. the playoffs. Winning against Burlington Central was such a good feeling. The second round, we didn’t come out with a win, and I feel like that gives us a lot of motivation for this season.

We got a lot of lifting and footwork stuff in during the rest of the school year, because we didn’t want to take a break. We wanted to get better. You could see all the improvement and the gains in the kids that showed up.

Also, a lot of kids participate in a winter sport, which is a good thing. It keeps them in shape for the upcoming season. We are a fast-paced offense, so doing extra sports is definitely a plus for them.

Finding out that we get the opportunity to play Rock Falls one more time made everybody beyond pumped up. We can’t wait for that opening kickoff with a couple thousand fans there watching us.

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Sauk Valley Media • August 27, 2015

FB15 GUIDE

conference preview 2015

big northern west past • The BNC was formed in 1991 after the merger of the Mid-Northern and the Big 8.

Since 2006, teams have been grouped in geographical divisions. Byron, Oregon, Stillman Valley, and Winnebago are charter members in the West Division.

present • Each division has eight schools. Rock Falls and Rockford Christian joined in 2011, and Dixon and Johnsburg – a former member from 1998 to 2011 – came aboard in 2014.

Teams play nonconference games in

future • Five schools in the East will leave the BNC to help form the Kishwaukee River Conference.

This will reduce the number of BNC schools to 11 in 2016, with GenoaKingston, North Boone, and Rockford Christian joining the eight schools in the West Division.

2015 svm prediction

winnebago • rockford lutheran •

lutheran dixon stillman valley oregon mendota byron winnebago rock falls

byron• • stillman • valley oregon •

rock falls

•

dixon

dixon dukes

mendota trojans

oregon hawks

enrollment: 806 class: 4A coach: dave smith (12-25, 5th year) 2014: 8-3 (5-2, tied for 2nd) playoff record: in 2006) returning all-conference: kyle leblanc, sr. wr fyi: starting 2nd year in BNC.

enrollment: 588 class: 3A/4A coach: brock sondgeroth (11-17, 4th year) 2014: 6-4 (5-2, tied for 2nd) playoff record: 14-16 (quarters in 1987) returning all-conference: garrett zinke, sr. rb/lb

enrollment: 449 class: 3A coach: john bothe (107-72, 18th year) 2014: 6-5 (4-3, tied for 4th) playoff record: 15-14 (2nd in 2000) returning allconference: none fyi: won 1st-round game in 7 of last 8 appearances.

rock falls rockets

lutheran crusaders

stillman valley cardinals

winnebago indians

enrollment: 627 class: 4A coach: rich montgomery (1st year; 13-34 total) 2014: 0-9 (0-7, 8th) playoff record: 1-2 (win in 1992) returning allconference: none fyi: montgomery coached team from 1992-96.

enrollment: 696.30 class: 4A coach: bruce bazsali

enrollment: 577 class: 3A coach: mike lalor (161-42, 18th year) 2014: 2-7 (2-5, 6th) playoff record: 49-20 (1st in 1999, 2000, ’03, ’09, ’13) returning all-conference: connor englekes, jr. ol/dl

enrollment: 460 class: 3A coach: mark helm (52-33, 9th year) 2014: 2-7 (1-6, 7th) playoff record: 9-12 (quarters in 2011, ’12, ’13) returning allconference: none fyi: saw 5-year playoff streak snapped last year.

enrollment: 483 class: 3A coach: jeff boyer (17-15, 3rd year) 2014: 8-5 (4-3, tied for 4th) playoff record: 28-20 (1st in 1999) returning allconference: none fyi: tigers have three times.

7-0 6-1 5-2 4-3 3-4 2-7 1-6 0-7

9-0 8-1 6-3 6-3 4-5 4-5 2-7 1-8

game of the week

• mendota byron tigers

conf. all

(34-20, 6th year)

2014: 11-1 (7-0, 1st) playoff record: 7-8 (semis in 2013) returning allconference: matt anderson, sr. ol/dl; logan dours, sr. lb; adam pearson, sr. p; james robinson, sr. rb

friday, aug. 28 • sterling at rock falls friday, sept. 4 • dixon at burl. central friday, sept. 11 • stillman at winnebago friday, sept. 18 • mendota at stillman friday, sept. 25 • mendota at dixon friday, oct. 2 • oregon at byron friday, oct. 9 • oregon at winnebago friday, oct. 16 • winnebago at byron friday, oct. 23 • stillman at oregon

2014 standings conf. all

lutheran dixon mendota byron oregon stillman valley winnebago rock falls

7-0 5-2 5-2 4-3 4-3 2-5 1-6 0-7

11-1 8-3 6-4 8-5 6-5 2-7 2-7 0-9

playoff results first round

• 4A, dixon 28,

richmond-burton 19 • 4A, coal city 40, mendota 14 • 4A, lutheran 63, payton 0 • 3A, byron 54, bowen 12 • 3A, oregon 30, raby 22

second round

• 4A, manteno 35, dixon 21 • 4A, lutheran 56, herscher 7 • 3A, byron 51, harper 16 • 3A, newman 50, oregon 12

quarterfinals

• 4A, phillips 14, lutheran 13 • 3A, byron 16, newman 14

semifinals

• 3A, wilmington 46,

byron 13

August 27, 2015 • Sauk Valley Media

PAGE 7

FB15 GUIDE

HOW THE DUKES PREPARE FOR THE SEASON... BY CONN0R SPERLING, DIXON SENIOR

Can’t show up and expect to win

I

learned early into my high school career that natural talent is not enough to be successful and win football games.

As a freshman, I saw a varsity team with all the talent in the world go winless. I also saw that season a sophomore team with only one win at the time defeat a Sterling team that had only one loss.

It’s all about how you approach the game physically and mentally. My freshman year, I started at receiver for the sophomore team, hardly ever seeing the field on the defensive side of the ball.

My sophomore year, I was starting at defensive end. I was not physically or mentally prepared for this change.

My sophomore season is what truly taught me that to be great requires putting in work to

and have continued to wrestle because I know there is no sport as physically or mentally challenging as wrestling. To be able to go days without eating a true meal or drinking a full bottle of water, but still put in the work in order to make weight and be at your best is hard.

Last season, I had to cut a little over 10 pounds to be able to make the weight I wanted to wrestle, something I hadn’t had to do in a few years. I credit wrestling and its physicality for making me the football player I Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@saukvalley.com am today.

My goal is to go on and play Dixon’s Connor Sperling has adjusted to changing expectations for the Dukes, and he adjusted to a position change. Now, he D-I football, and this offseason I decided that in order to accomwants to play at the next level. plish this feat while being able improve yourself at any available outmatched, I know there was to keep up with my rough class moment. My junior season was so much more I could have schedule that included three AP a very good season. I was never done to improve myself to classes, I had to give up playing truly physically outmatched by make the team better. This feel- baseball. This decision was a anyone I put my hand in the dirt ing is what has driven me to rough one, as I had started almost against, and the team went on to improve myself this offseason. every game my sophomore year have one of the best seasons in My offseason does not last on the baseball team. In the end, Dixon football history. long, though, because just days I decided if football was what I really wanted to do, I needed to Looking back on last season, after hanging up the football give more of my time to it.

I see a team that should have cleats for the season, you can After a successful wrestling seagone farther into the playoffs. find me in the wrestling room. I Although personally never got into wrestling at a young age, son during which I qualified for

Good Luck Dixon • Freeport • Geneseo • Mendota • Princeton

this Season to ALL area teams!

Dixon • Freeport • Geneseo • Mendota • Princeton

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Dixon • Freeport • Geneseo • Mendota • Princeton

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815-288-4441 Dixon • Freeport • Geneseo • Mendota • Princeton 800-554-3109 www.hollandandsons.com

the state wrestling meet, things got serious. I was in the weight room at least 2 hours a day for 5 days a week, pushing my body past its limits to regain what I lost during the wresting season.

All spring and summer, I followed this routine.

Something else that I did that I had never done previously was attend football camps. I attended camps at Northern Iowa, Illinois State, Valparaiso, and Northern Illinois, in hopes to show off my skills, as well as learn how to better myself as a defensive end and a linebacker.

I learned many things at these camps, while also enhancing some of the skills I already had.

Now summer is over, and I am ready to show the state of Illinois what I have to offer.

Some people believe that last season’s success will be a oneand-done deal. I hope our opponents think that when they step on that field.

But I will tell you now, Dixon football is alive and well. The Purple Wall is back, and ready to stop anyone in its path. You have been warned.

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PAGE 8

Sauk Valley Media • August 27, 2015

FB15 GUIDE

conference preview 2015

three rivers mississippi past • The Three Rivers, founded in 1974, began divisional play in 1999 under the Big Rivers name.

The Mississippi name was given to the schools geographically closest to the Mississippi River.

That ceased in 2004 with realignment, and the TRAC name returned in football play in 2013.

present • School enrollment has replaced geography as means of creating divisions for this season and beyond. This year’s Mississippi Division has the seven largest football teams in the Three Rivers.

future • The enrollment lineup may create changes every year, and as of last September, Hall (383), the smallest school in the Mississippi, is smaller than Rockridge (388), the largest school in the Rock Division.

If the enrollments hold true, schools could switch.

2015 svm prediction

•

newman erie- • • prophetstown princeton st. bede • sherrard • • hall • • kewanee

erie-p’town panthers enrollment: 497 class: 3A coach: chuck milem (27-40, 8th year) 2014: 6-4 (4-2, 2nd in trac north) playoff record: 1-4 (win in 2013) returning conference: dylan binion, sr. rb/lb;

hall red devils enrollment: 383 class: 2A coach: randy tieman (16-15, 3rd year) 2014: 8-3 (4-2, 2nd in trac south) playoff record: 41-21 (1st in 1995, 2001) returning all-conference:

jake merkel, sr. te/db

fyi: lost to state champ EPC 27-20.

princeton tigers

newman erie-p’town hall st. bede princeton sherrard kewanee

newman comets

enrollment: 539 class: 3A coach: tyler nichols (6-13, 3rd year) 2014: 0-9 (0-6, 7th in trac south) playoff record: in 1999) returning all-conference: none fyi: have 4 winless years since 2007.

enrollment: 407.55 class: 2A/3A coach: mike papoccia (297-92, 36th year) 2014: 11-1 (6-0, 1st in trac north) playoff record: 57-21 (1st in 1990, ’94, 2004, ’10, ’13) returning allconference: brady rude, sr. rb/lb; logan whitman, sr. qb

sherrard tigers

enrollment: 513 class: 3A coach: jesse snyder (4th year, 3-24) 2014: 3-6 (2-4, 5th in trac

enrollment: 518.10 class: 3A coach: jim eustice (0-0, 1st year; 13-32 overall) 2014: 6-4 (4-2, 2nd in

playoff record: 11-8 (2nd in 1989) returning all-conference: kai tomaszewski, jr. rb/kr; jett wedekind, sr. rb/db fyi: last playoff berth was in 2003.

playoff record: 7-15

enrollment: 484 class: 3A coach: brian adams (2-7, 2nd year) 2014: 2-7 (1-5, 6th in trac south) playoff record: 12-15

returning allconference: Braidy Shipp, jr. wr fyi: john bellino coached team for last 35 seasons.

returning all-conference: none fyi: will not play rival rockridge, ending a 62-year streak.

south)

trac south)

all 9-0 8-1 6-3 5-4 4-5 1-8 1-8

game of the week

kewanee boilermakers

st. bede bruins

conf.

6-0 5-1 4-2 3-3 2-4 1-5 0-6

friday, aug. 28 • newman at rockridge friday, sept. 4 • orion at erie-p’town friday, sept. 11 • hall at st. bede friday, sept. 18 • princeton at hall saturday, sept. 26 • erie-p’town at newman friday, oct. 2 • b. valley at sherrard friday, oct. 9 • st. bede at princeton friday, oct. 16 • sherrard at kewanee friday, oct. 23 • hall at erie-p’town

2014 standings conf. all rockridge 6-0 10-2 hall 4-2 8-3 orion 4-2 7-4 st. bede 4-2 6-4 princeton 2-4 3-6 sherrard 1-5 2-7 kewanee 0-6 0-9 playoff results first round • 3A, newman 44, aurora christian 21 • 3A, st. joseph-ogden 48, erie-p’town 34 • 3A, tolono unity 34, st. bede 18 • 2A, hall 33, knoxville 14 second round • 3A, newman 50, oregon 12 • 2A, epc 27, hall 20 quarterfinals • 3A, byron 16, newman 14

August 27, 2015 • Sauk Valley Media

FB15 GUIDE

HOW THE MUSTANGS PREPARE FOR THE SEASON...

BY TOM OTTENS, MORRISON JUNIOR

Philip Marruffo/pmarruffo@saukvalley.com

Tom Ottens stays in high gear when it comes to preparing for football season.

The Morrison junior hopes to return the Mustangs to their past glory.

PAGE 9

HOW THE ROCKETS PREPARE FOR THE SEASON...

BY ROLLIE ELDER, ROCK FALLS JUNIOR

Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@saukvalley.com

Rock Falls junior Rollie Elder draws inspiration from a famous Jerry Rice quote, and he uses it to fuel his offseason workout routines.

Dedicated to task at hand Rockets prepare together

I

am the kind of kid that when I get dedicated to something, I go 100 percent at it – and then some – until my goal is fully achieved.

that you can beat anyone and do anything.

After wrestling, I jump straight into lifting and training for football. I lift from March all the way until August. I have been hooked on lifting and training for football since freshman year, because I always heard stories about the 2009 and 2011 state championship teams working hard in the weight room, so I decided if I wanna be like I am dedicated to football, and my them, I gotta work like them. goal is to work harder than anyone else I have been so dedicated, I have on the field, and to be among the best earned myself a 100 percent show rate, players to wear the Morrison Mustang and it’s my own voluntary action. I jersey. usually spend from 2 to 3 hours in the Football has always been my favorite weight room Monday through Friday. sport since I began it my second-grade Usually 2 hours lifting weights to better year. I am now going on my 10th year my strength; after that, I usually have of full-contact football, and I still have about 30 minutes of conditioning. That a great love for the game That love has way, I’m prepared for the football seanever gone away. son conditioning.

I have always had some idea of how I also follow a healthy protein-styled to prepare myself for football, even diet and supplement regimen, so I am during my younger years. I would do eating healthy and feeling the best I can other sports and run so I could come each day. I am also getting the most out into the football season prepared, but I of every workout by feeding my body was never truly in shape. with healthy supplements and food.

Now, since I am older, I have a better On top of lifting, I help my fellow understanding of what it takes to prepare captains and linemen get offseason myself for the season. I participate in two football activities going, such as volunsports, football and wrestling. Then, dur- tary linemen footwork every Tuesday ing my offseason, I lift nonstop. and Thursday. I also help with 7-on-7 I do wrestling because it’s a sport that activities for our offensive backfield will benefit me the best for football. and defensive backfield.

I believe wrestling is a great sport if After all the hard work I have put in you want to be an aggressive football for football, I feel like I can come closer player, because it helps you become a to reaching my goal ... but I realize mentally tough person. Mental tough- there’s more gaps to fill to achieve that. ness is a great aspect to have on the So each and every day, I strive to be football field, because without mental better than I was yesterday, and I know toughness, you don’t have the mindset for sure hard work truly does pay off.

J

erry Rice once said: “Today I will do what others won’t, so tomorrow I can accomplish what others can’t.”

conducting these lifts, I will complete around four-to-five specialized auxiliary lifts to help strengthen certain muscle groups.

At night, I would perform sprints of no more than 50 meters, and on the weekends, I mix in a few distance runs of about 3 miles into my workouts. One sport that I joined that really helped me become a better overall athlete on This quote, to me, means that as an the football field was track. Track gave athlete, and especially as a football me the opportunity to improve my player, I must not ever rest. I should conditioning and learn the right way to always train with extreme intensity run, which increased my speed. and focus, because I will never know Also, I have been mentally going over the extent of effort being put in by my the plays in the playbook to make sure competition.

I know my assignments, and what each Football is an extremely demandspecialized call means. ing sport that can beat a player down In reference to the conclusion of the physically and mentally. In order to be fully prepared for the season, many first paragraph, the question that I believe would be more appropriate is players will train year-round to grind what have we, as a team, done yearthe season out. I was recently asked what I personally do year-round to pre- round to prepare for the upcoming pare for the upcoming football season. season. The reason I believe this is a And although this is a great question, I more appropriate question is because, as said by author Matshona Dhliwayo, feel there is a better one to be asked – “An army is greater than a warrior.” but I will get to that question later.

I view this as meaning no individual My journey for this season began can single-handedly win a game, but it months ago. Less than 24 hours after takes a team of people working as a unit. the last game of our season, I was in the weight room performing power lifts In the offseason, it is up to members of the team to spot and motivate each other to help build my explosive power and to increase my strength for this season. in the weight room. Also, to push each Every day since then, I have been try- other during drills in summer camps, and to help one another learn plays for ing to perform some sort of exercise the betterment of the team. to help for football. During the week, Many individuals can prepare themI lift weights according to our weight selves to the best of their ability, but in program. This program includes five main lifts for every weekday. These lifts the end, it is up to the members of the include the deadlift, bench press, hang team to prepare and become better as clean, push press, and the squat. After a whole, not individually.

PAGE 10

Sauk Valley Media • August 27, 2015

FB15 GUIDE

conference preview 2015

three rivers rock past • The Three Rivers, founded in 1974, began divisional play in 1999 under the Big Rivers name.

The Mississippi name was given to the schools geographically closest to the Mississippi River.

That ceased in 2004 with realignment, and the TRAC name returned in football play in 2013.

present • School enrollment has replaced geography as means of creating divisions for this season and beyond. This year’s Rock Division has the seven smallest football teams in the Three Rivers.

future • Amboy will leave the Three Rivers in 2017.

The conference a replacement in time for that season, preferably one within the enrollment range of its schools: the largest being 539 (Kewanee), and the smallest being 303 (Fulton).

fulton•

morrison

•

•

bureau valley

•

orion

bureau valley storm

amboy clippers enrollment: 324 class: 2A coach: gary jones (121-94, 22nd year) 2014: 5-5 (3-3, 4th in trac north) playoff record: 26-18 (1st in 1984) returning conference: dallas appleman, sr. rb/lb fyi: lost last 4 games in 2014.

conf. rockridge 6-0 fulton 5-1 orion 4-2 bureau valley 3-3 amboy 2-4 morrison 1-5 riverdale 0-6

amboy

•

riverdale• rockridge •

2015 svm prediction

enrollment: 307 class: 1A/2A coach: spencer davis (4-5, 2nd year) 2014: 4-5 (3-3, 4th in trac north) playoff record: 17-8 (1st in 2005) returning drake davis, so. qb

fyi: no playoff berths since 2010.

orion chargers

game of the week

fulton steamers

morrison mustangs

enrollment: 303 class: 1A/2A coach: patrick lower (33-41, 9th year) 2014: 6-4 (4-2, 2nd in trac north) playoff record: 20-15 (1st in 1976, ’91) returning

enrollment: 328 class: 2A coach: cory bielema (54-26, 8th year) 2014: 1-8 (1-5, 6th in trac north) playoff record: 29-22 (1st in 2009, ’11)

alex gillis, sr. dl; jack lemke, sr. k; kegan north, sr. lb

conference: none fyi: 1-8 record was worst since 1977.

riverdale rams

enrollment: 305 class: 1A/2A coach: 7th year) 2014: 7-4 (4-2, 2nd in trac

enrollment: 321 class: 2A coach: mike goodwin (2-16, 3rd year) 2014: 0-9 (0-6, 7th in

playoff record: 13-13

playoff record: 2-4 (wins in 2000, ’01)

none fyi: ended mercer county’s (aledo) 9-year run of at least one playoff win.

conference: none fyi: on an 18-game losing streak, & have three wins in past 4 years.

south)

all 8-1 6-3 6-3 4-5 3-6 2-7 0-9

trac north)

rockridge rockets enrollment: 388 class: 2A coach: sam graves (20-3, 3rd year) 2014: 10-2 (6-0, 1st in trac south) playoff record: 22-16 (1st in 1994) returning noah hammerlinck, sr. ol/lb; dakota mcmanus, sr. rb/lb

friday, aug. 28 • newman at rockridge friday, sept. 4 • orion at erie-p’town friday, sept. 11 • fulton at orion friday, sept. 18 • amboy at erie-p’town saturday, sept. 26 • amboy at bureau valley friday, oct. 2 • fulton at morrison friday, oct. 9 • orion at morrison friday, oct. 16 • rockridge at fulton friday, oct. 23 • b. valley at morrison

2014 standings conf. all newman 6-0 11-1 erie-p’town 4-2 6-4 fulton 4-2 6-4 amboy 3-3 5-5 bureau valley 3-3 4-5 morrison 1-5 1-8 riverdale 0-6 0-9 playoff results first round •2A, eastland-pearl city 54, amboy 6 • 2A, orion 37, mercer county 34 • 2A, rockridge 41, ann.-wethersfield 0 • 1A, forreston 53, fulton 20 second round • 2A, rockridge 28, orion 7 quarterfinals • 2A, eastland-pearl city 44, rockridge 21

August 27, 2015 • Sauk Valley Media

HOW THE COMETS PREPARE FOR THE SEASON... BY BRADY RUDE, NEWMAN SENIOR

PAGE 11

FB15 GUIDE

HOW THE CLIPPERS PREPARE FOR THE SEASON...

BY DRAKE BARLOW, AMBOY SENIOR

Preparing future Clippers for battle

I

Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@saukvalley.com

Brady Rude tore a pectoral muscle while working out this winter, and has spent the last 6 months getting back in shape.

Road back to health definitely worth it

I

n the beginning of the year, I was anything but eager for football season. I could definitely wait to get the pads on.

Any normal year, I would already be chomping at the bit, but this year, I had a 6-month recovery period starting in early February.

All winter, I had been working with teammates in the weight room and on the courts (doing sprints, of course) to get ready for track, and eventually football.

It all started in the weight room on January 7th, when I completely tore my pectoralis major tendon. The injury required surgery and, as previously stated, an extensive rehabilitation period. Week after week, I aimed to move my arm 10

degrees more than the previous week, and slowly but surely progress came.

I worked my legs and any other part of my body that my therapist would allow, but it was minuscule compared to a normal workout.

With the continual support from my family, coaches, and friends, I managed to get nearly a month ahead of schedule

by April.

That is when the strengthening began.

I did my first pushup on May 25, and was lifting 5-pound dumbbells for sets of about 10 reps each.

It seemed small, but it was a huge step. Over the summer, I continued to increase my strength slowly, and with the help of my teammates, I got back into the groove of things.

This year has been a rebuilding process for me personally, and I think it symbolizes fairly well what the year will be for our team as well. I couldn’t ask for a better situation to be in with all my brothers, even after a rough start.

started preparing myself for this season early on. I started hitting the weight room in the morning before school and in P.E. I would spend up to an hour or hour-and-a-half in the morning, and sometimes I would do agility workouts.

I would focus the most on my lower body in the weight room.

I always kept in mind one of Coach [Gary] Jones’ favorite quotes, “A football player is only as good as his hips and legs.”

I also worked with the underclassmen, to help them achieve proper form during their workouts. I did it so I could see what we had coming up this year, and to help prepare them for this season.

I tried not to focus on just preparing myself for this season, and I also spent just as much time getting prepared with my team.

I started a workout program in Dixon called Sauk Valley Strength and Conditioning, owned by Kevin Hopper. One of my teammates, Cole Stewart, introduced me to it. So we decided to start in December, and we finished around the time spring sports started.

We would go in on Tuesdays and Thursdays after school, and on Saturday mornings. It was only an hour workout, but it was one of the hardest workouts I have ever done in my life. It was one of the best decisions Cole and I ever made.

