Month: September 2009

Mid-Week Grades for Sept. 30

Posted by dobrien – September 30, 2009

Here is your final grade book for the month of September. As always, Josh Houchins and I will break these down on the wildy popular WGEM SportsCenter around 8:20 today. Listen in each weekday morning from 7 a.m to 9 a.m. on ESPN 1440 or online at wgemradio.com.

hendricksonsmallA — Don Patterson. The former Western Illinois University football coach showed us that nice guys can finish first. Patterson did nothing to tarnish the great football tradition at WIU during his decade-plus time at the Macomb school, getting the program to the playoffs three times and winning two league titles. A battle with tonsillar cancer is all that stopped him from becoming the school’s all-time winningest coach. Here’s to hoping Patterson, who will stay active in the WIU athletic department, will be there for a long time.

APTOPIX Rangers Angels BaseballB – Los Angeles Angels. The Angels could have let the early season death of pitcher Nick Adenhart derail them this season. Instead, the Angels showed once again that they’re the class of the American League’s West Division. As you can see from this photo, they didn’t forget about Adenhart either when they clinched the division title on Monday night. Good move by a classy organization. Other than the rally monkey, it’s hard to hate the Angels

C — Iowa Hawkeyes. Yes, the Hawkeyes got a big win Saturday by going to Happy Valley and beating Penn State — again. Some media folks have fallen in love with the Hawkeyes. Heck, Mark May of ESPN said he’d be in his top 5 if he had a poll vote. Before we go anointing the Hawkeyes Big Ten champs after one win, let’s remember that it took two blocked field goals in the final minute of the game for them to beat Northern Iowa. This team is winning because of its defense, but the offense had better come to play when the team plays Michigan in Iowa City and at Ohio State. Win those two, and the team will win me over, too. Right now, I’m still not buying Iowa.

D — University of Missouri athletic department. The department recently got rid of a bunch of old phones, but didn’t wipe clean of information that was stored on them. As a result, a lucky fan had a jackpot of collector’s items for just $190. The guy offered to sell them back to the school for $3,000, but they passed. (Not like they don’t have the money.) After feeling the heat from the Mizzou faithful, the guy decided only to sell them to Mizzou fans who vowed not to use the phones for malicious purposes. Somehow, I still see a Kansas fan getting their hands on some of these bad boys. Smooth move, Mizzou.

F — Missouri pro football. It’s becoming a rite of early fall — terrible starts by the St. Louis Rams and Kansas City Chiefs. Missouri’s pro football teams are a combined 0-6 this season and might be the two worst teams in football. Some day when things are good again, Rams fans will shake their heads over the prospect of Kyle Boller being their starting quarterback. And the Chiefs just might be second-guessing that big deal they gave to Matt Cassel during the off-season.

Saturday Morning Quarterback — Week 5

Posted by dobrien – September 26, 2009

Here’s an overview of Week 5 of the high school football season:

Hornets sting Routt

In the most appealing game on the docket, Brown County lived up to its No. 2 ranking in Class 1A by going to Jacksonville and handing Jacksonville Routt a 44-0 loss in a matchup of state-ranked teams. Tom Little’s crew has yet to give up a point this season, outscoring the opposition by a total of 269-0 this season. Impressive run by the Hornets, who look poised to put their past playoff demons behind them this fall.

Sweet victory for St. Clair

Hannibal coach Mark St. Clair on Friday became just the seventh coach in area history to reach the 100-win mark at one school when the Pirates took apart North Central Missouri Conference foe Boonville 35-0.

The Pirates did a little bit of everything. The defense pitched its second shutout of the season, limiting Boonville to 133 yards of offense. The offense did its part — both on the ground and through the air — to force a running clock midway through the fourth quarter.

After Moberly was upset by Fulton on Friday, the Pirates are the last undefeated team in the NCMC. They’ll try to take another step toward a league crown when they play at Moberly next week.

All’s pleasant in P.Hill

Two years ago, Pleasant Hill was left out of the IHSA playoffs despite having five wins. This year, the Wolves might not have to worry about playoff points thanks to their 28-20 victory over Hardin Calhoun on Friday night.

