Month: October 2009

Saturday Morning Quarterback — Week 10

Posted by dobrien – October 31, 2009

We put a cap on the regular season in Missouri on Thursday and Friday night. From here on out, it’s all about the playoffs:

Walking the plank

Our biggest Week 10 game in the Show-Me State pitted two ranked teams with No. 2 Helias going to No. 8 Hannibal with a district title on the line. Helias showed it has a legitimate chance to return to the Show-Me Bowl as  a result of its 42-17 victory at Porter Stadium.

As a result of the loss, Hannibal’s path goes through Jefferson City. There’s a great chance the teams will meet again a week from Monday in the sectional round. If that happens, the Pirates will have to figure out a way to stop Helias’ talented duo of tailback Brad Wilson and quarterback Clint Distler. The two combined to rush for more than 300 yards on Friday as the Crusaders’ speed option attack flustered a Pirates defense that had pitched five straight shutouts.

Hannibal’s offense didn’t do the team any favors with two lost fumbles that the Crusaders eventually turned into 14 points. It will take a near-perfect effort for the Pirates to beat Helias should they meet again.

A sign of things to come?

In Class 1, Knox County and Scotland County earned playoff berths. Knox was crowned as the district champ, winning its first title since 1995 by rolling over Schuyler County, 46-6.

There’s a good chance that future district games involving Knox, Scotland and North Shelby could have the added luster of being for the Tri-Rivers Conference title. TRC powers Clark County and Brookfield are leaving the league after this season, leaving the door wide open for other teams to assume the mantle.

Busy day today

Playoff football all over the place today with Quincy High School, Quincy Notre Dame, Central-Southeastern, Brown County and Illini West in action. To follow all of the games as they happen, check out our Twitter feed. We’ll feed the scores on there as they happen.

Slap of the Week — Oct. 30

Posted by dobrien – October 30, 2009

It’s bad enough that the Washington Redskins can’t even beat the Kansas City Chiefs. What’s worse? They’re trying to control any messages their ticket-buying public might have.

The team that can’t get first downs doesn’t want anyone to have any First Amendment rights at FedEx Field. The thin-skinned owner of the team, Daniel Snyder, has banned all signs of any kind from coming into the stadium. At this point, the Redskins should be happy that anyone is showing up to see that hapless team.

The Washington Post has a great blog about the situation. Dan Steinberg’s post will have you shaking your heads. Snyder hasn’t done much winning since he bought the team. He certainly doesn’t need to dress up for Halloween tomorrow because he looks like a clown every day.

Mid-Week Grades for Oct. 28

Posted by dobrien – October 28, 2009

The final grades of October coincide with the start of the Fall Classic and the beginning of another NBA season. Josh Houchins and I will break these down around 8:20 or so on the always-entertaining WGEM SportsCenter program on ESPN 1440.

Bears Bengals FootballA — Cedric Benson. There’s no doubt that the Chicago Bears had plenty of reasons to get rid of Benson, the least of which was that he wasn’t that good for them on the field. Benson got his revenge on Sunday with 189 yards rushing and a touchdown as he helped his new team, the Cincinnati Bengals, beat down the Bears. Benson may have been a little nuts going into the game, saying the Bears tried to blackball him. Still, he let his play do his talking on Sunday.

Cardinals La Russa baseballB — Mark McGwire. The St. Louis Cardinals are the first to bring one of the Steroids Era’s big boys back into the clubhouse. Think about it. All of the big names are far out of baseball — Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Roger Clemens. All are gone, but Big Mac will be back as the Cardinals’ hitting coach next year. It will be interesting to see how he’s able to rebuild his reputation. It probably won’t be as hard as you think. How many times will you think about steroids when Alex Rodriguez hits ore when Andy Pettitte pitches during the World Series? Probably not much. We’re a pretty forgiving society. If Big Mac says, “Hey, I messed up and I want to move on,” he’ll get his plaque in Cooperstown.

Indians Acta BaseballC — Cleveland Indians fans. Can there be a more depressed fan base than that of the Tribe? Sure, you won the Manny Acta sweepstakes. (Yes, there was actually a sweepstakes for Acta’s services. Sorry, Houston.) Tonight, Indians fans will see the last two men to win Cy Youngs for them CC Sabathia (2007) and Cliff Lee (2008) go head-t0-head when the Yankees and Phillies play Game 1 of the World Series. And just think, most of those poor saps are probably Browns fans, too.