I played baseball to help improve my hand-eye coordination and footwork. Baseball also helped my conditioning and my endurance. It also gave me

Michael Krabbenhoeft/mkrabbenhoeft@saukvalley.com

Amboy senior Drake Barlow didn’t waste any time getting back into the weight room after last season. Barlow would get a lot of his work done in the mornings before school. something to do in the spring.

Even with baseball in the spring, I still worked out in the morning, but not so much during P.E. In P.E., we started playing games, so I participated in that because it required me to use my footwork and hand-eye coordination.

When the summer came around, we had workouts in June and conditioning in July.

This is when I started to work really hard, and it was a relief

that I had started preparing so early. But June and July is when I felt the most prepared for the season.

So, I prepared myself for this season by working out in the weight room all year round, by playing baseball and games in P.E., and by going to Sauk Valley Strength and Conditioning.

But what prepared me the most is all the work I put in, and the love and support of my family, friends, and coaches.

PAGE 12

Sauk Valley Media • August 27, 2015

FB15 GUIDE

conference preview 2015

northwest upstate illini northwest past • The Northwest Upstate Illini Conference formed in 2001 after the breakup of the Upstate Illini.

Geographical division play separated football schools until 2006, when enrollment became means of separation.

The Northwest is composed of the eight largest schools.

present • Enrollment schools along the halfway cutoff line frequently.

This year, East Dubuque will play in the Northwest The division has two defending state champions in Eastland-Pearl City (2A) and Forreston (1A).

future • South Beloit will leave the NUIC in 2016 for the Northeastern Athletic Conference.

Amboy will take the SoBos’ place, coming from the Three Rivers in 2017.

• east dubuque • galena

lenawinslow dakota •

•

• •

•

•

south beloit

pecatonica

west • eastland- •forreston carroll pearl city

dakota indians enrollment: 258 class: 1A coach: rick schmitz (6-5, 2nd year) 2014: 6-5 (4-4, tied for 5th place) playoff record: 24-17 (1st in 2005, ’07, ’11) returning allconference: greg krulas, sr. rb/lb fyi: 297 program wins

2015 svm prediction galena dakota lena-winslow forreston east dubuque eastland-p.c. west carroll pecatonica south beloit

conf. all 8-0 6-2 6-2 5-3 4-4 4-4 2-6 1-7 0-8

9-0 7-2 7-2 6-3 5-4 4-5 2-7 1-8 0-9

game of the week friday, aug. 28

• epc at lena-winslow friday, sept. 4

• forreston at galena friday, sept. 11

• east dubuque at galena

east dubuque warriors

eastland-pearl city wildcatz

forreston cardinals

enrollment: 217 class: 1A coach: terry breitbach (57-34, 10th year) 2014: 5-4 (4-4, 5th in Upstate) playoff record:

enrollment: 345 class: 2A coach: randy asche

enrollment: 273 class: 1A coach: dennis diduch (54-22, 8th year) 2014: 13-1 (7-1, 2nd place) playoff record: 18-19 (1st in 2014) fyi: prior to state title, farthest advancement was

enrollment: 238 class: 1A coach: ed freed (87-34, 12th year) 2014: 10-3 (6-2, 3rd place) playoff record: 49-25 (1st in 1997, 2003, ’07) returning allconference: nick bingham, sr. p; adrian jiminez, so. k; bruce sharpf, sr. rb

(69-19, 9th year)

galena pirates

2000) fyi: missed playoffs at 5-4 for 2nd time (2006).

2014: 14-0 (8-0, 1st place) playoff record: 12-10 (1st in 2014) returning all-conference: dillon baldauf, sr. ol/dl; brighton haverland, jr. te/lb

lena-winslow panthers

pecatonica indians

south beloit sobos

west carroll thunder

enrollment: 255 class: 1A coach: ric arand (159-58, 20th year) 2014: 8-4 (5-3, 4th) playoff record:

enrollment: 282 class: 1A coach: eric bergin (1-9, 2nd year) 2014: 1-8 (1-7, 7th) playoff record: 2-4

enrollment: 283 class: 1A coach: jason ware (0-0, 1st year) 2014: 2-7 (1-7, 7th) playoff record: 6-4 (1st in 2002) returning all-conference:

enrollment: 341 class: 2A coach: matthew leitzen (1st year) 2014: 1-8 (1-7, 7th) playoff record: 1-3 (win in 2007) returning allconference: jake miller, sr. rb/db fyi: allowed 49 points per game in 2014.

27-19 (1st in 2010, ’13)

(wins in 2000, ’01)

returning allconference: joe milliken, sr. ol/dl fyi: started last year on a 186-0 scoring run.

returning allconference: peyton elliott, sr. rb/db

fyi: varsity game since 2011 last year.

alex bautista, jr. p; dillon hagstrom, jr. qb

fyi: no playoff trips since 2002.

friday, sept. 18

• polo at epc friday, sept. 25

• epc at galena

friday, oct. 2

• durand at west carroll friday, oct. 9

• forreston at le-win friday, oct. 16 • epc at forreston friday, oct. 23

• east dubuque at epc

2014 standings eastland-p.c. forreston galena lena-winslow dakota durand south beloit west carroll pecatonica

conf.

8-0 7-1 6-2 5-3 4-4 3-5 1-7 1-7 1-7

all

14-0 13-1 10-3 8-4 6-5 4-5 2-7 1-8 1-8

playoff results first round

• 2A, epc 54, amboy 6 • 1A, dakota 24, aquin 7 • 1A, forreston 53, fulton 20 • 1A, galena 35, warren 6 • 1A, le-win 50, stockton 26

second round

• 2A, epc 27, hall 20 • 1A, forreston 49, hope 6 •1A, galena 13, dakota 0 • 1A, le-win 40, christian life 24

quarterfinals

• 2A, epc 44, rockridge 21 • 1A, forreston 33, stark co. 19 •1A, galena 13, dakota 0

semifinals

• 2A, epc 46, fieldcrest 33 • 1A, forreston 28, galena 20

state finals

• 2A, epc 41, maroa-forsyth 12 • 1A, forreston 20, carrolton 15

August 27, 2015 • Sauk Valley Media

PAGE 13

FB15 GUIDE

conference preview 2015

northwest upstate illini upstate past • The Northwest Upstate Illini Conference formed in 2001 after the breakup of the Upstate Illini.

Geographical division play separated football schools until 2006, when enrollment became means of separation. The Upstate is composed of the eight smallest schools.

present • Enrollment schools along the halfway cutoff line frequently. This year, Durand will play in the Upstate since 2013. For Upstate has no school with more than 200 students.

future • With enrollments dropping throughout the division, some teams are struggling with numbers. This may lead to cooperative programs, or teams at all.

aquin bulldogs

orangeville • warren • river • ridge

•durand

•

• stockton aquin

milledgeville •

• polo • afc

afc raiders

enrollment: 168 class: 1A coach: brad winterland (13-23, 4th year) 2014: 3-6 (3-5, 6th) playoff record: 7-4 (quarters in 1994, 2003, ’04) returning allconference: bryan dewey, sr. ol/dl; dalton ibarra, sr. p/wr/db; david zinke, sr. hb/db

polo marcos enrollment: 196 class: 1A coach: andrew hofer (16-22, 5th year) 2014: 8-3 (7-1, tied for 1st)

playoff record: 7-19 (quarters in 1983, 2008)

fyi: marcos return conference-best six all-conference players.

enrollment: 191.40 class: 1A coach: troy barr (0-0, 1st year) 2014: 7-3 (7-1, tied for 1st) playoff record: 33-21 (1st in 1981, ’86, 2005) returning all-conference: josh buisker, sr. ol/dl; james gustafson, sr. rb/lb

durand bulldogs

milledgeville missiles

orangeville broncos

enrollment: 188 class: 1A coach: dennis schwab (4-14, 2nd year) 2014: 4-5 (3-5, 6th in northwest) playoff record: 10-19 (2nd in 1985) fyi: aside from four shutouts, averaged 36.6 points per game last year.

enrollment: 169 class: 1A coach: jason wroble (9-45, 7th year) 2014: 3-6 (3-5, 6th) playoff record: in 1998, ’99, 2008) fyi: six wins in past 2 years, after winning three from 2009-12.

enrollment: 111 class: 1A coach: jay doyle (3-24, 4th year) 2014: 0-9 (0-8, 9th) playoff record: 13-10 (1st in 1989) returning allconference: none fyi: 2nd smallest competing football school in Illinois.

river ridge wildcats

stockton blackhawks

warren warriors

enrollment: 156 class: 1A coach: doug nicholas (0-0, 1st year) 2014: 1-8 (1-7, 8th) playoff record: 0-0 returning allconference: jordan mclane, sr. ol/dl

fyi: 10-28 record since reinstating program in 2010.

enrollment: 178 class: 1A coach: chris thornton (65-31, 10th year) 2014: 7-3 (7-1, tied for 1st) playoff record: 41-26 (1st in 1978, ’91)

fyi: saw 27-game upstate winning streak snapped last year by polo.

enrollment: 138 class: 1A coach: jared mcnutt (0-0, 1st year) 2014: 5-5 (5-3, 4th) playoff record: 0-8 returning allconference: jake sigafus, sr. ol/dl fyi: mcnutt (2009

warren grad) former qb at coe college.

2015 svm prediction conf. polo 8-0 aquin 7-1 stockton 6-2 afc 5-3 warren 4-4 durand 3-5 milledgeville 2-6 river ridge 1-7 orangeville 0-8

all 9-0 8-1 7-2 5-4 4-5 4-5 2-7 1-8 0-9

game of the week friday, aug. 28

•

m’ville at durand

friday, sept. 4 • afc at warren friday, sept. 11 • polo at stockton friday, sept. 18 • polo at epc friday, sept. 25 • m’ville at river ridge friday, oct. 2 • polo at m’ville friday, oct. 9 • aquin at polo friday, oct. 16 • stockton at aquin friday, oct. 23 • warren at m’ville

2014 standings conf. all aquin 7-1 7-3 polo 7-1 8-3 stockton 7-1 7-3 warren 5-3 5-5 e. dubuque 4-4 5-4 milledgeville 3-5 3-6 afc 2-6 3-6 river ridge 1-7 1-8 orangeville 0-8 0-9 playoff results first round • 1A, dakota 24, aquin 7 • 1A, galena 35, warren 6 • 1A, lena-winslow 50, stockton 26 • 1A, polo 42, otttawa marquette 20 second round • 1A, stark county 49, polo 12

PAGE 14

Sauk Valley Media • August 27, 2015

FB15 GUIDE

RYON KNOWS ... FOOTBALL & CATTLE FARMING

Working until cows come home Richardson wrangles cattle just as well as he does opposing running backs

BY BRIAN WEIDMAN | bweidman@saukvalley.com | 800-798-4085, ext. 5551 | @BrianWeidman

0

nce you’ve been on the receiving end of a rampaging cow, doing battle with a Bruin, a Panther, or a Mustang isn’t quite so daunting.

That just goes with the territory for Amboy senior running back/ linebacker Ryon Richardson, who helps out at his grandfather’s 500-acre farm located just east of Amboy. Joe Vivian owns the land, and Ryon’s uncle, Scott Vivian, is the primary caretaker of the farm.

Scott Vivian tends to 600 head of cattle during the week, and on the weekend, it’s Ryon’s turn. A combination of sweet corn silage, hay, dry distillers, and minerals is mixed together to feed the cattle.

For the smaller animals, the feed is placed in a bucket on the front of a skid loader. For bigger animals, the feed is loaded in a wagon. It usually takes Ryon about 1½ hours to feed the animals, and he’s on the job by 7 a.m.

Usually it’s pretty standard stuff, as he

always enjoyed doing, helping out my grandpa and my uncle,” Ryon said.

Amboy will be looking to build on a 5-5 season in 2014, which ended with a playoff loss to eventual Class 2A state champion Eastland-Pearl City. The Clippers will likely need a lot of things to go in their favor to reach the postseason again, including 9 weeks of good health for a varsity roster that is paper thin.

Richardson noted one thing the Clippers do have is camaraderie.

“We’re all together, and good friends,” Richardson said. “That’s a big thing.”

GO

OD L U C K

Amboy Clippers Have a great season!

Michael Krabbenhoeft/mkrabbenhoeft@saukvalley.com

Amboy senior running back/linebacker Ryon Richardson helps on his grandfather’s cattle farm when he is not in school or playing football. Understanding the value of hard work has helped Richardson become one of the most dependable players on both sides of the line of scrimmage. makes sure the cattle get enough to eat and appear to be in good health.

There have been problems, however. He’s gotten run over by some frightened cattle, resulting in some sore ribs and being knocked out

for a bit.

“If they feel cornered, they get a little feisty,” said Richardson, whose older brother, Cody, was a star running back for the Clippers.

After high school, Ryon hopes to be more

involved in the farm. He plans to attend college and take a few agribusiness classes, but will spend most of his time on the farm. The tentative plan, Ryon noted, is for his grandfather to pass on the farm to Scott, with

Ryon as the chief helper.

“I guess you’d call my grandpa the banker,” Richardson said.

Someday, when Scott is done with farming, Ryon hopes the farm will become his.

“It’s just something I’ve

Kaleel Clothing & Printing 110 E. McKenney St., Dixon 815-284-5033

August 27, 2015 • Sauk Valley Media

PAGE 15

FB15 GUIDE

ASAN KNOWS ... FOOTBALL & WORKING IN RESTAURANT

Serving up good food, touchdowns Rushiti loves working in family restaurant, satyisfying needs of Raiders on field

BY BRIAN WEIDMAN | bweidman@saukvalley.com | 800-798-4085, ext. 5551 | @BrianWeidman

A

san Rushiti is a lucky man in at least two respects.

First, he has a ridiculously short commute to work. Second, he has already found what he wants as a career.

Rushiti, an AFC senior, works with his mother, Muda, and father, Joe, at Lincoln Way Cafe, a restaurant in downtown Franklin Grove. The family bought the business 8 years ago, and Asan, then 10, was bitten by the restaurant bug, so to speak.

“Eventually I would like to take it over,” Rushiti said. “I really get into the restaurant life, and how everything goes out. I just love it.”

The family lives above the restaurant, so all they have to do to get to work is walk down some stairs. It’s open from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily.

Asan sometimes squeezes in some work time before school, and works full shifts on weekends and during the summer. He began as a busboy and dish washer, graduated to working some up front, and now spends a lot of time in the kitchen as a cook.

The restaurant serves as a hangout of sorts for his AFC Raider football teammates, who have their favorite dish that is whipped up by the team’s starting left tackle.

“They get the double bacon cheeseburgers, with fries,” Rushiti said. “They love ’em. They eat that a lot.”

Keeping the customers happy is something Asan learned early is the key to keep the business thriving.

“If someone doesn’t like the food, we’ll re-make whatever they want,” Rushiti said. “As long as the customer’s happy, that’s good. The customer’s always right.”

Michael Krabbenhoeft/mkrabbenhoeft@saukvalley.com

Ashton-Franklin Center’s left tackle, Asan Rushiti, works alongside his parents at Lincoln Way Cafe in downtown Franklin Grove. Asan lives with his parents above the restaurant, and hopes to someday operate either Lincoln Highway Cafe or another restaurant of his own.

And it’s when the restaurant is full of customers that Rushiti has to be at the top of his game. Multiple orders by people at multiple tables may be placed about the same time, and it’s his job to make sure the meals are prepared just right.

“Someone could order something easy to make,” Rushiti said, “or someone could order something really time consuming. You have to get them out at the

same time, hot and ready. It gets hectic, for sure.”

Muda Rushiti has been around the restaurant business for a long time. Her father operated one in Sugar Grove for 30 years, and she did the same jobs her son did and does now.

Asked whether she passed on any advice to her son, a broad smile came across her face.

“You’ve just got to go with the flow,”

Muda said. “When those hectic times happen, don’t go too crazy.”

Asan noted when the family handles the breakfast rush or the lunch crowd seamlessly, and the customers go on their way full and happy, it’s the most satisfying part of the job.

“It feels really good when somebody says we had really good food, and they keep coming in,” Rushiti said. “It gives me a kick, you know?”

PAGE 16

FB15 GUIDE

Sauk Valley Media • August 27, 2015

JUSTIN KNOWS ... FOOTBALL & MARTIAL ARTS

Lots of fight in Storm lineman Fisher’s martial arts background makes him tough in Storm’s trenches

BY BRIAN WEIDMAN | bweidman@saukvalley.com | 800-798-4085, ext. 5551 | @BrianWeidman hen things get testy in the trenches, Justin Fisher is better qualified than most to handle whatever is thrown his way.

W

The Bureau Valley junior is slated to be a starter at defensive end and right guard for the Storm, and some hand-tohand combat, whether it be overpowering an opponent or fending one off, will undoubtedly be required. When that’s the case, Fisher can draw on his martial arts background.

Fisher, 17, has been practicing taekwondo since he was 4, and has accumulated six black belts in 13 years.

“Some guy in Wyanet was offering lessons,” Fisher said. “I started taking lessons, and never quit. I just enjoy the discipline and the physical challenge of it.”

Fisher noted taekwondo is considered a “hard style” martial art, and is similar to kickboxing. He is also proficient at hapkido, a “soft style” martial art whose characteristics include grappling, submissions, chokes, restraints, and throws.

He noted some of those moves, at least in part, help him handle his business on the football field.

“A lot of them probably wouldn’t be the best for in-game situations,” Fisher said, “but some of them are pretty useful.”

Fisher has gotten so proficient at taekwondo that he gives lessons in Walnut, at Main Street Motivation.

“I had a class of 15 once,” Fisher said, “and the youngest was 4 and the oldest was 63. I’ve taught people everywhere in between.”

Participating in and teaching taekwondo has helped with Fisher’s strength, quickness, and speed, as well

Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@saukvalley.com

Bureau Valley’s Justin Fisher started taking taekwondo lessons when he was 4 years old. Since then, he’s earned six black belts in 13 years, and has become an instructor. After missing last season with an injury, Fisher is eager to return to the field for the Storm this season. as hand-eye and hand-foot coordination. Some classes concentrate more on technique and conditioning, while others, which he calls “circle training,” are more intensive.

“We’re tossing each other around pretty good,” Fisher said, “and taking some good whacks. Those days are certainly more rough than others.”

Fisher noted he has not had to use martial arts – yet – to defend himself

in a sticky situation. If the need arises, though, he’ll be ready. It’s a technique others use as well.

“What we do in there is almost exactly what the police officers locally are taught and are trained in,” Fisher said.

“In those regards, it’s applicable to defending yourself, restraining people, and getting control of the situation.”

Fisher missed the 2014 football season due to a back injury, but is ready to

rumble this season. Despite his relative lack of size at 5-foot-11, 190 pounds, he is expected to be one of the Storm’s stalwarts up front, and BV coach Spencer Davis has no doubt he’s up to the task.

“His hands are phenomenal,” Davis said. “He’s a hard-working kid, and it’s come from the discipline with the martial arts. He’s always on an even keel, and he’s just a great kid to have on the team.”

August 27, 2015 • Sauk Valley Media

PAGE 17

FB15 GUIDE

amboy clippers head coach • 22nd season at amboy

• 121-94 (.563) • 13 playoff appearances

2014

• 5-5 overall • 4-3 trac north (tied for 4th place)

2014 results clippers 15, st. bede 14 clippers 21, sherrard 6 hall 35, clippers 14 clippers 27, riverdale 0 clippers 21, morrison 0 clippers 18, erie-p’town 14

b. valley 46, clippers 12 fulton 14, clippers 13 newman 44, clippers 0 2A playoffs epc 54, clippers 6

2014 by numbers

points scored: 147 point score avg.: 14.7 points allowed: 227 points allowed avg.: 22.7 playoff teams faced: 5 at home: 2-3 on road: 3-2

Good Luck Amboy Clippers

G

roster

team notebook

gary jones

H S

conference: three rivers rock enrollment: 324 projected class: 2A

clay stuepfert chats about clippers team strength: we’re a good running team, we’ve got good teamwork, and we’ll always be behind each other. working on: pass coverage. we need to get that tightened up. watch out for these guys: dallas appleman and drake barlow. can’t wait to play: st. bede. there’s a lot of people I know that go to st. bede. my role: i’m the big lineman

2014 stat leaders Rushing Att. chris jones 215 dallas appleman 98 drake barlow 51 Passing C-A-I liam ohlendorf 6-27-5 drake barlow 9-26-2 Receiving Rec. ryan leffelman 9 caleb morris 3

team win report 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

•

• ••• 9-3

9-3

8-3

6-4

•• 5-5

4-5

9-3

•

• 5-5

2-7

’05 ’06 ’07 ’08 ’09 ’10 ’11 ’12 ’13 ’14

Good Luck To All Area Teams!

A

Inc.

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www.gerdessales.com

25 E. Main St. Amboy, IL 815-857-3691

Yds TD 141 1 131 0 Yds TD 149 1 71 0

schedule

•

9-2

Yds TD 952 8 415 5 277 4

Game time

Opponent

fri., aug. 28, 7:30 fri., sept. 4, 7:30 fri., sept. 11, 7:30 fri., sept. 18, 7:30 fri., sept. 25, 7:30 fri., oct. 2, 7:30 fri., oct. 9, 7:30 fri., oct. 16, 7:30 fri., oct. 23, 7:30

st. bede 6-4 at sherrard 2-7 riverdale* 0-9 at erie-p’town 6-4 at bureau valley* 4-5 orion* 7-4 rockridge* 10-2 morrison* 1-8 at fulton* 6-4

* three rivers rock game homecoming: week 8

radio: 101.7 FM

G

A C

2014

!

returning starters in bold 1 alan stamberger 5-11 3 jordan hochstatter 6-2 4 brady hulin 6-3 5 cain powers 5-11 6 ryon richardson 5-9 7 dallas appleman 6-0 10 carter shaw 6-0 12 drake barlow 5-8 21 ben rhine 6-0 23 cole olson 6-0 24 koty conderman 5-10 25 max lucas 5-11 31 zach o’rourke 6-0 36 damion ullrich 5-9 51 cole stewart 6-0 52 george stuepfert 5-8 60 calvin nickel 6-0 62 kyle hunter 6-0 66 victor gutierrez 5-9 70 tyler perry 6-1 74 clay stuepfert 6-1 75 nick rhine 5-8 76 collin cromwell 5-11 77 chris peterson 6-0

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• amboy will leave the three rivers

conference at the end of the 2016-17 school year. the clippers wanted to leave at the conclusion of this school year, but the conference upheld a rule that required schools to give 2-years notice before being allowed to exit. amboy will begin play in the NUIC starting in the fall of 2017.

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PAGE 18

Sauk Valley Media • August 27, 2015

FB15 GUIDE

afc raiders head coach

• 13-23 (.361) • 0 playoff appearances

2014

• 3-6 overall • 2-6 nuic upstate (7th place)

2014 results aquin 31, raiders 15 polo 44, raiders 12 raiders 30, river ridge 6 stockton 50, raiders 6 raiders 40, pecatonica 6 raiders 42, orangeville 8

east dubuque 27, raiders 24 warren 19, raiders 0 milledgeville 22, raiders 16

2014 by numbers

points scored: 185 point score avg.: 20.6 points allowed: 213 points allowed avg.: 23.7 playoff teams faced: 4 at home: 1-4 on road: 2-2

roster

team notebook

brad winterland

• 5th season at afc

conference: nuic upstate enrollment: 168 projected class: 1A

david zinke chats about raiders team strength: we’ve got a lot of guys returning on both sides of the ball. working on: our overall team speed can be better. watch out for this guy: jacob hilliker. he knows the offense, and will be the one to make us go. can’t wait to play: forreston. they’re the defending 1A state champs, and we need to show we can play at that level.