The Wolves are now 4-1 overall and are in control of the Western Illinois Valley Conference South Division race. Win the WIVC South and the Wolves are back in the playoffs for the first time since 1998.

Looking ahead

It’s a shame that Galesburg will come into Flinn Stadium next week and ruin Quincy High’s perfect start. (What did you expect from a Galesburg guy?) Other than that, the slate is void of any really intriguing matchups. I would expect a big crowd again at Flinn with some folks who routinely spend their Friday nights at 10th and Jackson taking in the proceedings with the Raiders on the road at Peoria Manual. (And though, I’ll pick Galesburg on the Are You Smarter Than the Sports Guys game, I suspect QHS will get the playoff-clinching sixth win … but it won’t be easy.

Slaps of the Week — Sept. 25

Posted by dobrien – September 25, 2009

jayhawk_currentHere’s a slap that Matt Schuckman and all of the Mizzou fans should love. 

Over the past week, the football and basketball teams at the University of Kansas have fought not once but twice. A day after an altercation involved as many as 100 people, including the athletes, there was a Sharks vs. Jets-like square off on campus the following day.

 

“I just heard a bunch of people yelling and saw a bunch of basketball players and football players,” Shannon Jobe, a KU sophomore from Shawnee, who witnessed the second altercation told the Lawrence (Kan.) Journal World & News.

“Basketball team kind of walked off,” Harrison Hems, a KU senior from California, who also witnessed the incident told the newspaper. “I don’t think they wanted to get in another fight.”

 

Since when did Kansas morph into Adams College, home of the great 1980s movie “Revenge of the Nerds?” Which team gets to play the role of the Alpha Betas and which is stuck being the Tri-Lambs?

Being that the basketball team has actually won something, we’ll make them the Alpha Betas and the one-hit wonder of a football team gets to be the Tri-Lambs. 

For the Jayhawks’ sake, can’t they all just get along? What a bunch of dopes.

I can hear Schuckman, who never says the word Kansas, now — “What do you expect from people from that school?”

Mid-Week Grades for Sept. 23

Posted by dobrien – September 23, 2009

We’ll be taking class on the road today. If you’re rolling down Broadway today in Quincy, make sure to stop by Daylight Donuts and help us help them celebrate their fifth anniversary. They’re selling a dozen glazed for $1.99. Feel free to knock Houchins’ cap off his head for being an Arizona Cardinals fan. We’ll be there from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. Grades will be discussed at 8:20 or so. Listen in on ESPN 1440 or wgemradio.com.

connellsmallA — Bill Connell and Jim Unruh. The football coaches at Quincy Notre Dame and Illini West deserve major kudos for putting together a game that area fans have long wanted to see. Mark your calendar for Oct. 1, 2010. Considering how little each team gets tested during the regular season these days, this will be a playoff-quality matchup smack dab in the middle of the season. Maybe we can get the folks at ESPNU to come cover it for all of those who won’t be able to fit into Fuzz Berges Field.

Saints Eagles FootballB — New Orleans Saints. I’ve had the displeasure of matching up against Drew Brees in Week 1 and Marques Colston in Week 2 during my fantasy football season. Thanks to the Saints’ high-powered offense, the Notorious DOBs are 0-2. The Saints have scored 93 points over the first two weeks of the season, making many other fantasy football owners happy. With Eastern Illinois alum Sean Payton at the controls, who knows how high the Saints will go this season. Now if I could only swing a trade for some of those guys.

