Why don’t local television stations broadcast high school sports? I would think there would be interest. I suppose it’s possible schools and the IHSA feel like it would hurt attendance, but I think it would be cool. That way I could Tivo the Tuscola game and go to the Maroa game. I can’t imagine that it’s a cost thing. Radio stations find sponsors. Surely TV could too. If there are any TV guys out there reading this, post or drop me an email. I’d just like to know. I do know that years ago, there were stations in the Quad Cities (Rock Island, Moline area) that did aired some big basketball games.

Anyway, tomorrow’s games should be fun. I predict all three Okaw Valley teams make the finals. And I’m not just being an Okaw homer. Tuscola, Maroa-Forsyth and Tolono Unity, I feel, are the better teams.

And, I think in a show of Okaw solidarity, the guy from Central A&M with the semi horn should go to Marshall today. Let’s all let bygones be bygones.

Saturday’s IHSA Class 2A quarterfinals game between Central A&M and Maroa-Forsyth at Maroa will be remembered as much for what happened before the game as what happened during, and that’s OK by me.

Many years from now, what people will remember from the game is who won (Maroa), the plane with the banner flying over the field and the silencing of A&M’s horn.

I don’t know that I’ve ever witnessed a more fun, over-the-top interaction between supporters of two schools than the horn saga. For those who weren’t there or weren’t there in time to see it, Maroa’s announcer began reading a notice well before the game started saying horns and whistles are illegal noisemakers and are not allowed. Anyone familiar with A&M football has heard the loud semi truck horn frequently sounded before the game and during touchdowns. As Maroa’s announcer is reading the notice, the horn starts going off and doesn’t stop until he stops reading. The announcer paused, then started reading again and the horn started going off again.
A few minutes later, the announcer reads the notice again and the horn is quiet. He waited a second until after it was read, then honked it again for quite awhile. Maroa fans were going bonkers on their side, yelling “That’s illegal. Kick him out of here.” HILARIOUS.

Why can’t the IHSA have a common sense rule for noisemaking? If someone is disrupting the game with a horn, etc., boot him. If he’s just sounding it after touchdowns … I’ve seen cannons shot off at places. What’s the big deal?

One last complaint about the IHSA: During the first quarter, the officials called a penalty on A&M for “illegal equipment,” then after A&M pointed out something on a Maroa player, flagged the Trojans for the same thing. It was a wrist band or some stupid thing. There are too many needless, picky rules like this. Either allow wristbands or don’t. Don’t make it complicated, where the players don’t know what’s legal and what’s not. It’s not like the players on both teams were wearing them trying to get away with something. I completely agreed with Maroa coach Josh Jostes when he said to the officials, “This is a big game fellas. Let’s go.”

I need to dig up some info on Marshall before I start talking about next week’s game. I’ll be the first to admit I didn’t give Marshall a chance against Casey. They surprised me. They have to be pretty good to have beaten Casey, so Maroa will have its hands full. But so will Marshall.

I stand by my preseason and pre-playoff pick for Tuscola to win 1A state. I don’t think Routt stands a chance next week, though the championship game against either Lexington or Lena-Winslow won’t be easy.

Fine job by Leroy Bridges today covering both state volleyball (Mount Pulaski finished second and Cumberland third) and Tuscola football. He earned his stripes today. Respect to the Leroy, and congrats to the Hilltoppers and Pirates on great seasons.

I couldn’t let Justin get his picks in without sharing my thoughts.
Here are my picks:
A&M and Maroa: For sure going to be close. Crazy analytical I know, but the team that commits the most turnovers will lose and that will be Central A&M. Maroa wins by one score.

South Fulton at Tuscola: The Warriors have way too much to play for right now. Even if Tuscola didn’t care about this game it might be a tough one for South Fulton to win.

Marshall at Casey: I don’t know much about either team, but what I do know is that Casey still hasn’t lost. Casey continues to get the job done.

Pana at Greenville: Pana is my team right now. It’s a quality story about what seems to be a good team that’s still flying under the radar. Panthers stomp Greenville 20-0.

I have to give major props to Cumberland’s volleyball team and its coach, Monica McNeil.
McNeil took the team back over this season and the Pirates didn’t let the loss of four seniors hold them down this year. At the state finals against Lanark Eastland on Friday, Cumberland shocked me with its ability to jump and hit with a team that was bigger and stronger. Seniors Macy Shupe and Brittany Whitaker easily held their own against several girls 5-foot-9 and taller.
On top of Shupe and Whitaker’s performances, they were obviously great leaders given the fact that the team started a freshman and sophomore (both at the middle hitter position) and the team still made a run to the state finals.
Obviously, McNeil and Cumberland will miss Shupe and Whitaker, but the team is going to poised for another run next year because it’s going to have stellar hitters with now sophomore Mercedes Sparks and now freshman Kassidy Hunt. The two are 5-foot-9 and 5-foot-8, respectively, so I would expect both to grow more in the next 10 months.
Meanwhile, Mount Pulaski continues to get it done under Donna Dulle. All this team does in win when it matters. What more do you want from a team? The Toppers struggled big time early, but they were never out of it and cruised in the third game of their victory.
This was the first time I have ever covered any state volleyball and the experience was fun. I will be headed back to Normal Saturday morning to cover both Cumberland’s third-place match and Mount Pulaski state championship match.
Then I will be off to Tuscola for the Warriors’ game against Astoria South Fulton.
Enjoy a great weekend of sports.