2014 stat leaders Rushing Att. Yds david zinke 80 585 jake hageman 131 563 james talley 77 312 Passing C-A-I Yds jacob hilliker 22-59-1 330 david zinke 2-6-1 66 Receiving Rec. Yds david zinke 9 177 trevor ramsey 6 168

team win report 14 13 11-1 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

5-4

• • • • •• • • • 1-8

2-7

3-6

1-8 4-5

TD 4 2 TD 0 4

schedule

•

3-6

TD 3 6 2

1-8

3-6

’05 ’06 ’07 ’08 ’09 ’10 ’11 ’12 ’13 ’14

Game time

Opponent

fri., aug. 28, 7:30 fri., sept. 4, 7:30 fri., sept. 11, 7 fri., sept. 18, 7:30 fri., sept. 25, 7 fri., oct. 2, 7 fri., oct. 9, 7 fri., oct. 16, 7 fri., oct. 23, 7

at forreston 13-1 at warren* 5-5 milledgeville* 3-6 aquin* 7-3 at durand* 4-5 orangeville* 0-9 at river ridge* 1-8 polo* 8-3 at stockton* 7-3

* nuic upstate game homecoming: week 6

2014

returning starters in bold 1 kaywan palmer 5-9 2 caleb drew 5-11 6 jacob hilliker 6-1 7 david atkinson 6-0 8 marcus cater 5-5 9 dillon lanning 6-0 10 david zinke 6-1 11 cody penick 5-11 12 kevin o’dowd 6-1 13 tyon davis 6-0 14 adam hart 5-11 16 mike thompson 5-9 19 calvin berkeley 5-9 20 kaleb mcbride 5-9 21 luke hageman 5-11 23 jake hageman 5-11 28 james talley 6-1 29 stephen brooke 5-9 30 demetrius lahman 5-2 39 austin williams 5-9 46 sam hahn 5-7 50 brandon jahn 5-9 51 daniel cadenas 5-7 52 dalton ibarra 5-10 54 joe uphoff 6-5 55 asan rushiti 5-11 56 nathan page 5-6 57 bryan dewey 5-9 58 pierre schneider 6-0 59 garrett drew 5-9 62 kody schmitto 5-10 64 bryan ellshoff 5-10 57 jonah awalt 6-3 70 brendyn williams 5-5 72 sawyer murphy 6-0 77 colin kaecker 6-1 78 joel reiter 5-10 88 dylan jeanblanc 6-1

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August 27, 2015 • Sauk Valley Media

PAGE 19

FB15 GUIDE

BRYCE KNOWS ... FOOTBALL & TENNIS

Repetition name of games Constant work on skills key to success on football field, tennis court

BY PATRICK MASON | pmason@saukvalley.com | 800-798-4085, ext. 5550 | @pm222

B

ryce Stanley tosses a ball above his head and smashes it over the net with his racket. Bryce Stanley sprints for 7 yards, then cuts to his left.

He does this again and again.

This is how the Dixon senior spends most of his days, doing the same movements over and over. He doesn’t mind the monotony, because he knows that the most tedious parts of practice are sometimes the most important.

Stanley plays football and tennis for Dixon, and has excelled at both because he works hard at the fundamentals.

As a tennis player, he can get his first and hardest serve in play most of the time. Getting that serve in play is crucial in putting pressure on an opponent.

On the football field, he runs crisp routes as a receiver, which draws rave reviews from his coaches and quarterbacks.

His philosophy is simple: Repetitions, followed by more repetitions.

“You look at both sports, and they both take a lot of practice,”

Stanley said. “They take a lot of repetition. If I don’t work on repetitions with my serve, it’s not going to go in. Same with route running. If you don’t have constant repetitions, you’re going to be off on your cuts, you’ll be sluggish, and that hurts everyone on the team.”

With pass-catchers Matt Coffey and Ryan Webb graduating, Stanley will be thrust into a bigger receiving role.

Stanley had 43 receiving yards a season ago, and vowed to work hard this offseason to put himself in a position to make an impact his senior year.

His attention to detail is what he hopes will set him apart from others on the

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team searching for a more involved role in the receiving corps, as well as from opposing defensive backs, who will try to muscle him at the line of scrimmage.

With a tall, slender build, Stanley fits the mold for a tennis player and receiver.

His top attributes are his footwork, his hands, and his vision. He made it a point to perfect what he could on the tennis courts at Page Park in Dixon.

“In tennis, you have to always be prepared for hard serves,” Stanley said.

“You have to have quick hands to return them. In football, getting off the line with DBs jacking you, you have to get off them with a quick first step and strong hands.”

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Dixon senior wide receiver Bryce Stanley learned the value of repetition at a young age while learning how to play tennis. Stanley has applied those values to football, where he spends countless hours working on running precise routes.

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PAGE 20

FB15 GUIDE

Sauk Valley Media • August 27, 2015

BRIGHTON KNOWS ... FOOTBALL & LAWN MOWING

Haverland clearly a cut above Eastland junior runs lawn-mowing business with friend during summers

BY TY REYNOLDS | treynolds@saukvalley.com | 800-798-4085, ext. 5554 | @STyReynolds

A

lot of high schoolers stay active in extracurricular activities. Eastland junior Brighton Haverland might actually be overdoing it a bit.

The 6-foot-6 tight end/linebacker for the Eastland-Pearl City Wildcatz doesn’t really know what to do during his downtime – mainly because he has so little chance to have any downtime at all.

In addition to football, Haverland plays basketball and baseball for the Cougars, and is also involved in 4-H. He stays just as busy during non-school hours: He works on a hog farm, and he and a buddy run a lawn-mowing business in the summer.

The endeavors away from school are good teaching tools for Haverland to take back to his various sports.

“I take something different from each one,” Haverland said. “Lawn-mowing, it’s hard work and you always have to push through; even if it’s a hot day and you’d rather be doing something else, you have to keep the customer happy by being there working hard and doing a good job – just like with the coaches in football.

“From the hog farm, you’re always lifting a lot of stuff, so you get a lot of strength from it. But you’re also working with two or three guys at a time doing one thing, so you’ve got to have teamwork, and make sure you’re always in sync.”

The main reason Haverland stays so busy is because he loves what he’s doing, especially when it comes to the playing field or court.

But he also might be one of the few high schoolers who actually looks forward to practice, which can sometimes be grueling and monotonous.

“It’s a nice break from mowing lawns

Philip Marruffo/pmarruffo@saukvalley.com

Brighton Haverland plays football, basketball and baseball for his school. The tall tight end, however, also keeps pretty busy away from sports. He works on a hog farm, he is involved in 4-H, and he and a friend operate a summer lawn-mowing business in Lanark. or working with hogs,” Haverland said.

“Don’t get me wrong, football’s hard – all sports are hard during conditioning and practice – but it’s definitely more fun than work.”

With very little time to relax, Haverland never has to worry about staying in shape. He said one sport feeds off another throughout the school year, and all the physical conditioning he does for his sports also helps him be

in better shape for the summer jobs – which in turn keep him from having to start from scratch every fall when football rolls around.

But the physical work also helps him keep his edge mentally. Instead of having to get his brain back in gear every August when school starts, his summer activities already have him at the top of his game intellectually.

“I feel like I’m always mentally in it,”

Haverland said. “Sports keep me mentally sharp, and the summer work does, too. It all helps me stay focused and disciplined, which is key on the football field. You have to make sure you get the first thing done well so you can go on to the next thing, and make sure you do it right.

“That’s just a big part of everything I do, and doing all the things I do really help me with that.”

August 27, 2015 • Sauk Valley Media

PAGE 21

FB15 GUIDE

bureau valley storm

conference: three rivers rock enrollment: 307 projected class: 2A

head coach • 2nd season at bv • 4-5 (.444) • 0 playoff appearances

2014

• 4-5 overall • 3-3 TRAC North (tied for 4th place)

2014 results hall 23, storm 13 st. bede 56, storm 30 newman 50, storm 6 storm 43, kewanee 6 erie-p’town 36, storm 25 storm 44, morrison 6 storm 46, amboy 12 storm 48, riverdale 14 fulton 35, storm 27

2014 by numbers

points scored: 282 point score avg.: 31.3 points allowed: 238 points allowed avg.: 26.4 playoff teams faced: 6 at home: 3-2 on road: 1-3

roster

team notebook

spencer davis

trey dale chats about storm team strength: we have a lot of team speed this year. basically every skill player that we have has adequate speed that i think can take anyone in the conference.

2014 stat leaders Rushing Att. Yds TD will konneck 52 426 6 parker neuhalfen 50 393 2 josh mead 53 278 6 Passing C-A-I Yds TD drake davis 94-162-10 1,828 21 parker neuhalfen 9-24-1 135 0 Receiving Rec. Yds TD parker neuhalfen 37 976 12 tommy johnston 28 553 7

working on: strength. what we have in speed, we may lack in strength. watch out for this guy: will konneck. his senior year, he’s going to be really strong. he’ll have a lot of times to shine.

•

14 13 14-0 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

team win report

schedule

12-1

•

Game time

Opponent

•••

fri., aug. 28, 7:30 fri., sept. 4, 7:30 fri., sept. 11, 7:30 fri., sept. 18, 7:30 fri., sept. 25, 7:30 fri., oct. 2, 7:30 fri., oct. 9, 7:30 fri., oct. 16, 7:30 fri., oct. 23, 7:30

erie-p’town at st. bede at rockridge* at orion* amboy* at sherrard fulton* riverdale* at morrison*

’05 ’06 ’07 ’08 ’09 ’10 ’11 ’12 ’13 ’14

* three rivers rock game homecoming: week 5

10-2

•

•• 7-3

• 3-6

6-4

• 2-7

4-5

4-5

3-6

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2014 6-4 6-4 10-2 7-4 5-5 2-7 6-4 0-9 1-8

radio: 98.1 FM

returning starters in bold 1 andrew hockings 5-6 2 corbin endress 6-2 4 drew baker 5-6 6 jay edlefson 6-1 7 drake davis 5-11 9 hunter sebby 5-11 13 gailen gibson 6-0 16 jacob wirth 6-1 22 will konneck 5-10 24 caje peterson 5-9 25 bryan herr 5-8 32 eric schoff 5-10 33 dallas hardy 5-7 34 peyton moore 5-9 42 hunter schoff 6-0 51 shawn christianson 6-0 52 thomas brummel 6-0 54 richard lootens 5-11 55 chase gripp 6-5 56 hunter lewis 5-11 63 justin fisher 5-11 65 trevor sights 6-0 66 dan schoff 6-4 68 alex peck 6-2 72 calen buysse 6-2 77 gerald eshelman 5-9 78 arran kruse 5-6 82 drew fordham 6-2 84 trey dale 6-4

140 150 165 170 160 190 185 150 190 175 170 170 170 140 175 200 185 175 250 235 190 220 235 255 260 290 165 220 180

so. so. so. jr. so. jr. jr. so. sr. jr. so. fr. fr. fr. jr. sr. sr. sr. jr. jr. sr. so. so. so. so. jr. fr. sr. sr.

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did you know?

• drake davis’ 1,828 passsing yards

led the area by 8 yards over dixon’s jd gieson. davis replaced the storm’s 2-year starter parker neuhalfen, who moved to receiver.

PAGE 22

Sauk Valley Media • August 27, 2015

FB15 GUIDE

dixon dukes head coach

conference: big northern west enrollment: 806 projected class: 4A

roster

team notebook

dave smith

• 5th season at dixon

brady newman chats about dukes team strength: our numbers. we have a ton of guys on the team that can play. working on: our chemistry. we have a lot of new guys, and we’ve been working on playing together. watch out for this guy: james robinson from lutheran. he’s one of the best players in the conference. can’t wait to play: lutheran, because we want to show that wasn’t our best game.

•103-79 overall (.566) • 8 playoff appearances

2014

• 8-3 overall • 5-2 BNC west (tied for 2nd place)

2014 results dukes 25, mon-r’ville 0 dukes 20, burl. central 13 lutheran 47, dukes 0 dukes 40, oregon 15 mendota 44, dukes 23 dukes 44, winnebago 8 dukes 22, stillman 20 dukes 48, rock falls 8 dukes 42, byron 28 4A playoffs dukes 28, rich-burton 19 manteno 35, dukes 21

2014 by numbers

2014 stat leaders Rushing Att. Yds TD cody mighell 131 866 8 jd gieson 119 555 9 quinton douglas 49 321 4 Passing C-A-I Yds TD 131-247-12 1,820 24 jd gieson nate gascoigne 14-27-0 118 0 Receiving Rec. Yds TD matt coffey 51 672 10 kyle leblanc 48 932 11

team win report

points scored: 313 point score avg.: 28.5 points allowed: 237 points allowed avg.: 21.5 playoff teams faced: 7 at home: 6-0 on road: 2-3

14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

schedule

8-3

8-4

•

• •

•• • •• • • 1-8

4-5

2-7

3-6

0-9

2-7

3-6

2-7

’05 ’06 ’07 ’08 ’09 ’10 ’11 ’12 ’13 ’14

GO DIXON !

DUKES GO

Opponent

sat., aug. 29, 12:45 fri., sept. 4, 7 fri., sept. 11, 7 fri., sept. 18, 7 fri., sept. 25, 7 fri., oct. 2, 7 fri., oct. 9, 7 fri., oct. 16, 7 fri., oct. 23, 7

clemente** 7-2 at burl. central 6-4 lutheran* 11-1 at oregon* 6-5 mendota* 6-4 at winnebago* 2-7 stillman valley* 2-7 at rock falls* 0-9 byron* 8-5

* big northern west game homecoming: week 5

2014

radio: 1460 AM **Clemente forfeits game

Good Lucck S!

EADER

L CHEER

Game time

returning starters in bold 2 raheem jacobs 5-8 3 trent anderson 5-8 4 kandras martin 5-7 7 bryce stanley 5-10 8 braden jacobs 5-10 10 jake pitman 6-2 12 nate gascoigne 6-1 13 demetrius reese 5-9 15 arthur cox 5-6 20 benny mayes 5-6 21 josh wiseman 5-10 22 david martin 5-11 23 nyrel sullivan 5-10 24 brady newman 6-0 25 andrew wolber 6-0 27 kaylon westmorland 5-8 30 kyle leblanc 6-1 32 jared harrison 5-11 33 michael parcus 5-5 34 mason moeller 5-10 44 connor sperling 6-3 50 ricardo soresie 6-0 52 collin delong 6-2 53 bryce schaefer 5-11 56 javier gomez 5-6 58 aramis hussung 6-7 59 jamie schaeffer 5-8 60 keegan shank 5-7 63 baron rauch 6-2 64 michael stocksdale 5-10 65 drake fluker 6-2 67 jordan bivins 6-3 70 ryan troutman 6-2 74 michael-paul tabers 5-11 75 diante sanders 6-0 76 caleb moton 5-11 79 bret reynolds 5-11 82 alexander becker 6-0 83 austin martin 6-1 88 devrick sayles 6-0

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August 27, 2015 • Sauk Valley Media

FB15 GUIDE

PAGE 23

DYLAN KNOWS ... FOOTBALL, HURDLES & WRESTLING

No obstacle too tall for Binion Erie-Prophetstown senior fullback never satisfied until job completely finished

BY TY REYNOLDS | treynolds@saukvalley.com | 800-798-4085, ext. 5554 | @STyReynolds

A

s he prepares himself for a wrestling match or a hurdles race, Dylan Binion often relies on the focus he’s learned over the years on the football field.

“Discipline is key,” Binion said. “You really have to stay focused in each of those sports, and the conditioning and mental toughness you get from doing them all really helps.”

Like many athletes in the area, Binion competes in multiple sports. But he takes it to another level than most of his peers, and he excels in all three of his athletic endeavors.

A 1,600-yard rusher with 23 touchdowns last year at the coveted fullback spot in the Erie-Prophetstown backfield, he also finished fourth in the 110-meter high hurdles at the Class 2A state track meet last spring.

A five-time qualifier for the state track meet, Binion is also an accomplished wrestler in the middle weights for the Panthers.

While he doesn’t hesitate when asked which sport is his favorite – “Football, I’ve just always loved it,” he said immediately – he still enjoys every chance he Philip Marruffo/pmarruffo@saukvalley.com gets to compete in each one.

Erie-Prophetstown’s Dylan Binion admits that football is his favorite sport, but that doesn’t stop him from being a state A stellar natural athlete, Binion would medalist in the hurdles, and a tough matchup on the wrestling mat. excel in whatever activity he put his mind to, according to Erie-Prophetstown he already has,” despite being an allsports, you can kind of take breaks: in tranisition he makes between sports football coach Chuck Milem, who just state selection in 2014. track, you run a race for 10 seconds, isn’t going into football after track seashakes his head when asked about his It’s that discipline and work ethic that then you take an hour break; in wresson is over, but going from football into senior fullback. prepare Binion for the physical pound- tling, you have time between matches, wrestling.

“He’s just one of those kids who can ing of his position – which, in turn, gets especially at a big tournament.

“You use every muscle group in wresdo it all,” Milem marveled.

“You get pumped up so much for a tling, so that’s tough,” Binion said. “It Binion is not only naturally gifted, but him ready for the winter and spring short event, but it’s easier after getting takes a while to adjust, and you’re sore he’s also a beast when it comes to work sports seasons.

“Football is so physical, and you have pumped up for a whole football game. the first couple weeks. But once you get ethic. Panther quarterback Phillip Coers to go hard every play for an hour and a It’s really a thrill the whole time.” used to the new sport, it’s not that hard said his classmate “Works like he’s half straight,” Binion said. “In the other Still, Binion believes the hardest to change from one to the other.” nothing, like he’s not happy with what

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FB15 GUIDE

Sauk Valley Media • August 27, 2015

KEGAN KNOWS ... FOOTBALL & THROWING DISCUS

Throwing all he has into game Involvement in track has North focused on being precise in movements

BY CODY CUTTER | ccutter@saukvalley.com | 800-798-4085, ext. 5555 | @CodyCutter35

T

he start of summer break was a weird one for Kegan North, Fulton’s sports polymath. If he is not attending school, eating, or sleeping, it’s a safe bet that North is working on some sort of physical activity.

That was, until June. North decided to skip summer basketball.

“I had a ton of free time,” North said.

“Then I focused a lot on football and strength training. That’s what I put my focus on this summer.”

North is Fulton’s lead stopper on defense, and plans to take his game to the college level. He is also involved in track and basketball, and played baseball until the end of his freshman year.

Throwing the discus in track led to his closest taste of the state finals. However, he fell short of making the trip to Charleston with a fourth-place throw of 128 feet at the 1A Bureau Valley Sectional in May. “When it comes to shot and disc, a lot of that comes down to precision,” North said. “If your foot slants a little off on one side, it’ll mess up your whole throw. It’s all practicing the same movement over and over and over in the precision, and you have to focus on the little things.

“Once you get all of those little things together is when something big can happen,” he added. “That focus, and working on the little things to make it all work together, you get the quickness from it. It’s less the action, and moreso the mental part of it.”

Throwing discs and barreling through linemen to take down ballcarriers both involve building plenty of muscle.

North spends plenty of time in the weight room, and if the IHSA were to

Philip Marruffo/pmarruffo@saukvalley.com

Fulton’s Kegan North loves activity. He plays football and basketball, and started to throw discus during track season last school year. When not competing in an event, he can usually be found lifting weights to get stronger for all his endeavors. offer it as a competitive activity, he would be one of the very first to sign up.

“I lift weights year-round, and that helps me out with every sport,” North said. “I almost consider that a sport anyway, because of all the different aspects of it where it helps everything I do. If anything, that’s the fourth sport I play, because that’s the most important of them all. It helps with everything I do.”

But there’s a break between reps.

There’s a break between football plays.

There’s a break between throws in the ring. However, on the basketball court, North enjoys the constant go-go-go.

“Basketball is a lot of quick movements,” North said. “It’s almost a reaction time you have on everything.

Something happens here, and here, and it’s all constant plays. Jumping up for a ball, or diving on the floor, you’ll go sometimes 10, 15 minutes where you’re constantly moving and reacting – left, right, and reacting to what they’re doing.”

Most of the top 10 discus throwers at last year’s Bureau Valley Sectional will return this year, further amplifying the setting for his senior year.

“You’ve got people that play just one sport a year, and I think they kind of lose that competitive instinct,” North said. “Whether it’s a basketball game in the fourth quarter, or in my third throw for discus, there’s people that are used to pressure, and there’s people that are new to it. By doing this, and staying in those situations, it really benefits me.”

August 27, 2015 • Sauk Valley Media

PAGE 25

FB15 GUIDE

epc wildcatz head coach randy asche

• 9th season at epc

• 69-19 (.784) • 7 playoff appearances • 1 state championship

2014

• 14-0 overall • 8-0 nuic northwest (first place)

2014 results wildcatz 62, w. carroll 0 wildcatz 56, pecatonica 6 wildcatz 44, dakota 7 wildcatz 20, galena 0 wildcatz 40, le-win 14 wildcatz 45, polo 28 wildcatz 55, durand 0 wildcatz 52, s. beloit 7 wildcatz 54, forreston 21 2A playoffs wildcatz 54, amboy 6 wildcatz 27, hall 20 wildcatz 44, rockridge 21 wildcatz 46, fieldcrest 33 wildcatz 41, m-forsyth 12

2014 by numbers

points scored: 640 (45.7) points allowed: 175 (12.5) playoff teams faced: 10

conference: nuic northwest enrollment: 341 projected class: 2A

roster

team notebook dillon baldauf chats about wildcatz team strength: we’ve got a lot of quick running backs, and if we stay in shape, we’ll be good to go. working on: conditioning, and just getting physically ready for the beating you take each week during the games. watch out for this guy: brighton haverland. he’s a big kid, and just a physical athlete. opponent i respect: dakota. they’re a physical team, and they go hard every game and just keep going.