D — Illinois High School Association. Haven’t ripped on the fine folks in Bloomington for a while, but they have this one coming. In its infinite wisdom, the IHSA decided it would be a good thing to hold regional volleyball finals and super-sectional volleyball finals on Saturday this year. Evidently, the IHSA didn’t check its own calendar and notice that those same Saturdays will be heavily populated with high school football playoff games. Nothing against the gals, but when it comes to making a coverage decision between football and volleyball, football will win every time for the sheer fact that more people go to those games. It’s a shame, too. There are a number of great teams in our area who deserve the spotlight. Maybe the IHSA can move those regional title games to Thursday next year so those athletes can have their own stage.

wiusmallF — Western Illinois University football team. Do we really need to go into why the Leathernecks deserve a flunking grade? Becoming the first team to lose to Indiana State in three years says enough, doesn’t it? Even QU was able to beat the Sycamores this season. I’d be shocked if there weren’t some serious changes made inside the WIU football program during the off-season. Thought there was a great chance for Mark Hendrickson to stay on to succeed Don Patterson, but am not so sure after last week’s happenings in Terre Haute.

QU Review — St. Ambrose 21, QU 9

Posted by dobrien – October 24, 2009

Former Quincy University women's basketball player Deana (McCormick) Brueggeman, right, holds her son, Keegan, during a halftime ceremony honoring her late husband, Barry. Barry Brueggeman, who died in a semi tractor wreck in April, was a start football player at QU until 2003. (H-W Photo/Michael Kipley)

Former Quincy University women's basketball player Deana (McCormick) Brueggeman, right, holds her son, Keegan, during a halftime ceremony honoring her late husband, Barry. Barry Brueggeman, who died in a semi tractor wreck in April near Cape Girardeau, Mo., was a star football player at QU until 2003. (H-W Photo/Michael Kipley)

The Hawks’ homecoming wasn’t a happy one as St. Ambrose ruined the day with a key score at the end of the first half and a 99-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter.

Saturday’s stars:

hayward_michael11. Michael Hayward, Jr., QB, St. Ambrose

Add him to the current crop of Hawk killers. After catching three TD passes in last year’s OT win at QU-Stadium, Hayward threw for three scores and 315 yards to help do in the Hawks again. He also added a pooch punt that was downed at the QU 2-yard line. If he had better protection, there’s no telling how good Hayward and the Bees (5-3, 3-2 MSFA Midwest) would be.

rembold_billy12. Billy Rembold, Soph., WR, St. Ambrose

He was Hayward’s favorite target, making nine catches for 137 yards, including two of the biggest catches of the game. He caught a 37-yard pass on a fourth-and-1 from the QU 41 over QU defensive back Erik Wilson that set the Bees up for a score at QU 4-yard line. Two plays later, Hayward threw a TD pass that gave the Bees a 14-3 lead with 14 seconds left in the first half. Rembold also snared a 15-yard TD pass to cap a 99-yard drive that lasted 16 plays and eight minutes.

perera093. Roberto Perera, Sr., LB, QU

Perera had two of the Hawks’ seven sacks of Hayward, marking the second straight week that the QU defensive line has gotten pressure on the other team’s quarterback. Unlike last week’s six-sack effort against Iowa Wesleyan, it didn’t pay off in a win for the Hawks. Perera had a team-high 10 tackles.

DOBservations

QU has yet to win a home game this season and is guaranteed of having its first losing record at home since 2004 when they were 1-3. The last time QU went an entire season without a home win was 1997 when the Hawks went 0-5 at home as part of an 0-10 campaign. They have one more shot Nov. 7 when St. Francis (Ill.) visits for a noon game. … Because QU is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year, there was no Hall of Fame ceremony that usually coincides with homecoming weekend. … The school honored the memory of Barry Brueggeman by presenting his widow, Deana (McCormick) Brueggeman, and their infant son, Keegan Bear Brueggeman, with a framed No. 69 QU jersey during a halftime ceremony. Brueggeman was killed in a one-vehicle accident near Cape Girardeau, Mo., in April, a month before Keegan was born. For photos of Keegan, click here.

