Serving the Polo Area Since 1857
POLO
Tri-County Press February 1, 2018 Volume 159, Number 40 - $1.00
Marcos Win
Lecture Series
IAPD Award Winner
Trevin Woodin scores 30 points to lead the Polo basketball squad to victory. B1
Learn about prehistoric dogs at Byron’s Jarrett Center. A6
Oregon Park District Commissioner Dan Engelkes received a 2018 Rising Star Award. A7
Polo opts for 8-man football for 2019 season By Andy Colbert acolbert@oglecounty news.com It was only two years ago that Polo had a undefeated regular-season state-ranked football team that advanced to the 1A quarterfinals. It was the 21st time Polo had qualified for the IHSA playoffs. However, in the world of small-school football, participation numbers can change drastically from one year to the next. It is because of this that Polo has decided to begin playing 8-man football in 2019. “We considered either a coop or 8-man,” Marco coach Jeff Bumstead said. “I can’t count how many hours I spent surveying our kids, calling other coaches that have 8-man and researching everything on I could on it.” Between Principal Andy Faivre, Athletic Director Ted Alston and Bumstead, no stone was left uncovered in making a recommendation to the school board to drop 11-man football in favor of 8-man. They started talking about it a year ago, but got serious midway through this season as Polo struggled to field a varsity squad. “A lot of schools have been talking about 8-man,
but without anyone else in conference making the commitment, it’s a bit scary,” Faivre said. “Somebody has to take the leap of faith. Maybe now, someone else will say Polo did it, so why not us.” Indeed, the Marcos give instant credibility to a fledging 8-man association of teams in Illinois. Currently, AldenHebron, Rockford Christian Life, Elgin Westminster and Lake Forest Academy from the northeast part of the state, along with Milford and Judah Christian from east central Illinois are signed on to play for 2018. With such a strong heritage of football at Polo, it was a difficult decision for school administrators to make. “The whole idea behind it was to be competitive,” Bumstead said. “We can’t do that with freshmen playing on varsity. It’s also discouraging for a 14-year old that has never played to have their brains beaten in by a senior from Stockton that has been lifting weights for four years.” Another problem for Polo is not having a middle-school program and having freshmen and sophomore further hampered by not playing full schedules. “Our sophomores have only played 10 fresh-soph games
Polo’s Brady Webb (2) runs behind Reid Taylor as Taylor blocks River Ridge defense during Polo’s 2017 homecoming game. Photo by Michael Krabbenhoeft.
total the last two years because either lack of numbers by us or other schools,” Bumstead said. “Besides not getting experience, they’re losing out by not getting nine games a year. As a coach, I want to
keep the program thriving and fun for the kids.” Without adequate numbers at the varsity level, the freshsoph often had their practice interrupted to be brought to run the scout team.
“It’s not a great environment. We want to keep the two levels separate, but can’t with 11-man,” Bumstead. “I don’t want kids to leave our program saying I played one year and got the crap kicked
out of me.” Another consideration for Polo was maintaining its independence rather than coop with a neighboring school district. Turn to A2
Benefit planned Friday for girl hurt in accident Event to be at Polo Fire Dept. By Kathleen Schultz Sauk Valley Media
Mayor Doug Knapp signs off on Billy Lowry’s scout manual after the mock city council meting. The mayor’s signature on each manual certifies that they met with local government leaders and learned about what they do for the communities, as part of the Building a Better Community adventure. Photo by Zach Arbogast.
Cub scouts serve on Polo city council By Zach Arbogast zarbogast@oglecounty news.com It’s been said that scouts make for good government leaders, but the Polo Cub Scouts got an extremely early start to that on last week. In what has become a yearly tradition, Jan. 17 called to order a special meeting with the “city council,” in which Mayor Doug Knapp and City Clerk Sydney Bartelt were present, but the alderman seats were filled with scouts from
the Arrow of Light cub scout den, Pack 337. Noah Dewey, Wyatt Angier, Billy Lowry, Jeff Donaldson, Micah Sankey, and Caleb Sutton took the chairs around the table. “City attorney” and Den Leader Mark Zeigler also sat in as both “legal consultant” and advice-offerer to the young aldermen. Aside from a bit of fun, the meeting satisfies a requirement in the “Building a Better Community” adventure in the scout’s manual to meet with
In This Week’s Edition...
local government leaders, and learn about how they serve the community. Before business got started, the scouts had a list of questions for Knapp, including what drove him to want to be a leader, what he believes are the biggest challenges facing the community, and how citizens can help the government. Knapp said he’s always loved to both serve people and guide them where he can, citing his time as a football coach and six years as a city alderman before becoming mayor in 2013.
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B6-B8 College News, A4 Entertainment, A6
As for community challenges, Knapp said he feels Polo needs to get three things up and running for the community: a grocery store, senior housing, and a pharmacy. Aside from those big three, improvements to infrastructure are always important, he said. He added that citizens can help their government by speaking open-mindedly and candidly about the issues in their communities and what change they want to see.
Fines, B5 Library News. A3 Marriage Licenses, A4 Public Voice, B4
Turn to A2
The Polo community is invited to celebrate the recovery of 4-year-old Kylia Johnson, who lost her mother and unborn brother in a car crash Dec. 11 that also left her with extensive injuries. A party with cake and refreshments will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday at the Polo Fire Department, 206 S. Franklin Ave., where her dad, DJ, volunteers. DJ, 27, and Kylia were injured in the collision, which happened when their car hit a patch of ice on snowy state Route 26 around 3:45 p.m. and slid into the path of an oncoming pickup truck. Sarah, 26, who was pregnant with their son, Oliver, was in the front passenger seat. The Polo family was nearly home after attending her 35-week check-in with her Sterling obstetrician. Kylia, who suffered brain injuries and a cracked hip,
Property Transfers, B4 Sheriff’s Arrests, B4 Social News, A4 Sports, B1, B 2
was treated at MercyHealth Hospital-Rockton Avenue in Rockford, and will be discharged Thursday from the Shirley Ryan Ability Lab in Chicago. Outpatient therapy is next on the agenda. “She’s really doing well,” Grandpa Dan Johnson of Milledgeville said. DJs injuries were less severe; he was treated and released from MercyHealth on Dec. 16. In addition to a GoFundMe campaign, an account has been established at First State Bank Shannon-Polo-Lake Carroll to help DJ with medical and other expenses. DJ, whose given name is Daryl Allan Johnson, works at Exelon in Byron and is a military police officer with the Army Reserve. Sarah grew up in Lanark and graduated from Eastland High School in 2009. She and DJ were high school sweethearts who had just celebrated their seventh anniversary on Dec. 4. As one can image, this has been a truly painful time for DJ, but “he’s doing pretty well. I told him I’m really proud of him,” his dad said.
Deaths, B5 James W. Cratty, John I. Mershon Sr., William S. Noonkesser, Todd Pfab
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com