2014 stat leaders Rushing Att. walter ollie 121 donny groezinger 137 eric schaney 162 Passing C-A-I

Receiving Rec. Yds TD cody kluck 53 605 12 brighton haverland 28 501 5

1-8

•

• 5-5

•

• • • • • •• 9-2

8-3

6-4

9-1

Yds TD

deven heeren 99-163-10 1,548 17 donny groezinger 19-35-0 310 4

team win report 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

Yds TD 1,104 18 1,032 14 691 14

14-0

10-1

7-4

6-4

’05 ’06 ’07 ’08 ’09 ’10 ’11 ’12 ’13 ’14

schedule Game time

Opponent

fri., aug. 28, 7:30 fri., sept. 4, 7:30 fri., sept. 11, 7:30 fri., sept. 18, 7:30 fri., sept. 25, 7:30 fri., oct. 2, 7:30 fri., oct. 9, 7 fri., oct. 16, 7:30 fri., oct. 23, 7

at le-win* 8-4 west carroll* 1-8 at pecatonica* 1-8 polo 8-3 at galena* 10-3 dakota* 6-5 south beloit* 2-7 at forreston* 13-1 east dubuque* 5-4

* nuic northwest game homecoming: week 9

CARS815.com

2014

returning starters in bold 1 brock smargiassi 6-0 2 braden smargiassi 5-10 5 jayden kempel 5-6 6/51 collyn kuberski 5-8 9 eric langarica 5-5 10 kade knoup 5-4 11 lucas peterson 6-0 12 brodie kaney 5-6 14 brighton haverland 6-6 15 logan gassman 5-8 16 seth palmer 6-0 19 hunter ditsworth 5-9 20 joe sheriff 6-0 21 merrick misiewicz 5-7 22 keegan schubert 5-10 23 d.j. heeren 5-10 24 tucker welch 5-7 28 logan white 5-7 30 payton clouse 6-0 31 andrew lorig 5-9 33 colin colehour 5-6 41 jarod kempel 5-7 44 jake thede 5-7 45 connor boop 5-5 50 drake musser 5-11 53 nate strong 5-8 54 josh king 5-8 55 gunner cassell 5-5 56 zach lieb 5-10 59 davin sweitzer 5-10 65 trevor tipp 5-7 66 gavin carter 6-0 69 zackery curran 5-10 70 payton asche 6-5 72 steven murphy 6-5 73 wyatt gipe 5-10 74 caleb tichler 5-8 75 derek schubert 5-8 76 hayden keltner 6-1 77 dillon baldauf 6-0 78 addison keltner 6-3 79 r.j. cianciarulo 6-0 84 collin ruthe 5-6 85 travis spong 6-0 88 brian brenner 6-2

140 145 140 135 135 95 130 120 200 125 140 135 155 135 180 150 135 145 175 150 135 140 140 120 150 260 130 135 170 205 290 195 240 275 260 155 200 230 300 225 305 185 120 175 185

fr. fr. fr. fr. so. fr. fr. so. jr. so. so. so. jr. jr. jr. so. fr. fr. jr. fr. fr. fr. fr. fr. fr. so. fr. fr. fr. fr. fr. jr. fr. so. sr. jr. fr. fr. sr. sr. fr. fr. fr. fr. so.

wr/db qb/db rb/db wr/lb wr/db wr/db wr/db wr/db te/lb k wr/db rb/lb rb/db rb/db rb/db qb/db rb/db wr/db rb/lb te/lb rb/lb rb/db rb/lb wr/db ol/lb ol/dl ol/dl ol/lb ol/lb ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl ol/lb ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl ol/lb ol/dl ol/dl wr/db te/lb wr/lb

PAGE 26

Sauk Valley Media • August 27, 2015

FB15 GUIDE

erie-p’town panthers

conference: three rivers mississippi enrollment: 497 projected class: 3A

head coach • 8th season at erie-p’town • 27-40 (.403) • 3 playoff appearances

2014

• 6-4 overall • 4-2 TRAC North (tied for 2nd place)

2014 results panthers 45, kewanee 19 hall 21, panthers 20 panthers 49, riverdale 22 panthers 42, fulton 20 panthers 36, b. valley 25 amboy 18, panthers 14 newman 46, panthers 15 panthers 49, morrison 0 panthers 41, orion 21 3A playoffs st. joseph-ogden 48, panthers 34

2014 by numbers

points scored: 345 point score avg.: 34.5 points allowed: 240 points allowed avg.: 24.0 playoff teams faced: 6 at home: 2-2 road: 4-2

phillip coers chats about panthers team strength: the work we did in the offseason, and staying in shape and keeping our hearts to football. working on: we lost a lot of seniors who were big parts of our defense, so we have to string that together. watch out for this guy: dylan binion. he opened a lot of eyes last year, and i think he’ll do the same this year. opponent i respect: newman. they’ve got a great bunch of guys, a great coach, and they’re always humble.

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2014 stat leaders Rushing Att. Yds dylan binion 194 1,631 jordan chandler 58 637 philip coers 72 511 jack bauer 56 414 Passing C-A-I Yds phillip coers 11-26-2 205 Receiving Rec. Yds jordan chandler 5 86 dvaree thompson 3 57

team win report 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 3-6 0

•

• • 8-3

1-8

1-8

1-8

•••

•• 3-6

3-6

6-4

1-8

5-5

•

’05 ’06 ’07 ’08 ’09 ’10 ’11 ’12 ’13 ’14

HARDWARE

TD 23 7 9 3 TD 3 TD 1 1

schedule

•

DRUMMET’S

saukvall eyPRINTING

roster

team notebook

chuck milem

Game time

Opponent

fri., aug. 28, 7:30 fri., sept. 4, 7:30 fri., sept. 11, 7:30 fri., sept. 18, 7:30 sat., sept. 26, 7:30 sat., oct. 3, 2 fri., oct. 9, 7:30 fri., oct. 16, 7:30 fri., oct. 23, 7:30

at bureau valley 4-5 orion 7-4 sherrard* 2-7 amboy 5-5 at newman* 11-1 at st. bede* 6-4 kewanee* 0-9 at princeton* 3-6 hall* 8-3

* three rivers mississippi game homecoming: week 4

HANK

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317 Washington St., Prophetstown

Good Luck To All Area Teams!

2014

returning starters in bold 3 phillip coers 6-1 5 noah eads 6-5 6 garrett passmore 5-8 7 kody wetzell 5-10 8 conner reiley 5-9 12 hunter mitchell 6-1 18 nathan pierceson 6-0 20 kerrick cameron 5-9 21 rylee gallentine 5-11 22 kolton zaagman 5-9 24 jack bauer 5-9 25 dylan binion 6-0 27 drew misfeldt 5-10 34 seth cameron 5-6 40/56 jared forward 5-10 44 chris schempf 6-0 51 jack heflin 6-4 53 trevon mckenna 6-1 54 alec wetzell 6-0 55 ryne jaquet 6-2 60 brad hufman 5-11 62 brett emery 5-8 65 ian wirt 6-2 69 pedro herrera 6-0 70 jim biba 6-0 77 james stratton 6-1 78 tyler passno 6-2 79 jordan westerfield 6-1 80 ross cady 6-1

190 210 160 145 160 165 190 140 160 160 155 190 160 145 200 195 265 215 210 250 195 190 220 290 220 190 350 255 185

sr. sr. so. jr. jr. sr. jr. jr. sr. sr. sr. sr. jr. sr. sr. sr. sr. sr. jr. jr. sr. sr. sr. sr. sr. jr. jr. jr. jr.

qb/lb se/de fb/lb hb/db se/db se/db qb/de se/db hb/lb se/lb hb/db fb/lb hb/lb hb/db ol/lb te/lb ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl te/lb

did you know?

• panther running backs have led the area in rushing yards in each of the past two seasons. dylan binion rushed for 1,631 yards in 2014, and nick williams rushed for 2,097 in 2013.

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August 27, 2015 • Sauk Valley Media

PAGE 27

FB15 GUIDE

DYLAN KNOWS ... FOOTBALL & BASEBALL

Catcher making right calls Milledgeville’s Alexander turned injury into positive on diamond, football field

BY PATRICK MASON | pmason@saukvalley.com | 800-798-4085, ext. 5550 | @pm222

C

overed head to toe in protective gear, Dylan Alexander is in control when he’s behind home plate. The Milledgeville junior feels comfortable here.

Sometimes, Alexander is asked to step out of his comfort zone and into another role. This time, it was the Milledgeville football coaches asking him to play quarterback during a practice last season.

Alexander, a 6-foot, 195-pound tight end and defensive back for the Missiles, was asked by the coaching staff to mimic an upcoming opponent. They wanted the defense to practice against Alexander’s strength and quickness.

“If they need someone to work at quarterback, I’ll do it,” Alexander said.

“I can fill in anywhere, it’s just unfortunate what happened.”

Alexander kept the football on a designed run up the middle and was hit hard in his right shoulder, so hard that a piece of his bone chipped. He had to keep his throwing arm immobilized for 4 weeks while it healed.

“The first thing I thought was, ‘Oh dang, I can’t move my arm,’” Alexander said. “The next [thought] was about baseball, and how I’d be able to throw.”

If the Missiles junior had his choice of one activity, it would be baseball.

Baseball trumps the other sports he plays throughout the year – basketball, football and soccer. And as the team’s catcher, he found a way to combine workouts that benefit all of his commitments.

The squatting required for catchers means Alexander is in the weight room year-round working on his leg strength.

For his arm, he had to re-learn and

Philip Marruffo/pmarruffo@saukvalley.com

Milledgeville’s Dylan Alexander suffered a shoulder injury last fall while running the scout-team offense as quarterback. The injury forced him to think about how he trains not only for football, but also his first love, baseball. fine-tune his throwing mechanics after his shoulder injury. The injury forced him to take a look at how he prepares for each season, and he vowed to be a complete athlete.

“I feel like I’m well-rounded now,” Alexander said. “Playing these sports gives me an edge. I’m going sport to sport every couple months. A lot of out-of-season athletes don’t work as hard because they just prepare for the next season, where I’m trying to work on everything at the same time.”

Alexander has already seen the work pay off. Despite growing just 1 inch, he added about 45 pounds to his frame since last football season. The added size hasn’t slowed him down, as he was careful to maintain his agility. He noted that some athletes live in the weight room because they want to gain strength and size, but end up losing the ability to move quickly with the extra size, something Alexander avoided.

He will have a bigger role at tight end this season as a pass-blocker, as well as

a receiver. He thinks his size will serve him better on the defensive side of the ball, and he’ll be able to be more physical with receivers. On the baseball field, he’ll be better able to handle the rigors of a season behind the plate.

“It’s fun not focusing on one sport,” Alexander said. “It makes you appreciate the skills that each requires. The coordination agility carries over from sport to sport, as well as speed and athleticism, it all carries over. I just make sure to pay attention to it.”

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Sauk Valley Media • August 27, 2015

August 27, 2015 • Sauk Valley Media

FB15 GUIDE

PAGE 29

SAUK VALLEY MEDIA SPECIAL REPORT • FOOTBALL IN A WORLD OF SPECIALIZATION FOR THE BETTER PART OF THE LAST 50 YEARS, FOOTBALL HAS BEEN KING IN THE HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS WORLD. WHILE THE SPORT REMAINS POPULAR AMONG SPECTATORS AND MEDIA, THE NUMBER OF PLAYERS ON ROSTERS IS GRADUALLY DECLINING. THE REASONS FOR THIS ARE MANY. SCHOOLS IN THE AREA HAVE FEWER STUDENTS THAN 25 YEARS AGO. PLAYERS AND PARENTS ARE CONCERNED ABOUT SAFETY ISSUES. AND MORE KIDS ARE FOCUSING ON SPORTS THEY CAN PLAY YEAR-ROUND. IN SVM’S SPECIAL REPORT, WE TAKE A LOOK AT HOW AREA COACHES ARE TACKLING THE ISSUES OF DIVIDING TIME BETWEEN FOOTBALL AND OTHER SPORTS.

THEY KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER

Fewer games, less opportunity to play is how football motivates players to spend more time preparing

ik e Papoccia loved raising his children in a sports environment, but the Newman football coach, who is three wins from 300 career victories, is sure glad that his sons and daughters have all grown up.

When his last child, Lauren, was going through sports in the mid2000s, Papoccia could see how things were starting to change.

M

“It certainly helps to play three sports,” Papoccia said. “I just don’t know about playing three in the summer. Why I changed my attitude is my daughter was a basketball player, a volleyball player, and a cheerleader, and in June of her junior year, she was gone from 8 in the morning to 8 at night all of June. The third week, she’s had it. I said, ‘This is getting insane.’”

Sports is all about competition, and now more than ever, sports are competing with each other for the affections of athletes.

Each sport with offseason travel leagues promise opportunities for big-money scholarships, while also taking a toll on the time, wallet, and bodies of the players and their families.

Unlike basketball, baseball, softball, soccer and

volleyball, football isn’t a sport where hundreds of games can be played throughout the year.

Instead, football is reserved for high school teams, and even they are guaranteed only nine games per year in Illinois, with a maximum of 14 for those lucky 16 teams that make it to the state championship games.

It’s a tough balance for football coaches, who want their athletes competing throughout the year to stay in shape and gain skills that could be useful on the field in the fall. The downside is that many coaches run the risk of losing those same players when they decide their future might be brighter playing in a travel league in the fall.

Cory Bielema has coached two state championship teams at Morrison, but has faced a numbers crunch the last three seasons. He has

17 kids on the varsity roster heading into the 2015 campaign.

“I like the multi-sport guys; we push that in the football program,” Bielema said. “Any sport – wrestling ties in real well with football in certain aspects; basketball does as well, athleticswise; we’ve got swimmers, track of course, even baseball – just as long as they’re out there. I like the idea of remaining competitive in that sense.”

Morrison’s current state is mostly from having low numbers of male athletes in the last few classes.

The Mustangs are also dealing with the same issues of declining enrollment and potential players shying away from football because of safety concerns.

At Sterling, which has 1,008 students

compared to the 328 at Morrison, coach Jon Schlemmer wants his kids out for all sports, and he has more students to help fill out a roster. Both schools have great traditions, which doesn’t hurt, either.

“We’re lucky with where we’re at, because football’s a big deal here,” Schlemmer said.

“Kids really want to come out and play at Roscoe Eades on Friday night. They want to be a part of that. It’s almost one of those things where basketball and baseball, you play a million games; in football, you get nine.

“The fact that they look forward to those nine all year, it’s a little bit easier to get them up.

We’re constantly in the weight room all offseason, and kids have really bought into our program.”

AFC coach Brad Winterland thinks the break

away from football helps the kids’ hearts grow fonder for the sport.

“We have offseason weight training, and we don’t do much of anything else,” Winterland said. “We let them be away from us, and we’re away from them. That way, hopefully when the time does come to start football in the summer, they’re a little more excited.”

The consensus in the area from football coaches seems to be to step off the gas a little bit in the summer to avoid burning out those athletes playing multiple sports.

Area players who wrote diaries for SVM that appear earlier in this section detail the average workload for players in the summer: weightlifting, 7-on-7 tournaments, and camps that focus on conditioning and installing systems.

Unlike other sports, football is more about the

preparation than playing games.

Although, guys like Papoccia think other sports might do well to focus less on playing games and more on developing skills.

“The specialization is terrible, just terrible,” Papoccia said. “That’s why we don’t do anything in the summer except lift and run, and that’s open for all our athletes, it’s just not the football team.

“We have kids that are in other sports that come to our sessions, but as far as practicing, no way. I want the kids to be kids. It seems like in basketball, everybody’s getting their 25 days in, and 25 days may mean about 100 games, and you get kids that are awful tired of it. I personally don’t understand how playing, let’s just say 50 games in June, is going to help you in November, I’m sorry.”

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FB15 GUIDE

Sauk Valley Media • August 27, 2015

ERIC KNOWS ... FOOTBALL & SWIMMING

Taking another sort of lap Extra work in pool puts Sipes a step ahead of peers in terms of conditioning

BY TY REYNOLDS | treynolds@saukvalley.com | 800-798-4085, ext. 5554 | @STyReynolds

I

f there is one advantage Eric Sipes has over most of the other football players in the Sauk Valley this season, it may be his stamina.

While most kids battled their way through conditioning drills when practices started 2½ weeks ago, Sipes was already in tip-top shape thanks to his second sport – swimming.

“I always felt I was one notch above the other guys in terms of conditioning, because while I was doing football stuff over the summer, I was also swimming,” Sipes said. “Even though I may not have been the fastest guy, I feel like I’ve got an edge in mental toughness and physical fitness that the other guys who don’t swim normally don’t get.

“Swimming tests your body in different ways than football does, so you get so many more opportunities to get stronger in your body and your mind.”

The fitness aspect of swimming is the most obvious way it helps with football.

But it’s not the first thing Sipes points to as the biggest effect it has on the gridiron.

“For me, the thing that most correlates from swimming to football is the mental aspect,” he said. “In swimming, you’re all by yourself, it’s just you against the water. In football, it’s just you and the guy across from you.

“The water is never going to stop being an obstacle – and just like the water is always going to be there to challenge you, that other guy is never going to give up, either.”

He also sees a relationship between the extensive training for both sports, and how it relates to the brief periods of game-like activity.

In swimming, countless hours are spent in the pool preparing for races

Philip Marruffo/pmarruffo@saukvalley.com

Morrison’s Eric Sipes spends a lot of time training for football. When he’s not doing that, he’s in the pool getting ready for swimming season. The latter puts him a step ahead of many of his peers in terms of conditioning. that usually last only a couple of minutes. Football is much the same, as hard work goes into preparing for plays that usually last around 10 seconds.

“In swimming, you’re doing your [practice] sets, and you know how much rest you’re going to get if you go fast enough,” Sipes explained. “It’s the same thing with football; if you go hard for 10 seconds and score a touchdown, you don’t have to do anything for the next few minutes.

“That downtime helps me realize what I need to do to be better, and make my teammates better as well.”

Swimming isn’t the only way Sipes improves his mind. He also serves in student government, and appears in the school musical. The best part of all of that variety is the different people he gets to meet, from different social circles throughout the school.

It also keeps him engaged in every activity.

“It keeps it fresh, because you’re always doing something different,” he said. “Swimming is going to give you something football wouldn’t, and then the musical and the other stuff will give you even more – maybe not physically,

but emotionally and intellectually. It all comes together, and you never get bored, which is nice.”

It’s even nicer that Sipes finds himself back on the gridiron this fall. He missed last season after suffering a concussion as a sophomore, and can’t wait to get back into the trenches for the Mustangs.

“I’m so excited,” Sipes gushed. “Last year, I tried to get my chiropractor and doctor to free me up, but they told me I had to take a year off. So now, I don’t even care what I do or where I play – I just want to be out there playing football.”

August 27, 2015 • Sauk Valley Media

PAGE 31

FB15 GUIDE

fulton steamers head coach

2014

• 6-4 overall • 4-2 TRAC North (tied for 2nd place)

2014 results orion 33, steamers 26 steamers 21, kewanee 12 steamers 42, morrison 0

roster

team notebook

patrick lower

• 9th season at fulton • 33-41 (.446) • 2 playoff appearances

conference: three rivers rock enrollment: 303 projected class: 1A

tyler sweenie chats about steamers team strength: our offensive line and our tough running game that we have so much experience with. working on: being able to be versatile, and being able to run the ball as well as pass the ball. not being so predictible as far as running the ball. can’t wait to play: hall. i can’t wait to get out there. we’re ready for them. they’re the only game we’re really worried about right now.

2014 stat leaders Rushing Att. Yds tyler sweenie 141 686 michael pidde 138 569 trey simmons 98 499 Passing C-A-I Yds tyler sweenie 20-41-0 272 jack lemke 4-6-1 45 Receiving Rec. Yds jason osborn 5 110 trey simmons 5 74

TD 10 4 8 TD 5 2 TD 3 1

erie-p’town 42, steamers 20

newman 52, steamers 6 steamers 40, princeton 21

steamers 42, riverdale 6 steamers 14, amboy 13 steamers 35, b. valley 27 1A playoffs forreston 53, steamers 20

2014 by numbers

points scored: 266 point score avg.: 26.6 points allowed: 259 points allowed avg.: 25.9 playoff teams faced: 5 at home: 4-1 on road: 2-3

team win report 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

schedule

••• • •• • • • • 5-5

6-4

5-4

4-5

4-5

4-5

3-6

2-7

6-4

2-7

’05 ’06 ’07 ’08 ’09 ’10 ’11 ’12 ’13 ’14

Game time

Opponent

fri., aug. 28, 7:30 sat., sept. 5, 7:30 fri., sept. 11, 7:30 fri., sept. 18, 7:30 fri., sept. 25, 7:30 fri., oct. 2, 7:30 fri., oct. 9, 7:30 fri., oct. 16, 7:30 fri., oct. 23, 7:30

hall 8-3 at newman 11-1 at orion* 7-4 riverdale* 0-9 at princeton 3-6 at morrison* 1-8 at bureau valley* 4-5 rockridge* 10-2 amboy* 5-5

2014

* three rivers rock game homecoming: week 8

radio: 1390 AM

returning starters in bold 1 tyler sweenie 6-1 2 jack lemke 6-1 3 tyler pauline 6-2 5 bryce grant 5-9 6 erik north 5-10 8 adam hodge 5-10 10 dylan moshure 5-10 13 rodney gossard 6-1 17 trey simmons 6-1 21 nate mcluckie 6-1 22 devon ballard 6-0 23 tyler bruggenwirth 6-4 24 cole grant 5-9 30 austin schroeder 5-11 33 donovan labianco 5-10 34 michael pidde 5-7 42 jason miller 5-9 44 austin rash 5-11 45 kegan north 6-2 48 cole mcclary 5-9 51 brody mason 5-9 54 storm hoover 5-10 55 seth sikkema 6-0 56 ethan fish 6-4 57 sam grant 5-11 58 rhett merema 5-7 60 kyle mcluckie 6-2 62 blake dornbush 6-1 64 alex martin 5-9 67 taylor tubbs 6-3 68 jerek leonhardt 6-0 69 nate wierema 6-4 72 ian frederick 6-1 75 jimmy rumfelt 6-1 78 beau beal 6-2 79 alex gillis 6-3

180 165 165 155 185 165 165 165 180 180 195 205 175 195 185 190 160 185 225 185 180 180 185 195 180 180 230 250 175 230 195 215 235 250 245 295

jr. sr. jr. so. so. jr. so. sr. sr. so. sr. so. jr. so. jr. jr. so. so. sr. jr. so. sr. so. so. sr. so. jr. jr. jr. jr. so. so. so. sr. so. sr.

Look for our weekly football pull out section every Saturday! publishers of

daily Gazette, Telegraph & Sauk Valley Weekend

qb/lb wr/db rb/db qb/db rb/lb te/lb wr/db wr/db rb/db rb/db rb/dl te/dl rb/dl rb/lb rb/lb rb/dl rb/db rb/lb te/lb rb/lb ol/lb ol/lb ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl

PAGE 32

Sauk Valley Media • August 27, 2015

FB15 GUIDE

conference: nuic upstate enrollment: 169 projected class: 1A

millledgeville missiles head coach • 7th season at m’ville • 9-42 (.176) • 0 playoff appearances

2014

• 3-6 overall • 3-5 nuic upstate (6th place)

2014 results warren 18, missiles 7 missiles 35, orangeville 0 galena 41, missiles 20 polo 52, missiles 27 missiles 55, river ridge 6 stockton 54, missiles 15 aquin 55, missiles 14 east dubuque 55, missiles 12

missiles 22, afc 16

2014 by numbers

points scored: 207 point score avg.: 23.0 points allowed: 297 points allowed avg.: 33 playoff teams faced: 5 at home: 2-3 on road: 1-3

roster

team notebook

jason wroble

troy litwiller chats about missiles team strength: our running backs. we have lots of speed and size. working on: getting ourselves in a position to where we can hopefully make the playoffs. watch out for this guy: josh walker. he’s been working on his strength and has gotten a lot stronger and faster. can’t wait to play: polo, because it’s kind of a rivalry, and we get them on homecoming this season.

2014 stat leaders Rushing Att. jordan harris 88 nick devito 40 harrison jakobs 38 Passing C-A-I jordan harris

14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

•

• •

•

8-3

• 2-7

1-8

••• 0-9 0-9

Yds TD 568 5 247 3 178 1

schedule

12-1

1-8 4-5

Yds TD

99-206-11 1,152 11

Receiving Rec. blake kappes 27 buddy bibler 24 zach schmidt 20

team win report

Yds TD 508 9 183 2 132 1

•• 3-6 3-6

’05 ’06 ’07 ’08 ’09 ’10 ’11 ’12 ’13 ’14

Game time

Opponent

fri., aug. 28, 7:30 fri., sept. 4, 7:30 fri., sept. 11, 7 fri., sept. 18, 7 fri., sept. 25, 7 fri., oct. 2, 7 fri., oct. 9, 7 fri., oct. 16, 7 fri., oct. 23, 7

at durand* aquin* at afc* orangeville* at river ridge* polo* at stockton* dakota warren*

* nuic upstate game homecoming: week 6

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2014 4-5 7-3 3-6 0-9 1-8 8-3 7-3 6-5 5-5

returning starters in bold 6 drake dublo 5-9 8 jason brubaker 5-10 9 troy litwiller 6-2 10 brexton flynn 6-1 14 bryce frederick 5-7 16 jeremy bibler 5-9 20 evan skoog 5-8 26 ezra walker 6-10 33 nick devito 5-11 42 kyle forbes 5-10 44 joshua walker 5-8 52 alex kersten 5-9 64 zachary hook 6-0 65 kyle kendall 5-11 66 chase hutchison 6-0 71 payton harris 6-0 76 dakota geary 6-0 81 jacques christensen 5-11 82 dylan alexander 6-0

135 140 160 190 125 150 160 155 155 155 170 175 245 205 210 190 260 165 195

jr. sr. sr. jr. jr. jr. sr. jr. sr. jr. sr. jr. jr. so. jr. jr. sr. jr. jr.

rb/db rb/db qb/db rb/lb rb/db rb/db rb/cb wr/db rb/db rb/lb rb/dl ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl ol/lb ol/dl ol/dl wr/db te/db

did you know?