Saturday Morning Quarterback — Week 9

Posted by dobrien – October 24, 2009

The final week of the regular season in Illinois wound up being a blowout fest, while things in Missouri have started to take shape in district play. Here’s a look at the week that was:

A sign of things to come?

With a chance to secure just the second home playoff game in program history, the Quincy High School football team fell short in suffering a 36-0 loss to Chatham Glenwood. The Titans shut down the Blue Devils’ running attack and used their own running game to kill QHS’s hosting hopes.

QHS is just 2-2 this season against teams with winning records. The Blue Devils beat Rock Island Alleman and Fort Madison and lost to the two toughest teams on its schedule — Rock Island and Glenwood. There aren’t any gimmies for teams that have to hit the road for first-round playoff games.

If Friday’s game taught the Blue Devils anything, it’s that they’ll have to come with a complete game to survive the first round.

Perfection

No one should really be surprised with the three area teams that finished the regular season with perfect records.

Defending Class 3A champion Illini West was a gimmie and a favorite to do that every year.

Brown County has its first 9-0 regular-season ever after limiting opponents to just nine points during the regular season. (Do the math. That’s one point per game. Impressive.)

Quincy Notre Dame finished 9-0 for the second straight year and just the fourth time in program history. Even with an injury to quarterback Kramer Barnes, the Raiders didn’t miss a beat.

I can see the area being well-represented during Thanksgiving weekend in Champaign.

District doings

Mark Twain made a believer out of me after its 28-7 victory over Monroe City. Didn’t think the Tigers had a chance in that one. That win, coupled with South Shelby’s easy win over Palmyra, sets up a battle on Thursday for a district title.

Mark Twain (6-3) is playoff-bound for the first time since 1993 no matter what happens when the teams meet in Shelbina, Mo.

The other playoff surprises could come from Knox County and Scotland County. If Knox County can knock off Schuyler County next Friday, the Eagles will have their first district title since 1995. Scotland County can earn the second playoff spot with a win at North Shelby on Thursday.

Pirates keep on going

Their defense has given up more points than Brown County’s this season, but Hannibal’s been on a nice run. The Pirates secured their fifth straight shutout — and school-record tying sixth of the season — in a 28-0 victory over Marshall.

The Owls threatened several times only to be stopped by Hannibal’s Mr. Everything, Mat Sims. Sims tied a school record with three interceptions as the Pirates matched the 1941 team’s record of six shutouts. By the way, Hannibal also secured back-to-back North Central Missouri Conference titles with its 13th straight league victory.

Next week, it won’t be so easy for the Pirates (8-1) as state-ranked Jefferson City Helias comes to town. Figuring that the Crusaders beat Kirksville today, that will be for the district title. Don’t be surprised if both Hannibal and Helias win their first-round playoff games to set up a rematch in the sectional. If that happens, the winner gets to host that playoff matchup.

Next week

We’ll find out all of the particulars tonight for the seven Illinois teams that are playoff-bound.

In Missouri, several games will be played on Thursday night as schools try to get an extra day of rest before the playoffs start. Thursday offers up the Mark Twain-South Shelby and Clark County-Brookfield district title showdowns. Friday’s best bet is in America’s Hometown when Hannibal and Helias clash. Looking forward to having my first Pirate Dog in a while.

Slap of the Week — Oct. 23

Posted by dobrien – October 23, 2009

I have great admiration for those who can run a marathon. It’s 26.2 miles of pain, yet many people enjoy doing it. We have several folks at the H-W who run in them. If you train for one and complete it, it’s truly an accomplishment. Not quite the ultimate endurance test — let’s leave that to the Ironman folks — but it’s still a pretty good challenge nonetheless. 

So, what happens when you train for a marathon and a sprint breaks out? (That runs counter to the old coaching cliche of  ”it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon,” doesn’t it?) Well, that happened last week at the Des Moines (Iowa) Marathon when a train halted the race near the finish. Luckily, the guy who was in the lead when the train stopped things wound up winning a sprint to the finish.