Wow, I am really looking forward to the Central A&M at Maroa-Forsyth game on Saturday. I love high school sports, but I’ve been covering it for more than a decade now, so there’s not a lot I feel truly excited to cover. But this is definitely one of those. The other one this season was, of course, the Maroa/St. Teresa rivalry game because it was first time covering it. But when you get a late-round playoff football game between two really good area teams, the atmosphere is fun to be a part of.

Here are my picks:

A&M and Maroa: This should be a close one. And as I mentioned before, much lower scoring than the previous game. A&M impressed me with its win over PORTA, but I think Maroa may have one or two more athletes at key positions. I’ll take Maroa 24-21, with Alex Chiligiris finally getting that game-winning field goal.

South Fulton at Tuscola: I don’t see South Fulton gaining more than 150 yards in this game. Tuscola will win 21-0.

Marshall at Casey: Casey has only gotten better since beating Marshall in the first game of the season. Marshall has played well since, too, but the Warriors made a statement with their decisive win over Red Bud last week and win this one 35-7.

Pana at Greenville: Pana has been the most pleasant surprise of the playoffs in this area. The Panthers just seem to find ways to win, and I think they’ll do it this week as well. Pana 13, Greenville 7

Other 1A picks: Triopia over Routt; Lexington over United; Lena-Winslow over East Dubuque
Other 2A picks: Morrison over Orion; Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley over Wethersfield
Other 3A picks: Unity over Nashville; Stillman Valley over Sterling Newma

This time of year can make for some long days in the sports department, but one of my favorite things as a sportswriter is traveling places I haven’t been before. There was some beautiful country on the drive to Bismarck, especially on Henning Road (which was a great way to go because it bypassed Danville).

Besides that, there wasn’t much else to say about the trip other than Maroa looked really good against an overmatched Blue Devils. And I think anyone who made the trip will remember the overzealous PA guy who growled, “FIRST DOWN BLUE DEVILS,” even when it was just the start of a drive after kickoff. Oh, and I noticed on the way into town on a sign that their Blue Devil was the Duke cartoony type. Then at the game I saw people wearing T-shirts with the more sinister Quincy-type Blue Devil (I don’t know if it originated in Quincy, but that’s where I first knew it). Anyway, they should make up their minds.

Saturday was a great day for the Okaw (four quarterfinal teams for the second straight year), especially for the players, coaches and people like me who preach how good a conference it is. Thank you Okaw teams, particularly Maroa and Tuscola, for making me look smart. I have to admit I was surprised at how well A&M played against PORTA, particularly on defense. I have a feeling the rematch between A&M and Maroa will be a lot lower scoring than the first meeting.

Last year we wrote a story on how awesome it was that the Okaw had four teams make quarterfinals, and I wrote the story, so it jinxed them and they all lost. So this year we’re not going to write that story. But I did want to thank Dalton Coventry for assuring me at today’s game that I’m not a jinx.

The second round of the playoffs is where teams’ seasons can go from good to great. Outside of maybe five or 10 programs statewide, a quarterfinal run is a memorable and successful season.

Here is a quick look at the area teams playing second-round games today:

Maroa-Forsyth at Bismark-Henning: In addition to hitting its stride at the right time, Maroa-Forsyth got an extremely fortunate draw. Even if Staunton had made that two-point conversion and advanced instead of Bismark, its a mismatch against Maroa. Maroa has made it to at least the quarterfinals the last three years. This is the first time Bismark has made it past the first round since 2002. The Blue Devils have never made the quarterfinals. Also, I think Bismark will struggle trying to stop Stelzriede to Washburn.

Petersburg PORTA at Central A&M: This has the potential to be one of those brutal defensive struggles that comes down to who blinks. A&M is pretty good against the run — especially when it knows what’s coming. But PORTA is no slouch. Yards won’t come easy for Evan Hayes, which means Collin Townsend and Lance Napier are going to need another big game. The key will be avoiding turnovers, because PORTA isn’t likely to make many mistakes.

Tuscola at Brown County: Everyone knows about Brown County’s domination through 10 game (the Hornets have outscored opponents 467-9). There’s no doubt this is a strong team. But other than maybe Concord Triopia, which Brown County beat 10-3, Tuscola is the best team the Hornets will have faced. Brown County played a strictly 1A schedule against teams including the Illinois School for the Deaf and the team ISD beat — Virginia (please don’t take this as an attack against the deaf. I covered the school for four years. ISD has a strong football tradition, but the program has been really bad for a decade). Also, Brown County has exactly two playoff wins in the last 26 years. Tuscola grew up watching long playoff runs every year. And lastly, if Brown County can run the ball on Tuscola, it will be the first team to do it with any real success this year — and that includes Tolono Unity, St. Teresa, Central A&M and Maroa-Forsyth. Now, exactly who is and isn’t in the Warriors’ lineup this week is another story…

Casey-Westfield at Red Bud: This is a tricky second-round matchup, and a real threat to trip up what could have been a march to Champaign for the Warriors. The only time this season Red Bud scored fewer than 32 points was a 27-20 loss to Breese Central. And the Musketeers’ other loss was to Freeburg, 49-41, and we all know what Freeburg accomplished last Friday. Casey should still win this, but it will most likely be its first close game all year.