• hall of fame coach gary hartje coached the team to a 185-114 record during his 30 seasons from 19792008. hartje guided the missiles to the semifinals on three occasions, in 1998, ’99, and 2008. current coach jason wroble is the school’s sixth football coach since 1954. charles busse was the first coach, from 1954 to 1956. tom mcginn did it in 1957, les snow coached from 1958-76, and steve parker had job in 1977 and ’78.

M

Go Missiles!

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August 27, 2015 • Sauk Valley Media

PAGE 33

FB15 GUIDE

LOGAN KNOWS ... FOOTBALL & FISHING

Reeling in big fish, big victories Newman quarterback Whitman learned value of patience while bass fishing

BY TY REYNOLDS | treynolds@saukvalley.com | 800-798-4085, ext. 5554 | @STyReynolds

T

here are very few things Logan Whitman would rather be doing than sitting in a boat, casting his fishing line into the water.

Not only is it a time of calm serenity from all of his other activities, but it also gives him plenty of time to think about his favorite sport.

Whitman serves as Newman’s quarterback, a starting spot he cemented last season as a junior.

Also a baseball player and wrestler, Whitman is part of one of the only high school bass fishing teams around.

“A lot of people joke about it, asking ‘How do you go from playing football and two other sports, and still find time to bass fish?’” Whitman said.

“But it doesn’t really take a lot of time or practice; you just go out and fish, and when it comes to sectionals, you know the spots you want to hit.”

While it might not seem so at first glance, Whitman says there actually is a lot about fishing that he can carry over to football, and vice versa.

Say he’s having a tough

will respond in pressure situations.

He also knows that every time he hits the water with his fishing rod in hand, he’ll have plenty of time to figure out how to handle the next situation that comes up on the football field.

“I’m constantly thinking about football while I’m fishing,” Whitman said. “As a quarterback, I have to know every play, and what’s going on at all times on offense. Plus, as a senior, I have to be a leader, and be able to know everything so I can help out the younger guys.

“Having some quiet time to myself helps me think through all that stuff.”

Philip Marruffo/pmarruffo@saukvalley.com

Newman senior quarterback Logan Whitman knows that the Comets value long drives, and that there are times when the team can run 10 or 11 plays without a big gainer. But he knows eventually they will come. It’s much the same when casting to land a big bass. Patience pays off in both situations. game under center, and things aren’t going the Comets’ way. Sitting for hours at a time waiting for a bite prepares you mentally for any frustration that may arise.

“Patience is the biggest thing,” Whitman said.

“You’re throwing 100 to

500 casts a day, and you only get hits on the hook a small percentage of the time, so you really learn to be patient and calm.”

At the same time, the sudden burst of action after all that patient waiting in the boat feels very similar to the excitement

Whitman feels after a big play on the gridiron.

“The adrenaline just gets rolling, whether it’s a long football play or hooking into a nice, big bass,” Whitman said.

“When you run 10 plays then break a big one on the 11th, it’s just like

casting 30 times then getting a nice, big fish to reel in on the 31st throw.”

Then, there’s the mental aspect. From staying patient through the wait, to handling the emotions when that adrenaline kicks in, Whitman knows how his brain and body

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PAGE 34

Sauk Valley Media • August 27, 2015

FB15 GUIDE

BRAYTON KNOWS ... FOOTBALL & SAND VOLLEYBALL

Just another day at the beach Oregon’s Finch finds fun in sand and sun with newest athletic endeavor

BY PATRICK MASON | pmason@saukvalley.com | 800-798-4085, ext. 5550 | @pm222

B

rayton Finch had a volleyball in his locker, and hopped into teammate Maverik Good’s truck for the short drive to the sand volleyball pits behind Oregon High School.

sand is a lot different than running on grass.”

On grass is where Finch will be doing a lot of his running and jumping for the next few months, as he will be one of the main threats coming out of the Hawks’ talented backfield this fall.

A first-time starter as a junior last season, Finch gained 483 yards and scored five touchdowns on 99 carries. At 6-foot-1, 180 pounds, Finch is an explosive runner who got a taste of postseason play as Oregon advanced to the second Finch is a senior at Oregon round last season. He will who stars on the football be looked at as a leader this team as a part of a trio of season in the team’s quest to punishing rushers. The stur- return to the playoffs for the dy Finch also plays baseball, third consecutive year. wrestled for 3 years, and While Finch can’t predict will go out for the basketball with any certainty what lies team this winter. ahead regarding team or But Finch found time to personal success, he does add something new to his expect to be better this sealife – volleyball. son. Football has been his “I worked out almost every favorite sport since seventh day,” Finch said. “Lifted, ran, grade, the first year his parall of those things really helped ents allowed him to play. a lot coming into the season.

He stuck with soccer But volleyball was something throughout grade school, as different. It’s a lot of jumping his parents didn’t want him and moving around. You have playing football at too young to talk to your teammate and of an age for fear of injury. work together, something you Finch hopes to continue do a lot in football.” playing football in college, He picked up the sport over and has been in contact with the summer with classmate several coaches, but hasn’t Mitchell Nehrkorn. The two made up his mind. He kept played in several tournafootball in mind, however, during the sports he played ments through Power Up in the winter and spring, and Volleyball, a club in Oregon that offers various opportuni- was mindful of the demands ties for children and adults to the fall sport requires.

That’s why volleyball compete in tournaments. seemed like a good option.

“We didn’t win much,” “It did help get me ready Finch said. “It was fun, for all the work my legs will though, and it was tiring. get,” he said.

Running and jumping on

Michael Krabbenhoeft/mkrabbenhoeft@saukvalley.com

Oregon senior running back Brayton Finch spent the summer competing in sand volleyball tournaments.

The sport improved his endurance, and taught him the value of communication with teammates.

August 27, 2015 • Sauk Valley Media

PAGE 35

FB15 GUIDE

morrison mustangs

conference: three rivers rock enrollment: 328 projected class: 2A

head coach • 8th season at morrison • 54-25 (.684) • 5 playoff appearances • 2 state championships

2014

• 1-8 overall • 1-5 TRAC North (5th place)

2014 results princeton 35, mustangs 7 orion 26, mustangs 7 fulton 42, mustangs 0 newman 59, mustangs 0 amboy 21, mustangs 0 b. valley 44, mustangs 6 rockridge 43, mustangs 7 erie-p’town 49, mustangs 0

mustangs 21, riverdale 7

2014 by numbers

points scored: 61 point score avg.: 6.8 points allowed: 326 points allowed avg.: 36.2 playoff teams faced: 6 at home: 1-3

roster

team notebook

cory bielema

ryan vanzuiden chats about mustangs team strength: we have kind of a chip on our shoulder this year, and we’re going to dig deep to get better. working on: we need to get in shape and stay better conditioned than other teams because of our low numbers. watch out for these guys: andy bird in the backfield, and eric sipes on the line. can’t wait to play: fulton and newman, because they’re big rivalries. opponents i respect: newman and rockridge; we never underestimate them.

2014 stat leaders Rushing Att. Yds andy bird 110 448 joey brackemyer 75 240 mason sitzmore 37 81 Passing C-A-I Yds mason sitzmore 22-52-2 257 joey brackemyer16-53-3 148 Receiving Rec. Yds andy bird 8 63 triston houzenga 7 94

team win report

14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

• • •• • • • 14-0

11-2 11-1

8-3

13-1

• 6-4

•• 1-8

2-7

’05 ’06 ’07 ’08 ’09 ’10 ’11 ’12 ’13 ’14

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155 185 170 165 160 155 180 130 160 165 190 195 225 215 205 290 300

jr. sr. jr. sr. sr. sr. sr. jr. jr. jr. sr. sr. sr. jr. jr. jr. sr.

qb/lb qb/db se/db rb/db rb/db rb/lb qb/lb se/lb rb/lb rb/lb ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl

schedule

10-2

8-3

TD 5 1 0

returning starters in bold 2 dylan keller 6-0 6 justin jensen 6-2 11 payton cook 6-0 13 tate renkes 5-10 20 andy bird 5-10 22 merik kennedy 5-9 23 ryan vanzuiden 5-10 42 matthew nichols 5-8 44 jarrett ruchotzke 6-0 45 cody southern 6-0 50 emmit shepard 5-11 51 tom ottens 5-10 52 eric sipes 6-2 63 ben vanderlaan 6-1 66 brandon engelkens 6-3 73 brandon meier 6-5 74 adam deter 6-1

Game time

Opponent

fri., aug. 28, 7:30 fri., sept. 4, 7:30 fri., sept. 11, 7:30 fri., sept. 18, 7:30 fri., sept. 25, 7:30 fri., oct. 2, 7:30 fri., oct. 9, 7:30 fri., oct. 16, 7:30 fri., oct. 23, 7:30

kewanee 0-9 at princeton 3-6 newman 11-1 at rockridge* 10-2 at riverdale* 0-9 fulton* 6-4 orion* 7-4 at amboy* 5-5 bureau valley* 4-5

* three rivers rock game homecoming: week 7

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2014

did you know?

• the mustangs are at risk of missing the playoffs for the third straight season. morrison has not done that since a 4-year drought from 20002003. the recent downturn comes on the heels of making the playoffs in eight consecutive seasons. in that span, the team averaged 10.75 wins per season, and won class 2A state championships in 2009 and 2011.

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PAGE 36

Sauk Valley Media • August 27, 2015

FB15 GUIDE

newman comets head coach

mike papoccia

• 36th season at newman • 297-92 (.763) • 25 playoff appearances • 5 state championships

2014

• 11-1 overall • 6-0 TRAC North (1st place)

2014 results comets 20, rockridge 14 comets 44, princeton 21 comets 50, b. valley 6 comets 59, morrison 0 comets 52, fulton 6 comets 50, riverdale 0 comets 46, erie-p’town 15 comets 56, sherrard 25 comets 44, amboy 0 3A playoffs

comets 44, aur. christian 21

comets 50, oregon 12 byron 16, comets 14

2014 by numbers

points scored: 529 point score avg.: 44.1 points allowed: 136 (11.3) playoff teams faced: 7 at home: 7-0 on road: 4-1

conference: three rivers mississippi enrollment: 407.55 projected class: 2A/3A

roster

team notebook rhett scroggins chats about comets team strength: experience-wise, the seniors last year set it upon us to continue the success we’ve had. working on: our all-around play. every day is an opportunity to get better as a player and a team. watch out for this guy: hunter webb. he’s a consistent player, an all-around great kid, and he’s gotten stronger. opponent i respect: morrison. i’m friends with a couple of their guys, and we go all-out on the football field.

2014 stat leaders Rushing Att. Yds TD brady rude 138 1,548 24 nolan mcginn 105 1,241 18 dillan heffelfinger 137 932 15 Passing C-A-I Yds TD logan whitman 21-45-5 424 8 Receiving Rec. Yds TD shayne allen 8 168 4 dillan heffelfinger 8 165 4 brady rude 4 58 0

team win report 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

•

• ••• • 9-2

8-3

8-3

14-0

•

10-2

••

12-1

13-1

schedule

•

11-1

8-4

6-4

’05 ’06 ’07 ’08 ’09 ’10 ’11 ’12 ’13 ’14

WISHING THE BEST TO ALL OUR AREA TEAMS!

Game time

Opponent

fri., aug. 28, 7:30 sat., sept. 5, 7:30 fri., sept. 11, 7:30 fri., sept. 18, 7:30 sat., sept. 26, 7:30 fri., oct. 2, 7:30 fri., oct. 9, 7:30 fri., oct. 16, 7 fri., oct. 23, 7:30

at rockridge fulton at morrison kewanee* erie-p’town* princeton* at sherrard* at hall* at st. bede*

* three rivers mississippi game homecoming: week 6

Good Lucck

10-2 6-4 1-8 0-9 6-4 3-6 2-7 8-3 6-4

radio: 102.7 FM

195 180 145 180 150 150 155 130 130 180 170 185 250 190 215 265 220 200 240 210 255 210 175 210 230 250 175 170 125 170

so. sr. jr. jr. sr. sr. sr. so. so. jr. sr. jr. jr. jr. sr. sr. jr. sr. sr. jr. jr. sr. jr. jr. sr. jr. jr. sr. jr. jr.

back back back back back back back back back back back back back end back line line line line line line line line line line line end end end end

did you know?

• the comets are one of six schools with five state titles. the other teams are montini, maine south, stillman valley, rochester and sacred heart-griffin.

Good Luck Newman!

Newman Comets Rock Falls Rockets Sterling Warriors Dixon Dukes and all other surrounding area football teams!

2014

returning starters in bold 11 landen vesley 6-2 12 logan whitman 5-10 14 ryan noble 5-10 17 eli leffelman 6-0 20 hunter webb 6-3 23 garrett stringer 5-8 24 eli monier 6-0 31 cade bianchi 5-7 32 easton bianchi 5-7 34 aaron scroggins 5-11 35 brady rude 5-8 41 jacob heiderscheit 6-2 42 nate olson 6-1 44 zach rice 5-10 45 kyle decker 6-1 50 jarod brauman 6-0 51 zach brauman 6-3 52 victor francque 6-2 54 rhett scroggins 6-0 55 jacob rhodes 5-10 63 james phelps 6-3 66 max oswalt 6-0 68 jacob neisewander 5-11 71 tom moore 5-11 75 maxwell grove 6-0 77 kalen smith 5-10 81 john wilson 6-0 85 hunter schultz 6-1 88 john ackert 5-11 89 jacob garland 5-11

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August 27, 2015 • Sauk Valley Media

PAGE 37

FB15 GUIDE

CLINT KNOWS ... FOOTBALL & DRAMA

Performing his part in every play Thespian Merlak enjoys role of making holes on Marcos’ offensive line

BY PATRICK MASON | pmason@saukvalley.com | 800-798-4085, ext. 5550 | @pm222 wo years ago, a shiny Clint Merlak found himself traveling down a winding road in search of a heart. Merlak’s own heart was just fine, but his character – the Tin Man – was in desperate need.

Man. He has participated in eight plays so far, including two his freshman year and three each during his sophomore and junior years.

The Marcos senior has learned valuable lessons on the stage that he takes with him in life, and onto the football field.

“Drama club gives me really good social skills,” Merlak said. “It just helps with that. You have to interact with people and say lines in front of an audience. It helps take down some barriers, and helps me be a leader on stage and on the field.

“Everyone’s got to do their jobs, like in anything else.”

With Merlak playing a

T

Merlak is a senior at Polo, and plays a crucial role on the Marcos’ bruising offensive line.

His 6-foot, 4-inch frame carries 295 pounds with ease, something quarterback Brody Grobe is thankful for.

“Us guys in the backfield really appreciate the guys on our line,” Grobe said. “It’s real nice that they have size, and can get out and make athletic plays as well. They’re a huge part of what we’re trying to do here.”

While Merlak spends a bulk of his time in the weight room preparing for football, he also spends good chunks of his day rehearsing his roles in plays that the drama club puts on each year.

The club puts on three plays or musicals each school year, and Merlak can be found in each one.

GOOD LUCK ALL AREA TEAMS!

SHOP

ONLINE Michael Krabbenhoeft/mkrabbenhoeft@saukvalley.com

When not on the football field, Polo senior Clint Merlak enjoys being a part of school plays. Merlak says that being in plays and musicals helps him with social skills, and learning how to be part of a team.

His favorite role came during his sophomore year, when he played the Tin Man in Polo’s rendition of the Wizard of Oz. The drama club is something Merlak has long been interested in, following in his siblings’

and mother’s footsteps, as they all participated in the drama club in high school.

Merlak is soft-spoken, taking time to answer questions thoughtfully.

It’s the complete opposite of what he does on

the football field, where he pancakes defenders without so much as a second thought.

But off the field and on the stage, Merlak takes time in learning his roles, some minor, and others large – such as the Tin

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role in the club’s productions each year, the commitments with sports make for long days at school. Sometimes he is there until 9 p.m. working on lines or hammering down a dance or song. Add that to his football requirements, and he’s at the school for more than 14 hours.

But the long days give him a chance to make friends he wouldn’t normally encounter, which makes the hours worth it.

“I talked to a lot of people there in drama,” Merlak said. “Some don’t do sports and aren’t athletic, but I’m friends with them and friends with guys on the team. I’m a friend to everybody.”

PAGE 38

FB15 GUIDE

Sauk Valley Media • August 27, 2015

FRANCISCO KNOWS ... FOOTBALL, BAND & WRESTLING

Marching during game, at half Rock Falls senior knows rhythm he learns in band helps keep team in tune

BY CODY CUTTER | ccutter@saukvalley.com | 800-798-4085, ext. 5555 | @CodyCutter35

F

rancisco Arellano takes multi-tasking very seriously. The Rock Falls senior works with two of his extra-curricular interests during the same time on two different days of the week.

During the first half of Friday home games, Arellano is busy creating holes from his offensive tackle position. Then come halftime, the shiny chrome-green helmet gets tossed aside for a shiny brass trombone.

Handling opposing linemen through B-gap or C-gap is no different from handling a trombone on routes in a marching drill.

“In football, I have a commitment where I help protect our backfield,”

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Arellano said. “It leads to when I’m playing my trombone; I’m helping the band sound better, and making us look better when we’re doing our marching.”

Teamwork is no hard concept for Arellano, who also participates in wrestling – his major sport – and track and field for RFHS, and detassels over the summer.

Wrestling, he says, helps on his reaction time, and points out many small things that he can work on. Establishing form in the throwing events helps him hit opposing linemen better.

What does seem like a bit of a struggle is the balance between band and football on a typical Wednesday.

“We have band rehearsal from after school until 5, and then I also have football practice,” Arellano said. “So I have to cut right in between, so I’m missing out on parts of both band and football.”

Even still, the temporary absence of one of head coach Rich Montgomery’s senior linemen during a football practice session, or a halftime pep talk,

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Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@saukvalley.com

Rock Falls’ Francisco Arellano stays busy, especially in the fall when he starts on the Rockets’ line and marches at halftime with a trombone in the band. doesn’t seem to diminish Arellano’s skills in either activity. Especially during a change of scenery surrounding Rockets football over the summer.

“A three-sport person is always our ultimate goal,” said Montgomery, who is also the school’s activities director.

“When you throw in an extra-curricular involvement – band, or anything – that’s just awesome.

“I don’t think people realize the time and the pressure it puts on the young man.”

One week in July, RFHS had football camp and band camp going on in the same week. Thankfully for Arellano, the early morning detasseling was in its last week.

“After that, I’d go to band camp,” Arellano said. “I’d be marching around,

learning the drill. Then I would have to go lift [weights]. And by then, I was already starting to get tired. Then at the end of the day, I’d have football.”

Eventually, the balance, and running around between the two activity commitments, becomes second nature as the weeks fly by.

What also becomes a tough task to handle is playing the trombone while wearing football pads. The pads prevent Arellano from handling the trombone upward, and thus makes it difficult to project the sound across Hinders Field.

“In band, we are a group,” Arellano said. “We have to play our notes together to make the right sounds. It’s just like in a football play, when we all have to do our parts so that an opening can happen, and we can score.”

August 27, 2015 • Sauk Valley Media

PAGE 39

FB15 GUIDE

oregon hawks head coach • 107-72 (.598) • 12 playoff appearances

2014

• 6-5 overall • 4-3 bnc west (tied for 4th place)

2014 results hawks 13, johnsburg 7 north boone 36, hawks 21 hawks 40, rock falls 0 dixon 40, hawks 15 lutheran 42, hawks 14 byron 23, hawks 13 hawks 26, winnebago 20 hawks 21, mendota 17 hawks 14, stillman 7 3A playoffs hawks 30, raby 22 newman 50, hawks 12

2014 by numbers

points scored: 219 point score avg.: 19.9 points allowed: 264 points allowed avg.: 24.0 playoff teams faced: 7 at home: 4-2 on road: 3-2

roster

team notebook

john bothe

• 17th season at oregon

conference: big northern west enrollment: 449 projected class: 3A

jerrick orsted chats about hawks team strength: running the ball. having the big guys up front is going to help a lot. working on: trying to help the guys out around me as much as i can. watch out for this guy: john ghibellini. he’s worked his butt off all summer for this season. can’t wait to play: byron, because there’s a big rivalry there, and it would feel good to beat them once in a while.

2014 stat leaders Rushing Att. Yds garrett rude 164 797 brayton finch 99 483 john ghibellini 84 373 Passing C-A-I Yds jerrick orsted 16-52-4 312 Receiving Rec. Yds chris jordan 6 92 josh cook 5 126 maverik good 3 63

team win report 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

•

• 4-5

8-3 8-3

•• • •• • 6-5 6-4

TD 6 TD 1 4 1

schedule

12-1

••

TD 14 5 1

7-4

6-5 6-5

2-7

’05 ’06 ’07 ’08 ’09 ’10 ’11 ’12 ’13 ’14

Game time

Opponent

fri., aug. 28, 7 fri., sept. 4, 7 fri., sept. 11, 7 fri., sept. 18, 7 fri., sept. 25, 7 fri., oct. 2, 7 fri., oct. 9, 7 fri., oct. 16, 7 fri., oct. 23, 7

at johnsburg 9-2 north boone 5-5 at rock falls* 0-9 dixon* 8-3 at lutheran* 11-1 at byron* 8-5 at winnebago* 2-7 mendota* 6-4 stillman valley* 2-7

* big northern west game homecoming: week 4

2014

radio: 95.7 FM

returning starters in bold 12 caid chenoweth 5-10 15 andrew newman 6-4 18 jerrick orsted 6-4 20 jensen melville 5-11 21 will rice 6-1 22 devin dehaan 6-1 25 tyler burke 6-2 28 nathan clark 5-10 29 maverik good 5-8 31 caleb mennen 5-11 34 john ghibellini 6-0 35 terry page 6-0 36 brayton finch 6-2 48 sawyer foss 6-2 53 cole burke 5-9 56 shane mowry 5-11 57 matthew stevens 5-8 60 kole mowry 6-1 64 jacob cox 5-9 65 anthony marchetti 5-11 67 jacob helfrick 5-9 75 austin wolber 5-10 77 matt crandall 6-0 85 connor hopkins 6-0

185 180 180 160 160 175 210 160 170 180 190 170 195 175 190 240 202 200 190 235 170 215 285 160

jr. jr. sr. sr. jr. jr. sr. jr. sr. jr. sr. jr. sr. jr. sr. jr. sr. jr. jr. jr. jr. jr. sr. jr.

qb/db qb/db qb/db te/db rb/db rb/de te/de rb/lb rb/lb rb/lb rb/lb rb/lb rb/lb te/dl ol/dl ol/dl ol/de ol/lb ol/de ol/dl ol/de ol/dl ol/dl te/de

did you know?

• in their past five playoff appearances, the hawks have been eliminated by either newman or aurora christian. oregon lost to newman in 3A secondround games in 2009 (9-0) and in 2014 (50-14). the hawks lost to aurora christian 38-0 in 2010, 34-21 in 2011, and 49-20 in 2013.

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PAGE 40

Sauk Valley Media • August 27, 2015

FB15 GUIDE

polo marcos head coach

conference: nuic upstate enrollment: 196 projected class: 1A

roster

team notebook

andrew hofer

• 5th season at polo • 16-22 (.421) • 1 playoff appearance

juan dominguez chats about marcos team strength: our speed and our explosiveness. working on: we need to work on the little things, like knowing gap assignments and zone responsibilities so it’s second nature. watch out for this guy: dylan beers. he’s good, explosive, and strong as heck. can’t wait to play: aquin. it’s our homecoming, and we lost to them last year. we want revenge.