Seems that the folks at the train yard forgot to not run any trains during that time. So they get a slap, but so too do the race organiers. They couldn’t figure out a route that doesn’t involve train tracks?

It could be worse for the Des Moines marathoners. They could have been running in Detroit.

Mid-Week Grades for Oct. 21

Posted by dobrien – October 21, 2009

qhsgtennisIt’s grades time again. You know the drill — Josh Houchins and I will gnash these over during the WGEM SportsCenter program around 8:20 on ESPN 1440. Want to submit your own grade? Text us at 217-617-9437 or drop us an e-mail at sportscenter@wgem.com.

A — QHS girls tennis team. Blue Devils coach Mike Terry will be a busy guy this week in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. He’s got six players to track at the IHSA state tournament for the first time. QHS won the Springfield Sectional, its first sectional crown since 2001, last weekend thanks to second-place finishes by Kadi Fauble in singles and the doubles team of Jenny Hill and Kristi Rose. QHS just slippped past the host Senators for the crown. Samantha Halfpap also qualified in state in singles, while QHS’s other doubles team of Gaby Moss and Kelsey O’Donnell also made the state field. With a young team, this could be the first of many busy state weekends for Terry and the Blue Devils.

baxtersmall

B — Palmyra softball. The Lady Panthers didn’t finish with a fourth straight state title, but a record of 100-7 with three state championships isn’t too shabby. It will be tough for any program — no matter the sport — to duplicate what Taylor Baxter, Jessica VanNostrand and Co. have done during their high school careers. Palmyra’s run may be the most dominant that we’ve ever seen — and that includes the great QHS boys basketball teams of the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Las Vegas GolfC — PGA Tour. Realize it’s hard to generate much publicity for these late-season events, but it has to be tough for anyone to get excited about the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospital for Children Open, which was held last weekend in Las Vegas. Guess this isn’t really any different than the old Ed McMahon-Jaycees Open, which is now the John Deere Classic. Shouldn’t the PGA Tour just shut it down after the playoffs? Is anyone really watching?

hauck_gtD — Bobby Hauck. The University of Montana football coach knows how to win games, but needs to learn a thing or two about public relations. Hauck has basically banned the Montana student newspaper from covering the team. He won’t acknowledge the reporters and his players won’t talk to the paper after it investigated an assault charge against two Grizzlies players. I always shake my head when people in positions of power do small-minded things like this. They take their ball and go home when everything isn’t going their way. From his record, it appears that Hauck is a successful coach. Too bad this is making him look like a tool.

Illinois Indiana FootballF — Illinois football team. Had the (dis)pleasure of watching the Illini fumble a game away against Indiana on Saturday. Quarterback Juice Williams has regressed during his time with the Illini. He had two fumbles in the fourth quarter, including one near the goal line that would have made it a game. The defense let the Indiana quarterback throw for more than 300 yards and was all over bad. Ron Zook and athletic director Ron Guenther are both catching heat over the Illini’s poor play. The Illini are well on their way for an 0-fer in Big Ten play.

Saturday Morning Quarterback — Week 8

Posted by dobrien – October 17, 2009

It was another great night for Gem City football as QHS and QND both won home games. Here’s a look at what I’m thinking about on the penultimate week of high school football in the Land of Lincoln.

Gem City’s finest

Could it be that we’ll  have two playoff games in town for the opening week of the playoffs on Halloween weekend?

No one is surprised by the fact Quincy Notre Dame is angling for a home contest. The Raiders moved to 8-0 by slugging its way past Peoria Notre Dame 14-0 at 10th and Jackson. Daniel Weiman bounced back after a rough start to score two touchdowns, which was more than enough for QND’s dominant defense.

Raise of hands for those of you who thought in August that Quincy High School would be angling for a home playoff game going into the final week of the season. (And if you’re raising your hand, you’re either lying or your name is Rick Little.) The Blue Devils have a very real shot of playing a first-round game at Flinn after a 29-14 victory over state-ranked Rock Island Alleman on Friday. It isn’t going to be easy at Chatham Glenwood (6-2) next week, but these Blue Devils are so confident in themselves, there’s no telling what they can do.