Giants Cowboys FootballC —Tony Romo. As good as Romo was in the Cowboys’ Week 1 win over Tampa Bay (350 yards passing, 3 TDs), he was just as bad Sunday night against the New York Giants (a career-low passer rating of 27.2 with one TD and three INTs). Yes, he should make better decisions, but all of the Cowboys’ problems don’t fall on his shoulders. Something called Mario Manningham had a career game against the Dallas defense, which was carved up by Eli Manning. People are soon to forget that Romo’s a two-time Pro Bowler with a 28-13 record as a starter in the NFL, a record plenty of people would love to have. Yet, Romo needs to improve before he’s seen as a big bust in Big D.

beard09D — Quincy University football special teams. There’s no denying the Hawks have one of the best kickers in the Mid-States Football Association in senior Alex Beard. He’s been money, making 9 of 10 field goals this season and earning the MSFA Midwest Division Special Teams Player of the Week three times in four weeks. However, the rest of the Hawks’ special teams have been pretty awful — from kickoff return coverage to punting to punt coverage. It’s cost the Hawks wins the last two weeks against Walsh and William Penn. Thanks to the team’s current three-game losing streak, I can’t see the Hawks finishing better than 5-6 this season.

Cubs Beyond Bradley BaseballF — Milton Bradley. The Cardinals fans in me wants to thank Bradley for being such a goof this season. But, should we really be surprised with his banishment. Heck, even I called it way back when he signed. If all predictions were as easy as that one I’d live in Vegas. It will be interesting to see what — if anything — the Cubs can get for Bradley on the trade market.

QU Review — William Penn 35, QU 30

Posted by dobrien – September 19, 2009

Special teams once again did in the Hawks as they dropped their Mid-States Football Association Midwest Division opener against the Statemen at QU-Stadium.

Here’s a look at Saturday’s stars:

truttmann091. Tyler Truttmann, QU quarterback

For a guy who hadn’t taken a snap a quarterback for some 10 months before this week, the sophomore looked pretty good in nearly helping the Hawks comeback twice in the fourth quarter. In just barely over a quarter of work, Truttmann completed 13 of 20 passes for 122 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed for 54 yards on 15 carries. With the QU QB carousel spinning and spinning, it wouldn’t be tough to see Truttmann, who played wide receiver the first three games, behind center against next week when the team plays at No. 14 St. Xavier.

ryan_van_dalen_210_mfb2. Ryan Van Dalen, William Penn quarterback

He made the big plays when his team needed them the most. He used two pump fakes that QU defensive back Erik Wilson bit on to throw touchdown passes of 80 and 51 yards to Skyler Crouch. The second TD came with just 1:22 left to play and gave the Statesmen the win. He completed 8 of 15 passes for 218 yards and the two scores.

beard093. Alex Beard, QU kicker

The senior has been the only bright spot in what’s been a not-so special teams unit for the Hawks this season. For the second straight week Beard tied a school record with three field goals in a game. He connected from 26, 20 and 42 yards. He’s 9 for 10 on field goal attempts this season and is 4 for 5 on PATs. 

DOBservations

Terlisner says coaching isn’t to blame for the team’s special teams woes. “We’ve added more periods of special teams,” he said. “Until kids want to play, there is nothing we can do about it. We graduated some kids from last year who were great special teams players.” … With Dustin Jacoby (neck) and Trevor Durham (shoulder) out Saturday, the Hawks were down to just two quarterbacks. Had the team needed to go to a third quarterback, freshman wide receiver Mark Harris Jr. would have been the Hawks’ guy. … Terlisner said there is a chance that Jacoby could take a medical redshirt. The Culver-Stockton College transfer suffered a neck and shoulder injury in the third quarter of the team’s opener at Indiana State and hasn’t played since. … The Hawks showed off their version of the “Wildcat” formation with senior running back Corey Williams taking two snaps near the goal line early in the third quarter. He was stopped for no gain on each play on a drive that finished with a 20-yard field goal by Beard. … For the second time this season, Donatucci fumbled the ball inside the opponent’s 10-yard line. Against Indiana State, Donatucci fumbled at the QU 9 and the Sycamores converted that fumble into a touchdown. On Saturday, he fumbled at the QU 4 late in the first quarter. William Penn scored on its first play of the next drive.

Saturday Morning Quarterback — Week 4

Posted by dobrien – September 19, 2009

Here’s an overview of Week 4 of the high school football season:

Mystery solved?

One of the questions we usually hear when dealing with out-of-town media folks or fans usually goes something like this:

“Quincy High School is so good at basketball, why aren’t they ever any good at football?”