2014

• 8-3 overall • 7-1 nuic upstate (tied for 1st place)

2014 results marcos 40, e. dubuque 14 marcos 44, afc 12 marcos 59, stockton 36

2014 stat leaders Rushing Att. brody grobe 84 dylan beers 54 brooks grobe 33 Passing C-A-I brody grobe 71-126-8 Receiving Rec. brad cavanaugh 30 richie bartnick 24 austin webb 6

Yds TD 667 11 352 8 329 4 Yds TD 1,387 19 Yds TD 655 11 406 5 103 1

marcos 52, milledgeville 27

aquin 63, marcos 40 epc 45, marcos 28 marcos 55, orangeville 0 marcos 53, river ridge 0 marcos 40, warren 0 1A playoffs marcos 42, marquette 20

team win report 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

stark county 49, marcos 12

2014 by numbers

points scored: 465 point score avg.: 42.3 points allowed: 266 points allowed avg.: 24.2 playoff teams faced: 6 at home: 4-1 on road: 4-2

• 5-5

•• • • 7-3

8-4

7-3

6-4

schedule

• • •• • 4-5

1-8

8-3

4-5

3-6

’05 ’06 ’07 ’08 ’09 ’10 ’11 ’12 ’13 ’14

Game time

Opponent

fri., aug. 28, 7:30 fri., sept. 4, 7:30 fri., sept. 11, 7:30 fri., sept. 18, 7:30 fri., sept. 25, 7:30 fri., oct. 2, 7 fri., oct. 9, 7:30 fri., oct. 16, 7 fri., oct. 23, 7:30

at river ridge* 1-8 durand* 4-5 at stockton* 7-3 at epc 14-0 warren* 5-5 at milledgeville* 3-6 aquin* 7-3 at afc* 3-6 orangeville* 0-9

2014

* nuic upstate game homecoming: week 7

returning starters in bold 2 richie bartnick 5-11 3 mathew cheeseman 6-0 5 brad cavanaugh 6-3 10 brody grobe 5-11 11 tristan aguilar 5-11 13 wyatt patterson 6-4 15 jake simpson 5-10 18 randal gabaldon 5-9 20 michael fulton 5-10 22 berto dominguez 5-7 23 brooks grobe 5-10 24 jesse ditzler 5-8 25 reid taylor 6-0 28 braxton stamm 5-7 34 dylan beers 5-10 50 caleb aguilar 6-1 51 ethan cain 5-9 52 fabian calderon 5-8 54 matthew binkley 5-8 55 juan dominguez 6-1 57 mitch boothe 6-1 60 jj bardell 5-9 62 keegan garman 6-0 65 noah prerost 5-10 67 luke peterson 6-0 70 ben peterson 5-9 73 brodie cromer 6-0 79 clint merlak 6-4 80 bailey wiemken 6-1

180 165 175 185 175 190 160 160 155 145 175 165 170 160 205 180 180 165 180 215 235 165 210 220 200 180 220 295 170

sr. jr. sr. sr. jr. sr. jr. so. jr. so. sr. sr. so. sr. sr. jr. sr. jr. jr. sr. sr. jr. sr. sr. so. jr. jr. sr. so.

te/db te/db rb/lb qb/lb rb/lb te/dl te/dl qb/db rb/dl rb/db rb/lb rb/db rb/lb rb/db rb/lb ol/dl ol/dl ol/lb ol/lb ol/lb ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl te/dl

did you know?

• the marcos did not win a playoff

game between 1985-2007, losing 11 first-round games in a row. polo advanced to the quarterfinals in 2008.

We’re Behind You! Good Luck Marcos & All Area Teams!

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POLO O

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August 27, 2015 • Sauk Valley Media

PAGE 41

FB15 GUIDE

STERLING KNOWS ... FOOTBALL & BASKETBALL

Sterling’s eyes on next shot, play Thornton a dual threat as a football player and as an athlete at SHS

BY BRIAN WEIDMAN | bweidman@saukvalley.com | 800-798-4085, ext. 5551 | @BrianWeidman

F

or Sterling Thornton, opportunity is always right around the corner. On the football field, that might mean eluding some tacklers and getting to the edge to cut upfield to gain big yardage.

On the basketball court, that might mean losing his man around a screen before hoisting up a silky smooth jump shot. Either way, Thornton, a Sterling High School senior, wants the rock in his hands.

“In basketball, you have to have a mindset, with shooting, you have to have a ‘next play’ mindset,” said Thornton, who stuffed the stat sheet with 12.9 points, 4.8 rebounds,

HERE’S TO A GREAT SEASON!

1.9 assists and 1.4 steals per game as a junior. “It’s just like that in football.

Every play is a new play. In football, you have to be physical, and that helps me be physical on the basketball court.”

The 6-foot, 180-pound Thornton immerses himself in his two sports of choice. His summer was filled with open gyms at Musgrove Fieldhouse, lifting weights, and players-only sessions at Roscoe Eades Stadium in which he tossed footballs to a host of receivers.

It was all in the name of being as prepared as possible for his final year of high school sports.

“When we’re not working out for football, I try to get into the gym as much as I can, just to keep a ball in my hands,” Thornton said, “and stay as sharp as possible.”

For now, football garners most of his attention. He played some as a sophomore, then emerged as one of the top

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Sterling Thornton is a dual threat on the football field. He can burn teams with his arm and with his legs. He is also a dual threat in terms of sports, as he’ll also be one of the top basketball players in the area. players in the area as a junior when he rushed for 1,255 yards and 22 touchdowns, and passed for 989 yards and six more scores.

As he went, so went the Golden Warriors. He also realized setting an example for teammates was part of the deal.

“Being the quarterback, you’re the leader of the offense, and you have to stay up no matter what,” Thornton said, “but you can’t get too high, because the game will get away from you. You have to stay even-keeled.”

When pushed, Thornton noted basketball is his favorite sport by a slight margin, but that doesn’t diminish playing under the Friday night lights one bit.

“I have a special place in my heart for football,” Thornton said. “It’s big in this town, and I enjoy playing it in front of everybody.”

Sterling football coach Jon Schlemmer is glad Thornton, a returning all-conference and all-area performer, does his thing for the Golden Warriors. He spoke of how his QB improved his footwork and arm strength in the offseason, making him even more dangerous.

Opposing coaches are sure to have many a headache deciding how to defend Thornton.

“As a defensive coordinator, you don’t know what to do,” Schlemmer said.

“You’ve got to pick your poison with him.”

PAGE 42

Sauk Valley Media • August 27, 2015

FB15 GUIDE

STEPHEN KNOWS ... FOOTBALL & CHOIR

Melodious rumble of Thunder Santeramo believes conditioning for football makes him better singer

BY CODY CUTTER | ccutter@saukvalley.com | 800-798-4085, ext. 5555 | @CodyCutter35 ith all of West Carroll’s recent success in the IHSA state music sweepstakes, just how much of it was accomplished because of time spent in the weight room?

W

Seems strange, but Thunder senior wide receiver and defensive back Stephen Santeramo attributes much of his success in singing in the school choir to conditioning.

“You’ve got to have good lungs to be in choir,” Santeramo said. “Conditioning all of the time makes your lung capacity grow.”

Santeramo is a second-level bass, the lowest vocal range of the singing voice type, below baritone, tenor, and countertenor. Besides hitting football players on the field, he also hits the lowest notes of a song.

“I’m not kind of there yet, but I’m supposed to be there,” Santeramo said.

In particular, the closings of each song will feature a gradual bass exit. Kind of like following through on plays.

“At the end of the song, you always have to sing that low note,” Santeramo said. “That’s what kind of brings the ending together. Without it, it’s just got no feeling to it.”

Santeramo’s choir beginnings came in eighth grade, following in the footsteps of his older sister, Samantha. Aside from participation in basketball and baseball, Santeramo is also active in Spanish club, FCCLA (Family Career and Community Leaders of America), and the school musical – recently playing a guard and other extras in West Carroll’s production of Shrek, the Musical.

“I’m down for whatever choir stuff there is,” Santeramo said. “There’s madrigal choir and jazz choir. I’ll do whatever it takes to make the choir better.”

Michael Krabbenhoeft/mkrabbenhoeft@saukvalley.com

Hitting the weight room isn’t the first thing most people think about when considering how to prepare for a vocal performance. West Carroll’s Stephen Santeramo will tell you that the conditioning he puts in to get ready for the football season gets his lungs ready to belt out tunes as a member of the West Carroll choir.

Being involved with music has its perks, including trips to a Cubs game, Cedar Point Amusement Park, and a Blue Man Group performance.

Perhaps more in tune with the opposite end of the extra-curricular spectrum is the dodgeball contests between members of the chorus and members of the band – who greatly outnumber that of the choir.

“In choir, having good times and stuff makes me want to have a good time on the football field,” Santeramo said. “I want to bring the hopes and feelings up with my

teammates, and just have a good time.”

Santeramo decided that this year would be his first taking part in the IHSA music sweepstakes competition.

West Carroll has back-to-back Class B state runner-up finishes in the past two sweepstakes, with the vocal corps taking fourth place in the class. Three years ago, the Thunder won the Class B state championship, beating state music powerhouse Herscher.

So far, West Carroll’s only taste of football accolades comes in the form of

three playoff appearances, from 2005 to 2007 – and the last championship coming with Mt. Carroll’s 1988 Northwest 8 conference crown.

With many new changes put forth by first-year coach Matt Leitzen, Santeramo and the Thunder are hoping to turn around their football successes once and for all.

“Being a leader on the team, you’ve got to be loud,” Santeramo said. “Being in choir, you’ve got to sing loud. It just kind of works together like that.”

August 27, 2015 • Sauk Valley Media

PAGE 43

FB15 GUIDE

By the numbers: 2014 final leaders

Dylan Binion Erie-P’town senior

Brady Rude Newman senior

Sterling Thornton Sterling senior

Drake Davis Bureau Valley sophomore

Brody Grobe Polo senior

Noah Junis Rock Falls senior

Kyle LeBlanc Dixon senior

Brighton Haverland

EPC junior

Cole McClary Fulton junior

Dallas Appleman Amboy senior

David Zinke AFC senior

Andy Bird Morrison senior

RETURNING PLAYERS IN BOLD RUSHING YARDS Dylan Binion, Erie-P’town Brady Rude, Newman Sterling Thornton, Sterling Nolan McGinn, Newman Walter Ollie, EPC Donny Groezinger, EPC Chris Jones, Amboy Dillan Heffelfinger, Newman Cody Mighell, Dixon Aaron Ritenour, West Carroll Garrett Rude, Oregon Eric Schaney, EPC Tyler Sweenie, Fulton Brody Grobe, Polo Jordan Chandler, Erie-P’town David Zinke, AFC Michael Pidde, Fulton Jake Hageman, AFC JD Gieson, Dixon Phillip Coers, Erie-P’town Jordan Harris, M’ville Trey Simmons, Fulton Brayton Finch, Oregon Keegan Schubert, EPC

Att. 194 138 254 105 121 137 215 137 131 175 164 162 141 84 58 80 138 131 119 72 88 98 99 67

PASSING YARDS Yds. 1,631 1,548 1,255 1,241 1,104 1,032 952 932 866 816 797 691 686 667 637 585 569 563 555 511 508 499 483 460

TD 23 24 22 18 18 14 8 15 8 8 14 14 10 11 7 3 4 6 9 9 9 8 5 4

C-A-I Drake Davis, BV 94-162-10 JD Gieson, Dixon 131-247-12 Deven Heeren, EPC 99-163-10 Brody Grobe, Polo 71-126-8 Noah Junis, Rock Falls 96-212-17 Jordan Harris, M’ville 99-206-11 Sterling Thornton, Sterling 72-159-6 Jake Mammosser, Rock Falls 54-118-9 Logan Whitman, Newman 21-45-5 Jacob Hilliker, AFC 22-59-1 Jerrick Orsted, Oregon 16-52-4 Donny Groezinger, EPC 19-35-0 Tyler Sweenie, Fulton 20-41-0 Mason Sitzmore, Morrison 22-52-2 Phillip Coers, Erie-P’town 11-26-2 Joey Brackemyer, Morrison 16-53-3 Liam Ohlendorf, Amboy 6-27-5 Parker Neuhalfen, BV 9-24-1 Drake Barlow, Amboy 9-26-2 Nathan Gascoigne, Dixon 14-27-0 Kody Plattenberger, W. Carroll 10-25-2 Ethan Mangler, West Carroll 8-39-5 Dylan Keller, Morrison 2-4-0 Josh Mead, BV 1-2-1

RECEPTIONS Yds. TD 1,828 21 1,820 24 1,548 17 1,387 19 1,302 6 1,152 11 989 6 733 3 424 8 330 4 312 6 310 4 272 5 257 1 205 3 148 0 141 1 135 0 131 0 118 0 115 2 99 0 90 1 84 1

Rec. Connor Cain, Rock Falls 69 Cody Kluck, EPC 53 Matt Coffey, Dixon 51 Kyle LeBlanc, Dixon 48 Parker Neuhalfen, BV 37 Brad Cavanaugh, Polo 30 Turner Morse, Sterling 30 Tommy Johnston, BV 28 Brighton Haverland, EPC 28 Blake Kappes, M’ville 27 Tanner Dean, Rock Falls 27 Richie Bartnick, Polo 24 Buddy Bibler, M’ville 24 Jake Mammosser, Rock Falls 24 Walter Ollie, EPC 22 Zach Schmidt, M’ville 20 Donny Groezinger, EPC 18 Cayden Roberts, Rock Falls 18 Ryan Webb, Dixon 16 Josh Mead, BV 13 Will Konneck, BV 12 Joe Gennaro, M’ville 11 Jordan Asbury, Sterling 11 Nick Devito, M’ville 10

TACKLES Yds. 1,071 605 672 932 976 655 321 553 501 568 275 406 247 239 382 178 186 170 140 161 127 137 104 54

TD 7 12 10 11 12 11 2 7 5 5 1 5 3 1 1 1 2 0 1 0 2 2 1 0

Solo Austin Shoup, Erie-P’town 33 Cody Mighell, Dixon 26 Cole McClary, Fulton 59 Jack Heflin, Erie-P’town 33 Brady Rude, Newman 60 Kevin Kurz, AFC 52 Kegan North, Fulton 42 Matt Crandall, Oregon 28 Mason Sitzmore, Morrison 60 Noah Blacklock, Morrison 75 Quinton Douglas, Dixon 32 Garrett Rude, Oregon 33 Josh Mead, BV – Alex Gillis, Fulton 34 Dallas Appleman, Amboy 16 Aaron Scroggins, Newman 37 Dalton Ibarra, AFC 22 Juan Dominguez, Polo – Drake Barlow, Amboy 20 Frank Lung, Oregon 14 Andy Bird, Morrison 50 Ethan Cain, Polo – Brad Cavanaugh, Polo – Austin Fischer, EPC 46

SACKS Ast. Total 98 131 77.5 103.5 49 98 65 98 37 97 47 97 50 92 63 91 30 90 14 89 48 80 45 78 – 78 43 77 61 77 39 76 54 76 – 76 55 75 59 73 22 72 – 71 – 68 21 67

Dan Troutman, Dixon Jacob Barnes, Newman Ethan Cain, Polo Quinton Douglas, Dixon Dalton Kepner, BV Diante Sanders, Dixon Bryan Dewey, AFC Baily Queckboerner, M’ville Shayne Allen, Newman Max Oswalt, Newman Blaine Peterson, BV Aaron Scroggins, Newman Connor Sperling, Dixon Regan Todhunter, Newman David Zinke, AFC

INTERCEPTIONS Walter Ollie, EPC Richie Bartnick, Polo Triston Houzenga, Morrison Trevor Bolin, Newman Brad Cavanaugh, Polo Chris Jordan, Oregon Dvaree Thompson, Erie-P’town JD Gieson, Dixon

Community is More than Part of Our Name Good luck to all area teams on your upcoming season!

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PAGE 44

Sauk Valley Media • August 27, 2015

FB15 GUIDE

rock falls rockets head coach

rich montgomery • 6th season at rock falls

• first since 1996 • 13-34 (.277) • 1 playoff appearance

2014

• 0-9 overall • 0-7 bnc west (8th place)

2014 results harvard 41, rockets 0 marengo 45, rockets 14 oregon 40, rockets 0 byron 55, rockets 20 winnebago 40, rockets 22 stillman 38, rockets 20 mendota 47, rockets 8 dixon 48, rockets 8 lutheran 63, rockets 14

2014 by numbers

points scored: 106 point score avg.: 11.8 points allowed: 421 points allowed avg.: 46.8 playoff teams faced: 5 at home: 0-4 on road: 0-5

roster

team notebook blake claxton chats about rockets one difference from last year: a lot better enthusiasm. what will it take to improve: working harder in the weight room. watch out for this guy: i’d say watch out for dejuan reyes on the defensive line. a lot of people underestimate him. he’s pretty quick. can’t wait to play: sterling. i feel like people think we’re going to lose, and i don’t think we are.

2014 stat leaders Rushing Att. Yds TD braeden westfall 115 402 3 bailee rosalez 22 129 2 jake mammosser 43 27 0 Passing C-A-I Yds TD 96-212-17 1,302 6 noah junis jake mammosser 54-118-9

••••

•

5-4

3-6

2-7

2-7 2-7

1-8

•

schedule

1-8

•• • • 0-9

3-6

0-9

’05 ’06 ’07 ’08 ’09 ’10 ’11 ’12 ’13 ’14

Game time

Opponent

fri., aug. 28, 7:15 fri., sept. 4, 7 fri., sept. 11, 7 fri., sept. 18, 7 fri., sept. 25, 7 fri., oct. 2, 7 fri., oct. 9, 7 fri., oct. 16, 7 fri., oct. 23, 7

sterling marengo oregon* at byron* winnebago* at stillman* at mendota* dixon* at lutheran*

* big northern west game homecoming: week 5

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jr. wr/db sr. qb/wr/db sr. qb/db sr. rb/lb sr. wr/db jr. rb/db jr. qb/db jr. wr/lb jr. wr/db sr. rb/lb sr. te/lb jr. ol/lb jr. wr/db jr. rb/dl sr. te/lb sr. rb/dl so. ol/dl jr. ol/lb jr. ol/lb jr. ol/dl jr. ol/dl sr. ol/dl so. ol/dl sr. ol/dl sr. ol/lb jr. ol/dl sr. wr/db sr. wr/db

did you know?

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August 27, 2015 • Sauk Valley Media

PAGE 45

FB15 GUIDE

sterling golden warriors head coach

conference: nib-12 west enrollment: 1,008 projected class: 5A

roster

team notebook

jon schlemmer

• 4th season at sterling • 18-12 (.600) • 2 playoff appearances

2014

• 7-4 overall • 3-1 nib-12 west (2nd place)

2014 results metamora 29, warriors 14

warriors 37, w. young 13 warriors 32, rich so. 12

sam wike chats about warriors team strength: defense is probably our biggest strength. our strength and agility has gone up, and we’ll be ready to face whatever offenses throw at us. working on: moving sideline to sideline – we can be quicker. watch out for these guys: sterling thornton, our whole defense, turner morse, jacob heffelfinger, jordan asbury – we’ve got a lot of returning guys.

warriors 28, morris 27, ot warriors 32, lasalle-peru 0

warriors 28, ottawa 14 geneseo 30, warriors 20 warriors 21, rochelle 6 sycamore 21, warriors 18 5A playoffs warriors 31, b. central 20 w. marian 38, warriors 17

2014 by numbers

points scored: 278 point score avg.: 25.3 points allowed: 210 points allowed avg.: 19.1 playoff teams faced: 6 at home: 5-1 on road: 2-3

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at rock falls 0-9 united township 0-9 at alleman 5-5 at morris 7-5 lasalle-peru* 0-9 at ottawa* 2-7 geneseo* 12-1 at rochelle* 3-6 sycamore 7-5

* nib-12 west game homecoming: week 5

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Receiving Rec. turner morse 30 jordan asbury 11 brandon dennis 7

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Yds TD 1,255 22 419 7 319 2

sterling thornton 72-159-6 989

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Rushing Att. sterling thornton 254 rafael escalante 81 brandon dennis 74 Passing C-A-I

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2014 stat leaders

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returning starters in bold 1 jordan asbury 2 sterling thornton 3 jacob heffelfinger 4 christopher brouilette 5 reid blackburn 6 samuel mcinerney 7 antonio diaz 8 trey morse 9 brayden reyes 10 micah kendrick 11 grant jacoby 12 turner morse 13 keegan kaye 18 trevor king 22 braden garza 23 charles larry 25 latrell vaughn 27 jaime briseno 29 adrian diaz 30 andrew spaulding 32 treay martin 34 marcus shetter 35 adrian stidsen 40 gage anderson 42 ethan sensor 44 tyson hall 45 nolan sullivan 50 kurt anderson 51 jacob martinez 52 cariel beasley 53 ethan manson 54 kyle beer 55 sam wike 59 brady hall 61 tyler willman 64 esteban sosa 65 michael eberhardt 67 leon ramos 68 pedro rodriguez 71 max goss 72 martiniano lopez 73 eduardo luna 75 cristian rosas 80 jaeden adami 81 kaleb kaprelian 82 ian casten 84 turner garcia 85 eduardo cortes 86 aaron mccann

6-1 6-0 5-8 5-9 6-4 5-9 5-8 6-0 5-3 6-1 5-7 5-10 5-8 6-2 5-10 5-8 5-6 5-10 5-11 6-1 6-0 5-11 6-2 6-0 6-0 5-8 6-1 5-11 6-1 6-3 6-0 5-9 5-11 5-9 6-3 6-1 5-7 5-10 5-11 6-1 5-7 5-8 5-8 6-0 6-3 5-9 6-2 5-10 5-11

160 180 170 160 170 170 160 165 135 165 160 155 165 170 205 150 160 175 195 170 180 170 225 175 175 170 190 205 220 245 165 200 235 185 225 215 210 185 225 220 160 230 285 180 190 140 160 170 140

sr. sr. sr. so. jr. jr. jr. so. so. so. sr. jr. jr. jr. sr. sr. so. sr. jr. jr. jr. so. so. jr. jr. jr. so. sr. sr. sr. jr. sr. sr. jr. so. sr. so. sr. so. jr. jr. jr. sr. sr. sr. jr. so. sr. sr.

wr/db qb/db wr/db qb/lb wr/db wr/db k qb/db rb/db wr/db wr/db wrdb rb/lb wr/db h/lb rb/lb rb/lb rb/lb h/lb rb/lb h/de wr/lb h/de te/de te/lb h/lb te/lb ol/de ol/de ol/dt ol/lb ol/lb ol/lb ol/dt ol/dt ol/dt ol/dt ol/dt ol/dt ol/dt ol/lb ol/dt ol/dt wr/db te/de wr/lb wr/db wr/db wr/db

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PAGE 46

Sauk Valley Media • August 27, 2015

FB15 GUIDE

west carroll thunder

conference: nuic northwest enrollment: 341 projected class: 2A

head coach • 1st season at w. carroll • 0-0 (.000) • 0 playoff appearances

2014

• 1-8 overall • 1-7 nuic northwest (tied for 7th place)

2014 results epc 62, thunder 0 east dubuque 52, thunder 14

forreston 66, thunder 0 le-win 50, thunder 0 dakota 60, thunder 14

south beloit 36, thunder 14

thunder 39, pecatonica 28 galena 48, thunder 6 durand 41, thunder 20

2014 by numbers

points scored: 107 point score avg.: 11.9 points allowed: 443 points allowed avg.: 49.2 playoff teams faced: 5 at home: 1-4 on road: 0-4

roster

team notebook

matt leitzen

ethan mangler chats about thunder big difference this year: the whole team has put in a lot more time than in the previous years. what it will take to improve: everyone’s going to have to be here and put in everything they have. watch out for this guy: kody plattenberger (sophomore quarterback). he’s got all of our plays down, and everyone seems to go with him. can’t wait to play: basically anyone.