Seven up

With Pleasant Hill’s surprising 14-13 victory over Jacksonville Routt on Friday night, we’ll have seven teams waiting next Saturday night to hear where they’ll be shipped for the IHSA playoffs.

The Wolves will be back in the playoff field for the first time since 1998 after winning their sixth game of the season. The Wolves were left out of the playoff mix two years ago despite getting the five wins needed for playoff consideration. Be on the lookout this week for a Matt Goldberg story on Pleasant Hill’s Evan Borrowman, it’s a pretty amazing piece.

Also playoff-bound are Brown County, Central-Southeastern, Illini West, Pittsfield, QHS and QND.

District doings

The opening night of district play in Missouri had just one tiny surprise. North Shelby’s tailspin continued with a 24-0 loss at Schuyler County, which had won just once going into the night. I figured the district with those two, Knox County and Scotland County was going to be a tough call. I picked North Shelby to win the district, but that’s not looking so good after Friday’s upset.

Knox defended its home turf with a solid 19-12 victory over Scotland and can clinch a playoff berth with a win at North next Friday. (By the way, did Keenan Gillaspy also make the popcorn at Ella Campbell Field in Edina, Mo., on Friday night. He did everything else.)

Everything else went according to play. Hannibal rolled to another shutout win, which was no surprise.

Caught some heat from a local know-it-all for picking the Pirates to win their district and a Brookfield win over Clark County in Week 10. Halloween eve will be a good night of football in the Show-Me State. Mr. Know-It-All will owe me a powder blue Andres Nocioni Kings jersey if I go 2-0 on those.

Go crazy, LaSalle-Peru! Go crazy!

Posted by dobrien – October 16, 2009

To get you ready for another Friday night of high school football, check out this story from the NewsTribune in LaSalle, Ill.

For the first time since 1919 — yes, 1919 — LaSalle-Peru’s football team beat Geneseo. And the Cavaliers did it on the Maple Leafs’ home field when kicker Jake Steele nailed a 25-yard field goal in the final minute for a 38-36 victory.

And it’s not like the teams rarely play. They play on an annual basis and have meet twice in a season before. So the boys from L-P broke what was roughly a 100-game losing streak to Geneseo, which is coached by former Pittsfield coach Larry Johnsen.

Guess the folks at Geneseo have a big victory bell that they ring after every win. They had police officers and school administrators surrounding it last week so that none of those L-P people could get their mitts on it. After 90 years, they should have let the L-P folks have their fun.

• • •

Ever wonder how the various stadiums used by Western Big Six Conference schools for football games got their names. Steve Tappa of the Moline Dispatch has a nice breakdown of each was named. Here’s what he wrote about Quincy’s Flinn Stadium:

— Quincy’s Flinn Stadium: Named after Bernard W. Flinn, a 1907 Quincy grad who became chairman of the board for the Rockford Life Insurance Co. Flinn, who had no children, died in 1972 as a widower, and left nearly $1.8 million to the Quincy Public Schools’ building fund, with the priority being a new athletic complex.

The check arrived in July of 1974, and after construction, the first game played at the facility was a boys’ soccer game between Quincy and Quincy Notre Dame on Sept. 12, 1979. 

The stadium was officially dedicated in Flinn’s honor on Oct. 13, 1979, during Quincy’s football homecoming activities. 

Slap of the Week — Oct. 16

Posted by dobrien – October 16, 2009

Thanks, Dave Checketts. Thanks for nothing, expect boosting Rush Limbaugh’s ratings and giving Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson another platform.

Even though the news of Rush Limbaugh’s quest to buy the St. Louis Rams broke last week, it wasn’t until a slow news cycle this week that everyone decided to jump on the story. Al and Jessie got involved. One NFL owner spoke out. It was a big mess, until Checketts announced that Rush wasn’t right for the group

I don’t blame Rush here. He is who he is — love him or hate him. He claims that Checketts had his involvement cleared from a bunch of high-level NFL folks. If that was the case, those same people hung Checketts out to dry.

Checketts has done some great things already with the St. Louis Blues and will do the same if his group buys the Rams. Maybe he can at least give Rush a few freebies if he buys the team. He owes him — and the rest of us — for all of the hoopla.