There’s really never been a good answer. The program has had plenty of good head coaches. The facilities at Flinn Stadium are some of the best around. With just one public high school in town, there should be plenty of talented athletes from which to choose. Yet, the Blue Devils have had little success on the gridiron, having made the playoffs just twice in the last 23 years.

That may be changing under Rick Little. In his third year with the Blue Devils, Little has the Blue Devils reaching new heights. Thanks to Friday’s 40-17 victory at Moline, QHS is 4-0 for the first time in more than three decades.

The credit for the turnaround goes equally to Little and the players. They have bought in to what he wants them to do, and his plan has worked. Little has proved that the success he had during his tenure at West Hancock was no accident.

The Blue Devils have an excellent chance to go to 5-0 when they finally return home to Flinn Stadium to face 0-5 East Moline, a team QHS hasn’t lost to since 2002.

The next great Hannibal back

Had the chance to watch a Hannibal football game from the stands for once thanks to a night off. The Pirates are beat up right now, but it didn’t matter in a 55-14 victory over Fulton to open North Central Missouri Conference play at Porter Stadium.

With several players out or severely limited because of injuries, the Pirates still managed to beat down the Hornets. With Zach Nichols limited because of an ankle injury, kicker Mat Sims had to do the punting. Thanks to some hustle by Lenny Clark, two of Sims’ punts were downed inside the Hornets’ 5-yard line. The first one led to a 16-yard interception return for a touchdown by Mark Nemes.

Nemes had a huge night for the Pirates. He scored three rushing touchdowns and ran for 147 yards. He also had a big kickoff return to set up the Pirates’ first touchdown drive. The junior not only showed off his speed, but he also has the ability to read the field and hit the holes.

The first time I saw Hannibal this year, Nemes wasn’t much of a factor in a rout of Troy. It’s obvious from Friday’s viewing that Nemes will be a staple in the Pirates’ backfield for the next two seasons. Like a factory, the Hannibal program continued to produce quality rushers year after year. Nemes looks to be the latest in that line.

Status quo

There were no real upsets or surprises on Friday night. It’s pretty obvious that we have a group of haves, a group of have-nots and very few teams in the middle. The only game with any intrigue going into the night was the Central-Southeastern at Pittsfield game. However, the Saukees defended their home turf in a 32-6 victory.

Looking ahead to Week 5 there is just one game that is a toss-up. Brown County will travel to Jacksonville Routt for  WIVC North showdown. Other than that, there doesn’t appear to be many games of intrigue on the docket.

Slap of the Week — Sept. 18

Posted by dobrien – September 18, 2009

Referees Lockout BasketballDon’t know about you, but my life isn’t complete without Dick Bavetta running up and down the court chasing 7-footers.

Yet, the current labor strife in the NBA between the league and its officials means that the officials probably won’t be working come Oct. 1. Guess we’ll have to get along with replacement refs, who really couldn’t be any worse than Steve Javie.

Considering that the economy’s in the dumper, it makes sense for the officials and the NBA to get on the same page. According to FoxSports.com, the sides agree on salary, but are haggling over retirement benefits, road budgets and per diems.

I’m sure Joey Crawford could spend a night or two at the Motel 6 and brown bag it every now and then.

Both sides need to wise up and get something done.

Mid-Week Grades — Sept. 16

Posted by dobrien – September 16, 2009

Time for another batch of grades. Even though it’s football season, we’ll still try to mix in some other sports, too. We’ll break these down on Wednesday’s WGEM SportsCenter program around 8:20 or so. To submit your grade, e-mail us at sportscenter@wgem.com or text us at 217-617-9437.

qhssmallA — Quincy High School athletics. The Blue Devils are flexing their muscle in pretty much every sport this fall. Saturday was a particularly good day for the Blue and White. The football team moved to 3-0 for the first time since 1992 with its win at Evansville (Ind.) Harrison. The volleyball team dominated the field at the Jacksonville Invitational. The soccer team rebounded from an early goal to win its Western Big Six Conference game at Moline. The boys golf team won the Mattoon Invitational. The girls tennis team finished second at the Moline Invitational. (But gang, let’s get a better Web site. You’d have to think there are some students there that can whip up something better than this.)