2014 stat leaders Rushing Att. aaron ritenour 175 jake miller 36 stephen santeramo 13 Passing C-A-I

••• 5-5

5-5

6-5

schedule

1-8

4-5

2-7

3-6

2 0

Receiving Rec. Yds TD luke jones 5 69 1 stephen santeramo 5 66 1

••••• • • 3-6 3-6

Yds TD

kody plattenberger10-25-2 115 ethan mangler 8-39-5 99

team win report 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0

Yds TD 816 8 217 1 206 2

3-6

’05 ’06 ’07 ’08 ’09 ’10 ’11 ’12 ’13 ’14

Game time

Opponent

fri., aug. 28, 7 fri., sept. 4, 7:30 fri., sept. 11, 7 fri., sept. 18, 7 fri., sept. 25, 7:30 fri., oct. 2, 7:30 fri., oct. 9, 7 fri., oct. 16, 7:30 fri., oct. 23, 7:15

dakota* 6-5 at epc* 14-0 south beloit* 2-7 pecatonica* 1-8 at forreston* 13-1 durand 4-5 at east dubuque* 5-4 at galena* 10-3 lena-winslow* 8-4

* nuic northwest game homecoming: week 6

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2014

returning starters in bold 1 austin mallow 5-8 2 logan barker 5-6 3 ethan mangler 5-11 5 logan lomas 5-11 7 stephen santeramo 5-9 8 carlos rodriguez 6-1 9 kody plattenberger 5-8 10 kaleb plattenberger 5-7 20 connor sipe 5-5 21 jake miller 6-0 24 jacob dunk 5-10 25 salvador magana 5-11 34 kaleb hartman 5-10 36 eric lashelle 5-11 38 devon murray 5-7 51 justin appel 6-3 56 karson metz 5-8 58 brandon kaufman 6-0 59 dean holm 5-9 66 anthony barr 5-9 67 cody sturtevant 6-0 68 alex haring 6-0 71 michael kinder 5-6 72 livtar dandona 6-1 74 josh anderson 5-9 80 preston yenney 6-0 81 matt eacker 5-9 83 clayton storjohann 6-0 84 mitchell glazier 5-11 88 luke jones 6-2

145 150 190 185 150 160 170 155 120 180 145 160 155 210 145 190 180 230 200 250 190 210 315 250 270 185 135 155 140 190

jr. jr. sr. jr. sr. so. so. so. so. sr. so. sr. so. sr. so. jr. so. jr. so. sr. sr. sr. jr. sr. jr. sr. so. sr. so. jr.

wr/db rb/lb rb/lb te/lb wr/db wr/db qb/db qb/db wr/db rb/lb wr/db wr/db rb/db rb/lb rb/lb ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl ol/dl te/db wr/db wr/db wr/db te/de

did you know?

• leitzen is the fourth head coach

since 2003. he follows brandon farrell (2003-07), dave baisden (2008-10), and michael bicksler (2011-14).

August 27, 2015 • Sauk Valley Media

FB15 GUIDE

By the numbers Key digits concerning Sauk Valley teams for 2015

256

57

1

That’s how many teams will make the IHSA playoff field. Those 256 teams will be divided into eight classes by enrollment, with the largest schools in 8A, then decreasing with each class.

Newman and Riverdale will not meet in a regularseason game for the first time in 57 years. The two first played in the latter’s first season in the Illowa Conference. They helped form the Three Rivers Conference 15 years later.

The Dixon Dukes already have a victory without one ball being snapped in a game for the 2015 season. The Dukes’ Week 1 opponent, Chicago Clemente, was forced to forfeit because of low numbers.

16

81

17

The 1A-6A playoff fields will be split into two 16-team brackets based on geography. Each 16-team field will be seeded 1 to 16, eliminating regional quadrants of the past. Classes 7A & 8A will be seeded 1-32.

Wooden Shoe Bowl rivals Morrison and Fulton will meet for the 81st time in Week 6 at Bud Cole Field. Morrison leads the all-time series 55-25. Fulton broke a 10-game losing streak to Morrison last year.

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With Forreston and Eastland-Pearl City both winning state championships last fall, that runs the number of state titles won by current NUIC schools to 17. The Three Rivers has the next most in the area with 14.

PAGE 47

PAGE 48

Sauk Valley Media • August 27, 2015

FB15 GUIDE

Preseason All-Area Team Sauk Valley Media picks 24 players to watch this fall Dallas Appleman Amboy Senior • FB/LB Clippers’ backbone will be go-to guy in the offensive backfield and the team’s most experienced linebacker. Appleman rushed for 415 yards and 6 TDs in 2014, second only to Chris Jones on the team.

He led team with 77 tackles.

Dylan Binion

Richie Bartnick

Cariel Beasley

Polo Senior • TE/DB

Sterling Senior • OL/DT

Bartnick trailed only Brad Cavanaugh on the Marcos in receptions with 24. Five of those went for touchdowns. Bartnick used those good hands on defense, finishing behind only EPC’s Walter Ollie in the area with five interceptions.

Every good team needs an anchor on the offensive and defensive lines. Beasley fills that role for the Golden Warriors. Sterling will run behind him a lot on offense, and opposing teams will find the going tough in the middle of the line.

Brad Cavanaugh

Drake Davis

Erie-Prophetstown Senior • FB/LB

Polo Senior • RB/DB

Bureau Valley Sophomore • QB/DB

Binion led the area in 2014 with 1,631 yards on 194 carries. The three-sport star finished with 23 touchdowns. Expect him to get near 200 touches again this season, and to approach the 2,000-yard mark. He also had 41 tackles.

Cavanaugh is one of the many dangerous weapons that will be featured for a second straight season in the Marcos’ offense. He had a team-best 30 receptions for 655 yards and 11 TDs in 2014. He also had 68 tackles and 3 interceptions.

Davis stepped into the starting quarterback role for the highpowered Storm offense last season and wound up leading the Sauk Valley with 1,828 passing yards and 21 TDs. The added experience should pay dividends this season.

Juan Dominguez

Brayton Finch

Alex Gillis

Polo Senior • OL/DL

Oregon Senior • RB/LB

Fulton Junior • OL/DL

Dominguez is as sure of a tackler as the Marcos have, after leading the team with 76 a year ago. He’ll remain a force on a defense that should get plenty of help from an explosive offense. He’ll help that offense by opening holes on the line.

Finch should become the feature back in the Hawks’ grind-it-out offense, taking the reins from the graduated Garrett Rude. Finch rushed for 483 yards and 5 TDs in 2014. He also had 49 tackles from his linebacker spot.

On a team with ample amounts of skill-position talent, Gillis will be one of the guys that will pave the way for big plays. He’ll also be a key cog on the defensive line. Last year, he served that purpose well with 77 tackles and a sack.

Brody Grobe

Brighton Haverland

Jack Heflin

Polo Senior • QB/LB

Eastland-Pearl City Junior • TE/LB

Erie-Prophetstown Senior • OL/DL

Grobe is a dual threat as the Marcos’ quarterback. In 2014, he passed for 1,387 yards and 19 TDs. When he wasn’t throwing, he didn’t mind tucking the ball under his arm and picking up tough yards on the ground. He had 677 rushing yards.

The 2A champs lost a lot of key players from their 14-0 campaign, but Haverland is one of the fixtures returning for EPC. The 6-5 tight end is a matchup problem for defenses. He caught 28 passes for 501 yards a year ago.

Heflin is among a number players for the Panthers with a couple of years of starting experience. That knowledge, combined with talent, should make him one of the best linemen in the area in 2015. He had 98 tackles in 2014.

August 27, 2015 • Sauk Valley Media

PAGE 49

FB15 GUIDE

Preseason All-Area Team Sauk Valley Media picks 24 players to watch this fall Will Konneck

Kyle LeBlanc

Cole McClary

Bureau Valley Senior • RB/DB

Dixon Senior • WR/LB

Fulton Junior • RB/LB

With receiving threats like Parker Neuhalfen and Tommy Johnston graduated, the Storm could turn to Konneck and the running game more this season. He led the Storm in rushing in 2014 with 426 yards and six TDs.

LeBlanc caught 48 passes for a team-best 932 yards and 11 TDs as one of the many threats in the 2014 Dixon offense. The Dukes will rely on him to make more big plays in 2015, as the offense gets a facelift with several new players.

Teams found out last year that if you ran in McClary’s direction, there was a good chance that the play wasn’t going to have much success. McClary is tied with E-P’s Jack Heflin as returning players with the most tackles at 98.

Turner Morse

Kegan North

Max Oswalt

Sterling junior • WR/DB

Fulton Senior • LB

Newman Senior • OL/DL

The brother of former Sterling standout Tanner Morse, Turner made an impact for the Warriors on both sides of the ball as a sophomore. He was one of the players that put in extra work this summer, in hopes of improving passing game.

North and Cole McClary form the beginnings of a strong defense, as the pair of linebackers combined for 190 tackles a year ago. Fulton should put up lots of points this season, and North should help those leads stand up.

It’s no secret that the Comets are going to run over the opposition.

The only way that works is if they have guys in the trenches who push their counterparts around. Oswalt did that last year, and there’s little doubt he’ll do the same again.

Brady Rude

Aaron Scroggins

Rhett Scroggins

Newman Senior • RB/LB

Newman Junior • LB

Newman Senior • OL/DL

Rude won SVM player of the year honors last year as a junior, and he’ll be the front-runner to earn it again in 2015. He rushed for 1,548 yards and 24 TDs in a loaded Comet backfield last year, and led Newman with 97 tackles.

The only Comet with more tackles than Scroggins last year was Brady Rude. The two form a potent linebacking corps that made life rough on opposing offenses. The two should wreak havoc again this year in the Three Rivers Mississippi.

Here’s another reason why the Comets appear not to be rebuilding, but simply reloading from an 11-1 campaign. Scroggins and Max Oswalt are the building blocks for the Comets’ offensive and defensive lines.

Tyler Sweenie

Sterling Thornton

Braeden Westfall

Fulton Junior • QB/LB

Sterling Senior • QB

Rock Falls Senior • RB/LB

Sweenie will be directing what should be one of the more potent offenses in the area. It’ll be his decision to hand the ball off to one of his talented backfield mates, or to keep it himself. He rushed for 686 yards and 10 TDs in 2014.

Perhaps the biggest threat to Brady Rude’s player of the year repeat, Thornton was the third-leading rusher in the area last year with 1,255 yards and 22 TDs. He also has a strong arm also, throwing for 989 yards, and expects to improve.

A change in offensive system at Rock Falls should suit Westfall just fine. He showed flashes last season of being a potential workhorse, but the Rockets didn’t run the ball enough for his entire repertoire to be displayed.

PAGE 50

Sauk Valley Media • August 27, 2015

FB15 GUIDE

Games of the week Here are the week-by-week destination games in the Sauk Valley Week 1 Sterling at Rock Falls

Week 2 Fulton at Newman

Week 3 Polo at Stockton

Week 4 Dixon at Oregon

When: 7:30 p.m., Aug. 28 Where: Hinders Field, Rock Falls Radio: 94.3 FM, 1240 AM Streak: Sterling 2 Last meeting: 1994, Sterling 53, Rock Falls 0 Breakdown: The Rockets and Warriors are slated to meet for the first time in 20 years. The two schools that are separated by about 3 miles share very different histories in football. Rock Falls is coming off an 0-9 season that included the strange departure of former coach Scott Berge, and has not made the playoffs since 1992 – the first year of current coach Rich Montgomery’s first tenure guiding the Rockets – and the last time the Rockets beat Sterling. The Warriors have been a perennial playoff team the last 20 years, with four quarterfinal appearances.

When: 7:30 p.m., Sept. 5 Where: Roscoe Eades Stadium, Sterling Radio: 1390 AM, 102.7 FM Streak: Newman 8 Last meeting: 2014, Newman 52, Fulton 6 Breakdown: Fulton returns a bulk of its players from a 1A playoff appearance, and it will be a good test for the Steamers against a team that went to the quarterfinals in 3A. The Steamers’ last win over Newman came in Week 9 of the 2007 season, but then they had to play the Comets again in the first round of the playoffs – a game which Fulton lost.

Newman starts off the year on the road against a good Rockridge team, and it should be tested again in Week 2. The two tough games should help them put a stunning playoff loss to Byron in the past.

When: 7:30 p.m., Sept. 11 Where: Stockton High School Radio: None Streak: Polo 1 Last meeting: 2014, Polo 59, Stockton 36 Breakdown: The Marcos knocked off the NUIC Upstate power last season, and they will be looking to cement their spot at the top of the division by doing it again, this time in Stockton. Polo returns a dangerous batch of skill position players who rightly feel like they can make a deep run in the 1A playoffs. Facing Stockton early in the season will give them a good test. Stockton will want to reassert its position as the top team in the division, and most likley will try to control the ball to keep Polo’s offense off the field.

When: 7 p.m., Sept. 18 Where: Landers-Loomis Field, Oregon Radio: 1460 AM, 95.7 FM Streak: Dixon 1 Last meeting: 2014, Dixon 40, Oregon 15 Breakdown: The Dukes entered the Big Northern last season with high hopes, and exceeded those by earning a playoff berth for the first time since 2006.

Along the way, they handed the Hawks one of their most lopsided losses of the season. It started a three-game losing streak for Oregon, forcing it to win its final three games to make the playoffs.

Both teams ended up advancing one round in the playoffs before being eliminated. Each team lost some key players from 2014, but both should fight for a top spot in the BNC West.

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August 27, 2015 • Sauk Valley Media

PAGE 51

FB15 GUIDE

Games of the week Here are the week-by-week destination games in the Sauk Valley Week 5 Erie-Prophetstown at Newman

Week 6 Oregon at Byron

Week 7 Geneseo at Sterling

Week 8 Dixon at Rock Falls

Week 9 Stillman Valley at Oregon

When: 7:30 p.m., Sept. 25 Where: Roscoe Eades Stadium, Sterling Radio: 102.7 FM Streak: Newman 12 Last meeting: 2014, Newman 46, Erie-Prophetstown 15 Breakdown: These two teams have met for some wild games the last 3 years, and this one should match those. It seems likely the winner of this game will be the front-runner for the Three Rivers Mississippi division title. It will also be a matchup between the two leading rushers from a year ago in E-P’s Dylan Binion and Newman’s Brady Rude.

When: 7 p.m., Oct. 2 Where: Byron High School Radio: 95.7 FM Streak: Byron 1 Last meeting: 2014, Byron 23, Oregon 13 Breakdown: These two geographic rivals have alternated wins over the last six meetings.

Before that, Oregon had won four meetings in a row. Both the Hawks and Tigers finished the 2014 campaign on high notes, with Oregon rallying to make the 3A playoffs and winning a game, while Byron upset top-seeded Newman in the quarterfinals before falling in the semifinal round.

When: 7:30 p.m., Oct. 9 Where: Roscoe Eades Stadium, Sterling Radio: 94.3 FM Streak: Geneseo 2 Last meeting: 2014, Geneseo 30, Sterling 20 Breakdown: The traditional belief in the NIB-12 (and former NCIC Reagan) is that the winner of the Sterling vs. Geneseo game was going to be the conference champion. With Sterling returning their starting QB, Sterling Thornton, the Warriors have good reason to feel they could pick up their first win over their biggest rivals since the 2012 season.

When: 7 p.m., Oct. 16 Where: Hinders Field, Rock Falls Radio: 1460 AM, 1240 AM Streak: Dixon 2 Last meeting: 2014, Dixon 48, Rock Falls 8 Breakdown: The Dukes won the first meeting in 10 years with the Rockets last season.

The Rockets hope to follow a similiar script to the Dukes, who have steadily improved under coach Dave Smith. The Rockets have a new coaching staff and a new “old school” philosophy, which they hope will make them more competitive in the Big Northern.

When: 7 p.m., Oct. 23 Where: Landers-Loomis Field, Oregon Radio: 95.7 FM Streak: Oregon 1 Last meeting: 2014, Oregon 14, Stillman Valley 7 Breakdown: Stillman Valley missed the 2014 playoffs, a rarity for a school with five state championships. By the end of the season, the Cardinals had started to push playoff-level teams, including Oregon. The Hawks had lost the five previous meetings with Stillman Valley. With the BNC West being tough again this year, a playoff berth could be on the line here.

Good Luck to All Area Teams!

815-625-2395

1514 W. 4th Street, Sterling (815) 625-5949

PAGE 52

Sauk Valley Media • August 27, 2015

FB15 GUIDE

SVM Wall of Fame Celebrating the past accomplishments of local players, coaches and teams SVM PLAYERS AND COACHES OF YEAR

Top 100 team records in Illinois history School

1. East St. Louis 2. Chicago Mount Carmel 3. Tuscola 4. Arcola 5. Wheaton Warrenville South 6. Carthage Illini West 7. Champaign Central 8. Chicago Wilmette Loyola 9. Geneseo 10. Rock Island 11. Joliet Catholic 12. Oak Park-River Forest 13. Bloomington 14. Moline 15. Chicago Lane 16. Normal Community 16. Peoria 18. Naperville Central 19. Morris 20. St. Rita 20. Mt. Carmel 22. Carlinville 23. Casey-Westfield 24. Auburn 25. Greenfield-Northwestern 26. Danville 27. Sterling 28. Sacred Heart-Griffin 29. Stockton 30. DuQuoin 31. Mercer County 32. Pontiac 33. Boylan 34. Harrisburg 35. Robinson 36. Springfield 37. LaSalle-Peru 37. Newman 39. Pittsfield-Griggsville-Perry 40. New Trier 41. Monticello 42. Taylorville 43. Ottawa 44. Evanston 45. Pekin 45. Georgetown-Ridge Farm 47. Rochelle 48. Aurora West 49. Marshall 49. Fenwick 51. Elgin 51. Lyons 53. Belleville West 53. Murphysboro 55. North Mac 55. Stark County 57. Morrison 58. E.P.-Gridley 59. Hall 60. Staunton 61. Aurora East 61. Peoria Manual 59. Taylorville 63. Pana 64. Hillsboro 64. Benton 66. Glenbard West 66. Washington 66. Metamora 69. Carbondale 70. Alton 70. Bloomington C.C. 72. Johnston City 73. Belvidere 74. Leroy 74. Harvey Thornton 74. Kankakee McNamara 74. Tolono Unity 78. Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley 78. Flora 80. Macomb 81. Rockford West 82. Monmouth-Roseville 82. Bureau Valley* 84. Geneva 84. Chicago Robeson 86. Jacksonville 86. Galesburg (H.S.) 86. Hinsdale Central 89. Urbana 90. Chicago Morgan Park 91. Harvard 92. Carmi White County 93. Hononegah 94. Lake Forest (H.S.) 95. Barrington 96. St. Teresa 97. West Hancock Co-op 97. Jacksonville Routt 97. Chenoa 100. St. Bede

Years

1925-2014 1924-2014 1895-2014 1894-2014 1912-2014 1895-2014 1894-2014 1909-2014 1915-2014 1899-2014 1920-2014 1891-2014 1897-2014 1893-2014 1908-2014 1897-2014 1890-2014 1910-2014 1900-2014 1908-2014 1920-2014 1913-2014 1921-2014 1909-2014 1899-2014 1904-2014 1899-2014 1930-2014 1919-2014 1928-2014 1910-2014 1895-2014 1911-2014 1902-2014 1897-2014 1897-2014 1898-2014 1925-2014 1896-2014 1915-2014 1914-2014 1907-2014 1893-2014 1925-2014 1893-2014 1909-2014 1907-2014 1893-2014 1910-2014 1932-2014 1890-2014 1917-2014 1916-2014 1914-2014 1912-2014 1912-2014 1900-2014 1915-2014 1920-2014 1911-2014 1893-2014 1911-2014 1912-2014 1909-2014 1898-2014 1915-2014 1923-2014 1923-2014 1946-2014 1921-2014 1904-2014 1925-2014 1921-2014 1911-2014 1915-2014 1926-2014 1932-2014 1942-2014 1910-2014 1913-2014 1902-2014 1891-1988 1893-2014 1925-2014 1921-2014 1925-2014 1899-2014 1906-2014 1919-2014 1908-2014 1925-2014 1922-2014 1899-2014 1922-2014 1935-2014 1924-2014 1930-2014 1922-2014 1922-2014 1920-2004 1920-2014

2014

W-L-T

744-193-36 716-232-31 682-326-46 681-334-39 680-264-28 664-304-54 661-346-42 652-353-42 646-289-19 642-398-46 642-294-23 637-384-38 622-408-51 621-399-44 620-296-30 614-347-35 614-428-60 612-313-19 605-356-31 604-300-35 604-284-31 594-313-42 593-293-21 591-322-26 584-404-40 581-442-35 578-355-44 576-243-23 569-274-34 567-296-30 559-306-26 552-376-45 551-435-25 550-400-28 549-381-39 548-425-45 542-416-35 542-296-31 540-358-32 536-291-19 534-351-32 533-384-44 531-410-43 530-253-20 529-426-39 529-360-50 527-378-36 526-490-59 520-332-33 520-296-11 518-498-62 518-314-30 517-394-33 517-319-33 516-345-35 516-389-35 512-377-25 506-354-36 505-356-24 504-386-41 501-535-58 501-424-44 499-374-39 500-417-41 497-388-34 497-418-27 495-310-39 495-332-33 495-187-14 494-364-18 492-453-38 492-337-34 491-374-28 490-420-31 489-404-23 489-294-19 489-259-24 489-204-8 486-390-33 486-379-22 483-403-29 482-313-51 479-524-28 479-301-18 478-341-27 478-315-29 477-493-41 477-461-40 477-327-25 476-431-46 475-333-33 470-313-29 467-450-54 466-308-20 465-248-15 464-304-30 462-315-28 458-333-15 458-270-18 455-267-21 454-364-28

Credit: Ken Varney, Illinois High School Glory Days illinoishsglorydays.com * Includes season records from school prior to consolidation.

2013

Player: Brady Rude, Newman jr. RB/LB

Player: Nick Williams, Erie-Prophetstown sr. FB

Coach: Randy Asche, EPC

Coach: Mike Papoccia, Newman

2012

2011

Player: Brian Bahrs, Newman sr. FB/LB

Player: Alejandro Rivera, Sterling sr. RB/LB

Coach: Chuck Milem, Erie-P’town

Coach: Cory Bielema, Morrison

2009

2010 Player: Joe Blessman, Newman sr. FB/LB

Player: Josh Vos, Morrison sr. FB/LB

Coach: Mike Papoccia, Newman

Coach: Cory Bielema, Morrison

2008

2007

Player: Nick Snyder, Oregon sr. RB/LB

Player: Jake Hermes, Sterling sr. RB/DB

Coach: Gary Hartje, Milledgeville

Coach: Gary Jones, Amboy

Sauk Valley single-season stat leaders | 2005-2014 Rushing Year 2009 2013 2006 2008 2013 2006 2008 2006 2014 2010 2009 2014 2009 2009 2006 2010 2005

Player Josh Vos Nick Williams Daniel Saunders Cody Richardson Jake Snow Nick Vandermyde Matt Scholl Garrett Barnas Dylan Binion Joe Blessman Alex Maurer Brady Rude Michael Weidner Cody Richardson Mike Ridgway Tim Wilson Chaz Josephsen

School Morrison Erie-P’town Amboy Amboy Newman Morrison Polo Bureau Valley Erie-P’town Newman EPC Newman Bureau Valley Amboy Dixon Newman AFC

Att. 262 262 289 252 185 215 250 148 194 189 219 138 186 238 216 193 114

Yds. 2,115 2,097 1,994 1,905 1,756 1,715 1,647 1,644 1,631 1,561 1,552 1,548 1,519 1,436 1,423 1,396 1,380

TD 31 24 23 22 30 22 20 20 23 21 17 24 20 14 12 23 X

Receptions

Passing (Minimum 1,000 yards passing) Year 2012 2013 2014 2014 2010 2010 2008 2011 2005 2009 2014 2006 2010 2006 2013 2014

Player Jacob Mammosser Jacob Mammosser Drake Davis JD Gieson Justin Pitzer Danny Dennehey Carson Walker Danny Dennehey Garrett Barnas Tyler Renkes Deven Heeren Jared Shellhause Dylan Koeppen Garrett Barnas JD Gieson Brody Grobe

School Rock Falls Rock Falls Bureau Valley Dixon AFC Morrison EPC Morrison Bureau Valley Fulton EPC EPC Rock Falls Bureau Valley Dixon Polo

C-A-I 180-268-8 227-385-9 94-162-10 131-247-12 127-286-23 91-186-4 115-208-131 96-168-7 75-125-11 140-251-13 99-163-10 108-205-10 114-209-10 67-127-6 113-231-13 71-126-8

Year

Yds. 2,485 2,226 1,828 1,820 1,773 1,734 1,694 1,679 1,657 1,580 1,548 1,480 1,458 1,444 1,425 1,387

TD 23 21 21 24 18 21 21 14 15 13 17 12 15 15 8 19

2013 2014 2012 2014 2012 2013 2012 2014 2012 2007 2014 2007 2005 2008 2007 2013 2014 2010

Player

School

Rec. Yds. TD

Austin Donoho Rock Falls 87 Connor Cain Rock Falls 69 Jordan Harris Milledgeville 56 Cody Kluck EPC 53 Alex Leaf Rock Falls 52 Daegan Wharff Rock Falls 52 Steven Armoska Rock Falls 51 Matt Coffey Dixon 51 Austin Babcock Rock Falls 50 Randy Whitmore Fulton 50 Kyle LeBlanc Dixon 48 Tim Jacobs Rock Falls 47 Teddy Swan West Carroll 44 Cole Miller EPC 44 Anthony Wells Amboy 43 Matt Coffey Dixon 38 Parker Neuhalfen Bureau Valley 37 Nate Fahs AFC 37

887 8 1,071 7 695 4 605 12 628 6 599 6 792 10 672 10 622 3 593 7 932 11 600 2 831 X 493 4 959 16 462 2 976 12 470 3

August 27, 2015 • Sauk Valley Media

PAGE 53

FB15 GUIDE

Record Forecast Sauk Valley Media’s sports staff picks how all 15 local teams will finish the regular season Amboy

AFC

BV

Dixon

EPC

E-P

Fulton

M’ville

Morr.

Newman

Oregon

Polo

RF

Sterling

WC

Cody Cutter

4-5

5-4

4-5

5-4

6-3

7-2

7-2

4-5

2-7

8-1

5-4

9-0

3-6

6-3

3-6

Patrick Mason

3-6

4-5

4-5

7-2

2-7

7-2

6-3

2-7

1-8

8-1

5-4

9-0

1-8

7-2

3-6

Ty Reynolds

3-6

5-4

4-5

6-3

5-4

8-1

6-3

2-7

2-7

9-0

5-4

9-0

1-8

7-2

1-8

Brian Weidman

4-5

6-3

5-4

7-2

6-3

8-1

7-2

3-6

2-7

9-0

6-3

9-0

2-7

7-2

1-8

Dan Woessner

3-6

5-4

4-5

8-1

4-5

8-1

6-3

2-7

2-7

9-0

6-3

9-0

1-8

7-2

2-7

Luck Of The Irish

To All Area High School Football Teams!

218 Locust St. Sterling www.kellysinc.com 625-7969 (for carryout)

“The Friendly Place to Eat & Drink”

Good luck to all area teams!

WAHL CLIPPER CORPORA RATION 2900 N. Locust St., Sterling, IL 815.625.6525

Featuring Fine Mexican Food And American Favorites!

PAGE 54

Sauk Valley Media • August 27, 2015

FB15 GUIDE

2015 Master Schedule When and where to see or hear your favorite team each week Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Friday, Aug. 28

Friday, Sept. 4

Friday, Sept. 11

• Oregon at Johnsburg, 7 (95.7 FM) • Dakota at West Carroll, 7 (100.3 FM) • Sterling at Rock Falls, 7:30 (94.3 FM, 1240 AM) • Erie-Prophetstown at Bureau Valley, 7:30 (98.1 FM) • Newman at Rockridge, 7:30 (102.7 FM) • Hall at Fulton, 7:30 (1390 AM) • Kewanee at Morrison, 7:30 • St. Bede at Amboy, 7:30 (101.7 FM) • AFC at Forreston, 7:30 • Milledgeville at Durand, 7:30 • Polo at River Ridge, 7:30 • Eastland-Pearl City at Lena-Winslow, 7:30

Saturday, Aug. 29 • Dixon at Chicago Clemente, (Clemente forfeit)

• Dixon at Burlington Central, 7 (1460 AM) • Marengo at Rock Falls, 7 (1240 AM) • North Boone at Oregon, 7 (95.7 FM) • United Township at Sterling, 7:15 (94.3 FM) • Orion at Erie-Prophetstown, 7:30 • Amboy at Sherrard, 7:30 (101.7 FM) • Bureau Valley at St. Bede, 7:30 (98.1 FM) • Morrison at Princeton, 7:30 • Aquin at Milledgeville, 7:30 • AFC at Warren, 7:30 • Durand at Polo, 7:30 • West Carroll at Eastland-Pearl City, 7:30 (100.3 FM)

Saturday, Sept. 5 • Fulton at Newman, 7:30 (102.7 FM, 1390 AM)

Week 4

Week 5

Friday, Sept. 18

Friday, Sept. 25

• Dixon at Oregon, 7 (1460 AM, 95.7 FM) • Rock Falls at Byron, 7 (1240 AM) • Orangeville at Milledgeville, 7 (100.3 FM, delay) • Pecatonica at West Carroll, 7 • Sterling at Morris, 7:30 (94.3 FM) • Amboy at Erie-Prophetstown, 7:30 (101.7 FM) • Kewanee at Newman, 7:30 (102.7 FM) • Bureau Valley at Orion, 7:30 (98.1 FM) • Morrison at Rockridge, 7:30 • Riverdale at Fulton, 7:30 (1390 AM) • Aquin at AFC, 7:30 • Polo at Eastland-Pearl City, 7:30

Week 7 Friday, Oct. 9 • Oregon at Winnebago, 7 (95.7 FM) • Rock Falls at Mendota, 7 (1240 AM) • Stillman Valley at Dixon, 7 (1460 AM) • AFC at River Ridge, 7 • Milledgeville at Stockton, 7 (100.3 FM) • South Beloit at Eastland-Pearl City, 7 • West Carroll at East Dubuque, 7 • Geneseo at Sterling, 7:30 (94.3 FM) • Kewanee at Erie-Prophetstown, 7:30 • Newman at Sherrard, 7:30 (102.7 FM) • Fulton at Bureau Valley, 7:30 (1390 AM, 98.1 FM) • Orion at Morrison, 7:30 • Rockridge at Amboy, 7:30 (101.7 FM) • Aquin at Polo, 7:30

• Mendota at Dixon, 7 (1460 AM) • Oregon at Lutheran, 7 (95.7 FM) • Winnebago at Rock Falls, 7 (1240 AM) • AFC at Durand, 7 • Milledgeville at River Ridge, 7 (100.3 FM) • LaSalle-Peru at Sterling, 7:30 (94.3 FM) • Amboy at Bureau Valley, 7:30 (101.7 FM, 98.1 FM) • Fulton at Princeton, 7:30 (1390 AM) • Morrison at Riverdale, 7:30 • Warren at Polo, 7:30 • Eastland-Pearl City at Galena, 7:30 • West Carroll at Forreston, 7:30

Saturday, Sept. 26 • Erie-Prophetstown at Newman, 7:30 (102.7 FM)

Week 8 Friday, Oct. 16 • Dixon at Rock Falls, 7 (1460 AM, 1240 AM) • Mendota at Oregon, 7 (95.7 FM) • Dakota at Milledgeville, 7 • Polo at AFC, 7 • Sterling at Rochelle, 7:30 (94.3 FM) • Erie-Prophetstown at Princeton, 7:30 • Newman at Hall, 7:30 (102.7 FM) • Morrison at Amboy, 7:30 (101.7 FM) • Riverdale at Bureau Valley, 7:30 (98.1 FM) • Rockridge at Fulton, 7:30 (1390 AM) • Eastland-P.C. at Forreston, 7:30 (100.3 FM) • West Carroll at Galena, 7:30

Lutheran at Dixon, 7 (1460 AM) • Oregon at Rock Falls, 7 (95.7 FM, 1240 AM) • Milledgeville at AFC, 7 • South Beloit at West Carroll, 7 (100.3 FM, delay) • Newman at Morrison, 7:30 (102.7 FM) • Sherrard at Erie-Prophetstown, 7:30 • Bureau Valley at Rockridge, 7:30 (98.1 FM) • Fulton at Orion, 7:30 (1390 AM) • Riverdale at Amboy, 7:30 (101.7 FM) • Polo at Stockton, 7:30 • Eastland-P.C. at Pecatonica, 7:30 (100.3 FM) • Sterling at Alleman, 7:45 (94.3 FM) •

Week 6 Friday, Oct. 2 • Dixon at Winnebago, 7 (1460 AM) • Oregon at Byron, 7 (95.7 FM) • Rock Falls at Stillman Valley, 7 (1240 AM) • Orangeville at AFC, 7 • Polo at Milledgeville, 7 • Sterling at Ottawa, 7:30 (94.3 FM) • Princeton at Newman, 7:30 (102.7 FM) • Bureau Valley at Sherrard, 7:30 (98.1 FM) • Fulton at Morrison, 7:30 (1390 AM) • Orion at Amboy, 7:30 (101.7 FM) • Dakota at Eastland-Pearl City, 7:30 • Durand at West Carroll, 7:30 (100.3 FM, delay)

Saturday, Sept. 26 • Erie-Prophetstown at St. Bede, 2

Week 9 Friday, Oct. 23 • Byron at Dixon, 7 (1460 AM) • Rock Falls at Lutheran, 7 (1240 AM) • Stillman Valley at Oregon, 7 (95.7 FM) • AFC at Stockton, 7 • Warren at Milledgeville, 7 (100.3 FM) • East Dubuque at Eastland-P.C., 7 (100.3 FM, delay) • Lena-Winslow at West Carroll, 7:15 • Sycamore at Sterling, 7:30 (94.3 FM) • Hall at Erie-Prophetstown, 7:30 • Newman at St. Bede, 7:30 (102.7 FM) • Amboy at Fulton, 7:30 (101.7 FM, 1390 AM) • Bureau Valley at Morrison, 7:30 (98.1 FM) • Orangeville at Polo, 7:30

August 27, 2015 • Sauk Valley Media

PAGE 55

FB15 GUIDE

Illinois state champions 1974-2014

Class 1A

1974 – Flanagan (12-0) 1975 – Triopia (13-0) 1976 – Hampshire (13-0) 1977 – Genoa-Kingston (13-0) 1978 – Arcola (11-1) 1979 – Hampshire (13-0) 1980 – Atwood (14-0) 1981 – Aquin (13-0) 1982 – Ziegler-Royalton (12-0) 1983 – Yorkwood (13-0) 1984 – Routt (13-0) 1985 – Arcola (14-0) 1986 – Aquin (12-2) 1987 – Bloomington C.C. (12-2) 1988 – Arcola (13-1) 1989 – Orangeville (12-2) 1990 – Newman (12-2) 1991 – Stockton (14-0) 1992 – Calhoun (14-0) 1993 – Calhoun (13-1) 1994 – Newman (14-0) 1995 – Carthage (14-0) 1996 – Chenoa (12-2) 1997 – Galena (14-0) 1998 – Carthage (14-0) 1999 – Carthage (14-0) 2000 – Carthage (14-0) 2001 – Wethersfield (13-1) 2002 – South Beloit (13-1) 2003 – Galena (11-3) 2004 – Alexis United (13-1) 2005 – Aquin (13-1) 2006 – Tuscola (14-0) 2007 – Galena (14-0) 2008 – Triopia (14-0) 2009 – Tuscola (11-3) 2010 – Lena-Winslow (13-1) 2011 – Dakota (12-2) 2012 – Maroa-Forsyth (13-1) 2013 – Lena-Winslow (11-3) 2014 – Forreston (13-1)

Class 2A

1974 – St. Teresa (13-0) 1975 – St. Teresa (13-0) 1976 – Fulton (13-0) 1977 – Mahomet-Seymour (12-1) 1978 – Stockton (12-1) 1979 – St. Teresa (12-1) 1980 – Schlarman (13-0) 1981 – Schlarman (12-1) 1982 – Bloomington C.C. (12-1) 1983 – Woodstock Marian (13-0) 1984 – Amboy (13-0) 1985 – Casey-Westfield (14-0) 1986 – Woodstock Marian (12-2) 1987 – Woodstock Marian (13-1) 1988 – Carlyle (14-0) 1989 – Woodstock Marian (14-0) 1990 – Seneca (14-0) 1991 – Fulton (14-0) 1992 – Richmond-Burton (11-3) 1993 – Coal City (14-0) 1994 – Rockridge (12-2) 1995 – Hampshire (12-2) 1996 – LeRoy (14-0) 1997 – Central A&M (14-0) 1998 – Aledo (12-2) 1999 – Stillman Valley (12-2) 2000 – Stillman Valley (14-0) 2001 – Aledo (13-1) 2002 – Aledo (14-0) 2003 – Iroquois West (13-1) 2004 – Newman (13-1) 2005 – Dakota (14-0) 2006 – Maroa-Forsyth (14-0) 2007 – Dakota (14-0) 2008 – Immaculate Conception (10-4) 2009 – Morrison (14-0) 2010 – Newman (14-0) 2011 – Morrison (13-1) 2012 – Mercer County (14-0) 2013 – Newman (13-1) 2014 – Eastland-Pearl City (14-0)

Class 3A

1974 – West Chicago (13-0) 1975 – Metamora (13-0) 1976 – Geneseo (13-0) 1977 – Geneseo (12-1) 1978 – Geneseo (13-0) 1979 – Mascoutah (13-0) 1980 – Morris (12-1) 1981 – Mount Carmel (13-0) 1982 – Bishop McNamara (12-0) 1983 – Monmouth (12-1) 1984 – Anna-Jonesboro (12-1) 1985 – Bishop McNamara (14-0) 1986 – Bishop McNamara (11-3) 1987 – Bishop McNamara (12-2) 1988 – DuQuoin (14-0) 1989 – Althoff (13-1) 1990 – Althoff (13-0) 1991 – Driscoll (14-0) 1992 – DuQuoin (14-0) 1993 – Pontiac (13-1) 1994 – Bloomington C.C. (13-1) 1995 – Hall (13-1) 1996 – Carterville (14-0) 1997 – Kaneland (14-0) 1998 – Kaneland (14-0) 1999 – Byron (14-0) 2000 – Harrisburg (14-0) 2001 – Hall (13-1) 2002 – Immaculate Conception (13-1) 2003 – Stillman Valley (13-1) 2004 – Driscoll (12-2) 2005 – Bureau Valley (14-0) 2006 – Plano (14-0) 2007 – Plano (13-1) 2008 – Illini West (14-0) 2009 – Stillman Valley (14-0) 2010 – Illini West (14-0) 2011 – Aurora Christian (13-1) 2012 – Aurora Christian (13-1) 2013 – Stillman Valley (12-2) 2014 – Wilmington (14-0)

Class 4A

1974 – Rockford East (13-0) 1975 – Joliet Catholic (13-0) 1976 – Joliet Catholic (12-1) 1977 – Joliet Catholic (13-0) 1978 – Joliet Catholic (13-0) 1979 – Wheaton North (12-1) 1980 – Althoff (12-1) 1981 – Wheaton North (13-0) 1982 – Geneseo (12-1) 1983 – Woodstock (11-2) 1984 – Morris (13-0) 1985 – Washington (13-1) 1986 – Tinley Park (12-2) 1987 – Providence (13-1) 1988 – Richards (14-0) 1989 – Richards (14-0) 1990 – Joliet Catholic (14-0) 1991 – Providence (14-0) 1992 – Oswego (13-1) 1993 – Chicago Heights Marian (14-0) 1994 – Belvidere (12-2) 1995 – Providence (14-0) 1996 – Providence (14-0) 1997 – Providence (13-1) 1998 – Glenwood (14-0) 1999 – Joliet Catholic (14-0) 2000 – Joliet Catholic (14-0) 2001 – Driscoll (12-2) 2002 – Driscoll (13-1) 2003 – Driscoll (14-0) 2004 – Montini (13-1) 2005 – Driscoll (14-0) 2006 – Driscoll (13-1) 2007 – Driscoll (14-0) 2008 – Bloomington C.C. (14-0) 2009 – Metamora (13-1) 2010 – Rochester (14-0) 2011 – Rochester (12-2) 2012 – Rochester (13-1) 2013 – Rochester (13-1) 2014 – Rochester (12-2)

Class 5A

1974 – Glenbrook North (12-0) 1975 – Deerfield (13-0) 1976 – St. Laurence (13-0) 1977 – East Leyden (13-0) 1978 – St. Rita (13-0) 1979 – East St. Louis (12-0) 1980 – Chicago Mt. Carmel (13-1) 1981 – Joliet Catholic (13-0) 1982 – Guilford (13-0) 1983 – Glenbard West (13-0) 1984 – Richwoods (13-0) 1985 – Rockford East (11-3) 1986 – Wheaton North (13-1) 1987 – Joliet Catholic (12-2) 1988 – Richwoods (14-0) 1989 – Chicago Mt. Carmel (13-1) 1990 – Chicago Mt. Carmel (14-0) 1991 – Chicago Mt. Carmel (12-2) 1992 – Wheaton Warrenville South (14-0) 1993 – Belvidere (14-0) 1994 – Providence (14-0) 1995 – Maine South (12-2) 1996 – Chicago Mt. Carmel (14-0) 1997 – Woodstock (14-0) 1998 – Chicago Mt. Carmel (14-0) 1999 – Chicago Mt. Carmel (13-1) 2000 – Chicago Mt. Carmel (13-1) 2001 – Joliet Catholic (13-1) 2002 – Providence (14-0) 2003 – Joliet Catholic (13-1) 2004 – Joliet Catholic (14-0) 2005 – Sacred Heart-Griffin (14-0) 2006 – Sacred Heart-Griffin (14-0) 2007 – Metamora (14-0) 2008 – St. Francis (13-1) 2009 – Montini (10-4) 2010 – Montini (12-2) 2011 – Montini (12-2) 2012 – Montini (12-2) 2013 – Sacred Heart-Griffin (14-0) 2014 – Sacred Heart-Griffin (14-0)

Class 6A

1980 – Gordon Tech (12-1) 1981 – Brother Rice (11-2) 1982 – Reavis (12-1) 1983 – East St. Louis (13-0) 1984 – East St. Louis (13-0) 1985 – East St. Louis (14-0) 1986 – Buffalo Grove (14-0) 1987 – Hersey (12-2) 1988 – Chicago Mt. Carmel (14-0) 1989 – East St. Louis (14-0) 1990 – Thornton (12-2) 1991 – East St. Louis (13-1) 1992 – Naperville North (12-2) 1993 – Loyola (12-2) 1994 – Homewood-Flossmoor (13-1) 1995 – Wheaton Warrenville South (12-2) 1996 – Wheaton Warrenville South (13-1) 1997 – Lincoln-Way (14-0) 1998 – Wheaton Warrenville South (14-0) 1999 – Naperville Central (14-0) 2000 – Maine South (13-1) 2001 – Providence (14-0) 2002 – Chicago Mt. Carmel (13-1) 2003 – Mundelein Carmel (14-0) 2004 – Providence (13-1) 2005 – Morris (14-0) 2006 – Normal (14-0) 2007 – Joliet Catholic (13-1) 2008 – Sacred Heart-Griffin (13-1) 2009 – Cary-Grove (14-0) 2010 – Boylan (14-0) 2011 – Prairie Ridge (13-1) 2012 – Crete-Monee (14-0) 2013 – Batavia (13-1) 2014 – Nazareth (14-0)

Class 7A

2001 – Prospect (14-0) 2002 – Prospect (12-2) 2003 – Oswego (13-1) 2004 – Libertyville (14-0) 2005 – Prospect (13-1) 2006 – St. Rita (13-1) 2007 – Lake Zurich (13-1) 2008 – East St. Louis (13-1) 2009 – Wheaton Warrenville South (13-1) 2010 – Wheaton Warrenville South (14-0) 2011 – Boylan (14-0) 2012 – Glenbard West (14-0) 2013 – Chi. Mt. Carmel (13-1) 2014 – Providence (13-1)

Class 8A

2001 – Downers Grove South (12-2) 2002 – Lockport (13-1) 2003 – Lockport (12-2) 2004 – Downers Grove North (12-2) 2005 – Lincoln-Way East (14-0) 2006 – Wheaton Warrenville South (14-0) 2007 – Naperville North (13-1) 2008 – Maine South (14-0) 2009 – Maine South (14-0) 2010 – Maine South (12-2) 2011 – Bolingbrook (13-1) 2012 – Chicago Mt. Carmel (13-1) 2013 – Naperville Central (11-3) 2014 – Stevenson (14-0)

Most championships 1. Joliet Catholic 13 2. Chicago Mt. Carmel 12 3. Providence 10 4. Driscoll 8 5. East St. Louis 7 5. Wheaton Warrenville So. 7 7. Carthage/Illini West 6 8. Montini 5 8. Maine South 5 8. Newman 5 8. Stillman Valley 5 8. Rochester 5 8. Sacred Heart-Griffin 5

CGH SPORTS MEDICINE 1-888-721-BUMP (2867) Treating sports injuries, strains, sprains, overuse injuries, and sports concussion.

Orthopaedic Surgeon Shawn P. Hanlon, M.D., F.A.A.O.S

Physician Assistant Josh Wade, PA-C, M.S.

Sports Physical Therapist Geoff Wright, PT, DPT, SCS

Monday Mornings • 9 - 11:30 am (walk-ins welcome, appt. preferred)

Weekdays by appt.

1809 N. Locust Street, Sterling, IL 61081 www.cghmc.com

2007 2013 2014 2007 2008 2010 2010 2012 2010 2013 2013 2014 2014

PAGE 56

Sauk Valley Media • August 27, 2015

FB15 GUIDE

Follow the Golden Warriors, Rockets and Comets with your hometown radio stations...all season long!

Sterling Golden Warriors Station: WSSQ 94.3 FM

8/28 9/4 9/11 9/18 9/25 10/2 10/9 10/16 10/23

7:30 A .............

7:15 H .............

7:30 A .............

7:30 A .............

7:30 H .............

7:30 A .............

7:30 H .............

7:30 A ............

7:30 H ............

Rock Falls United Township Alleman Morris Lasalle-Peru Ottawa Geneseo Rochelle Sycamore

Rock Falls Rockets Station: AM 1240 WSDR

8/28 7:15 H ..........

9/4 7:00 H ...........

9/11 7:00 H ..........

9/18 7:00 A ...........

9/25 7:00 H ...........

10/2 7:00 A ..........

10/9 7:00 A ..........

10/16 7:00 H ..........

10/23 7:00 A ..........

Sterling Marengo Oregon Byron Winnebago Stillman Valley Mendota Dixon Rockford (Lutheran)

Newman Comets Station: WZZT 102.7 FM

8/28 9/5 9/11 9/18 9/26 10/2 10/9 10/16 10/23

7:30 A ............. Rockridge 7:30 H ............. Fulton 7:30 A ............. Morrison 7:30 H ............. Kewanee 7:30 H ............. Erie-Prophetstown 7:30 H ............. Princeton 7:30 A ............. Sherrard 7:30 A ............ Hall 7:30 A ............ St. Bede

Listen to Cathy Verhulst Sports Weekdays

Here’s To A Great Season!