B — U.S. Open.  The tennis folks had a pretty enjoyable tournament to follow the last two weeks. The tournament had a bunch of good storylines, topped off by a new mother — former U.S. Open champ Kim Clijsters — winning the crown and Roger Federer’s streak of five straight Open titles being stopped by Argentinan Juan Martin del Potro. (By the way, it’s been a pretty good year for Argentina with del Potro’s win and Angel Cabrera’s win at the Masters. Hopefully, that good luck carries over to Andres Nocioni.) It’s too bad many didn’t get to see the end. The Open needs to do a better job of scheduling. Going head-to-head with the opening week of the NFL season wasn’t a great move. 

mizzousmallC — Mizzou football. Guess we won’t have to worry about the Blaine Gabbert for Heisman talk after all. After a convincing win over the Illini in their opener, the Tigers struggled with Bowling Green last Saturday. Maybe we can kickstart the hype machine on Mizzou again if they take care of the Paladins of Furman this week.

franklinsmallD — Ryan Franklin. Since signing a contract extension on Sept. 1 the Cardinals’ closer has struggled mightily. In four appearances since he signed the deal going into Tuesday, Franklin had allowed 6 earned runs in 3 1/3 innings, giving up seven hits and issuing five walks in the process. His ERA during this stretch — an ugly 16.21. Obviously, he needs to get things worked out before the postseason rolls around or else the Cardinals’ stay will be a short one.

Bears Packers FootballF — Jay Cutler. Hard to imagine that Cutler could have had a worse debut for the Bears than he did on Sunday night. He threw four interceptions in a 21-15 loss at Green Bay. With Brian Urlacher going down for the season with a wrist injury, the Bears’ defense won’t be nearly as good. That will put more pressure on the offense to deliver, meaning Cutler can’t crank out any more clunkers like Sunday’s.

QU Review — Walsh 24, QU 16

Posted by dobrien – September 13, 2009

The Hawks opened their home schedule on Saturday, but couldn’t figure out an old nemesis in dropping a non-conference game at QU-Stadium.

Here’s a look at Saturday’s stars:

1. Clinton Blossomgame, Jr, RB, Walsh

Bad news, QU fans. The Hawks will have to contend with the Walsh tailback one more time when QU makes the trek to Canton, Ohio next year. Blossomgame continued his mastery of the Hawks by rushing for 137 yards and two touchdowns — all in the second half. He missed curfew one day last week, which kept him on the sidelines for the first half. Can’t imagine how many yards he would have rushed for throughout the entire game. In three games against the Hawks, he’s rushed for 493 yards and four touchdowns in three outings against the Hawks. 

2. Brian Williams, Sr., DB, Walsh

The Hawks’ special teams weren’t so special for a second straight game thanks to Williams. He returned a punt 61 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter, getting a heck of a block by Tony Stover on the play. He also had 60 yards on two kickoff returns to help set up the Cavaliers with good field position. He also made three tackles, broke up two passes and blocked a 47-yard field goal attempt by QU’s Alex Beard.

3. Trevor Durham, Fr, QB, Quincy

It would have been interesting to see how the game turned out had Durham not been injured. He played well in his first college start. He had 185 yards of total offense, throwing for 144 yards and rushing for 41 more. He completed 14 of 24 passes and threw a TD pass to Kyle Volstad in the second quarter. He only real error was a pass that went off Volstad’s hands and into a Walsh defender’s hands. Durham injured his left (non-throwing) shoulder on the play. He downplayed the injury after the game. We’ll see how that plays out.

DOBservations

Sam Donatucci performed admirably in relief for QU. He was 5 for 8 passing for 56 yards. He was fortunate a defensive holding call was made on a play that he was intercepted by Stover. All eyes will be on the QB spot again this week. Will Durham and Dustin Jacoby, who missed Saturday’s game with a lingering neck injury, be healthy enough to play? If they’re out, does the team move Tyler Truttman back to the backup quarterback spot behind Donatucci? … The long bus trip to Quincy doesn’t seem to bother Walsh. The Cavaliers are now 3-0 all-time at QU-Stadium. … Former University of Illinois receiver Joe Morgan had six catches for 67 yards to lead Walsh. … Beard tied a school record with three made field goals. He’s the third QU kicker to make three in a game and the first since Mike Diak, who accomplished the feat against Kentucky Wesleyan in 2000. … QU coach Bill Terlisner was especially upset with his special teams, saying the cost the Hawks at least 10 points. … A decent opening-day crowd on a sunny day. Nice to see so many Quincy Family YMCA tackle players at the game.

Saturday Morning Quarterback — Week 3

Posted by dobrien – September 12, 2009

Here’s an overview of Week 3 of the high school football season.

Super Chargers

Had a rare Friday night off, so I decided to take in a game. With QND out of town and QHS and Hannibal playing today, it came down to either Illini West vs. Central-Southeastern or Centralia at Monore City. I opted for IW-C-SE. 

Was impressed with how C-SE came out and stuffed IW on its first two drives. Like many in the stands, I thought it was going to be a game. Little did I know that Jim Unruh and his IW coaching staff adjusted nicely on the fly to whatever C-SE was doing. A big blocked punt helped set up IW for a short TD drive late in the first quarter. That blocked punt took something out of C-SE.

The game quickly turned into the Michael Lafferty show. The IW quarterback has a great arm and throws a good ball. Yes, I’m writing about an Illini West quarterback who throws the football. (And the Chargers even kick PATs now. Heck, they even tried — and made — a field goal in the third quarter. These aren’t the Carthage Blueboys anymore.) Lafferty made a play near the end of the first half where he eluded several would-be C-SE tacklers and heaved the ball down field for a bomb on the final play of the half and a 34-0 lead.

If there is a team in Class 3 that can beat IW, I’d like to see them. The Chargers were hard-hitting on defense, too. They can still run the football. It will take a combination of IW playing a really poor game against a good team in order for the Chargers to be stopped.

I’m thinking the folks in Carthage and LaHarpe can start making their Thanksgiving night reservations for Champaign, Ill.

By the way, the best $3 I spent all week was for a butterfly pork chop at the Central concession stand. Very tasty!

Runnin’ Raiders

When it came time to pick a Player of the Year in the fall sports tab, I went with QND’s Daniel Weiman. He came on strong at the end of last year during the Raiders’ playoff run. Knowing Bill Connell’s love for power football, it was a pretty safe bet that Weiman would be the benefactor of Connell’s game plan.

On Friday night, Weiman broke off a school-record tying touchdown run of 97 yards as part of a 276-yard effort in the Raiders’ 24-0 victory at Spring Valley Hall. This won’t be Weiman’s last big night, you can count on that.

A different magic number?

The general thought is that if an Illinois high school football team wins five games during the regular season, then it’s going to make the playoff field. Well, that’s not entirely true. Two years ago, Pleasant Hill won five games but didn’t have enough playoff points to qualify. Same thing happened to Western Big Six Conference member Galesburg last year.

If the QHS football team can win at winless Evansville (Ind.) Harrison today, the Blue Devils would be 3-0, leaving them just two wins from that magic number. Had a nice talk with Daniel Makarewicz of the Moline Dispatch this week. Makarewicz, a Quincy Notre Dame grad who covers East Moline and Alleman for the paper, believes any WB6 team will need six wins to make the playoffs.

When you look at QHS’s non-league schedule, it doesn’t appear the Blue Devils will get too many playoff points from those schools — each school gets a playoff point for every win teams on their schedule earn. Alton is hurting badly. The Redbirds are winless, including a 77-7 loss to East St. Louis on Friday. It’s hard telling what Mount Pleasant will give the Blue Devils in terms of playoff points. Harrison is winless and already a third of the way through it’s season. QHS isn’t likely to get anything out of Harrison. Toss in the fact that East Moline is struggling again and that all of the WB6 teams except Quincy and Galesburg were losers in Week 1 and you can see that playoff points are hard to come by.

It may take a winning record in WB6 play — or an upset of powerful Chatham Glenwood in Week 9 — to get QHS into the playoffs for the third time since 1986.