Anna-Jonesboro at Pana: A-J has the playoff pedigree, but the Panthers have a legitimate shot at their first quarterfinals appearance ever. Outside of the final regular season game when they gave up 24 to Hillsboro, the Panthers’ defense is stout. They play a brand of football that often leads to success in the playoffs, and this isn’t the A-J team of a couple of years ago. The biggest obstacle Pana will have to overcome is its lack of playoff experience, especially against a team that has plenty.

Monticello at Illini West: First of all, Monticello coach Cullen Welter is one of the very few (only?) coaches in the state that has played Illini West coach Jim Unruh more than a couple of times and has a winning record against him. At Aledo, he was 5-2 against Unruh and 3-1 in playoffs. In fact, he won the first five times he faced Unruh until Aledo fell in both games it played against Illini West last year. No matter what happens this week, Welter has likely wrapped up the area coach of the year award. But Monticello is going to have a tough time beating what is one of the state’s true powerhouse programs.

Effingham at Quincy Notre Dame: QND’s conference isn’t particularly impressive, and the Hearts should give the Raiders a close game. But QND has been successful in the playoffs over the last several years, and that run probably won’t end here.

After the first quarter of Saturday’s Class 3A playoff game between Auburn and St. Teresa, I was fully prepared for a running clock in the fourth quarter. Auburn passed the ball at will on the Bulldogs, and St. Teresa couldn’t move the ball at all against the Trojans’ big line. Two quarters later, when Jeremy Ruderman broke out of that pile for a 29-yard touchdown to pull the Bulldogs within one, I admitted to St. T stat guy Doug Dehority that I didn’t see that coming.

Auburn had its best passing game of the season against St. Teresa. When that was pointed out to St. Teresa coach Scott Davis, he said, “Yeah, that’s nice to hear. That’s all I want to hear — that every time we play somebody that they played their best game of the year.”

My interview with Davis after the game was interesting — much more colorful than usual. Let’s just say that his quote in my article concerning Ryan Smith’s fumble had a few words missing. But I’ll say this: While Davis can come across as abrasive to the media, he is fair with us. He takes his job seriously and gives serious and thoughtful answers. I’ll admit that I’m not a fan of his policy of not allowing his players talk to the media, and would love to work something out to change that, but I’ve come to understand him more this year and definitely have a lot of respect for him as a coach. My interviews with his former players for the St. T/Maroa rivalry story were enlightening.

I was highly impressed with Auburn’s passing plays. Bates is an innovative play caller and his son is the real deal as a QB. I did think Bates got too conservative at times, especially considering St. T had no shot at stopping their passing game. And it was weird, especially considering I don’t think he’s normally conservative.

On the Ryan Smith fumble, I have no idea whether it was a fumble or not. I could never be an official. I’m too used to instant replay on TV. I know it was close, and I heard a guy with a camera on the sideline had a picture that showed he was down, but I really don’t know. I did think the side judge’s first flag against St. T’s assistant coach came a little quick, but he gave him fair warning on the second one.

Also, the kid that got hurt late in the game for Auburn — James Dambacher — was taken to St. John’s Hospital in Springfield, but Bates said after the game that they thought he would be OK. He did lose consciousness briefly and had some neck pain, but he had feeling everywhere and was aware of his surroundings. But seeing his mom out there on the field and seeing him laying on that stretcher really got me to thinking. I love football, but here’s hoping my son (he’s 19 months) is a baseball player.

I’m still shocked at what I just saw in Mount Zion. The way the Braves had dominated their opponents this year, I didn’t think there was any way Freeburg had a shot at Mount Zion. This was just another expample of why you can’t play the chain game — the philosophy that because Breese Mater Dei beat Freeburg, Effingham beat Breese Mater Dei and Mount Zion beat Effingham, that Mount Zion would beat Freeburg.

A lot of people will pile on about Mount Zion’s weak schedule, but I’m not sure that’s completely accurate. Effingham won its first-round game against a tough Belleville Althoff team that, frankly, I thought would beat the Hearts. I think, more than anything, it was a bad night for Mount Zion and a great night for Freeburg. The Braves made some really costly penalties, and Freeburg took some chances that, if they hadn’t worked out, could have led to Mount Zion winning easily. The Braves did win the line of scrimmage, for the most part. They didn’t dominate it, but they were better on the line, and that’s usually a recipe for a win.

Maroa appears to be back after its struggles from the middle of the season. Leroy Bridges covered the game and said Maroa is the best team he’s seen this season. Even more impressive is that the Trojans won in sloppy conditions. They’re a versatile team, and with Justin Barnes back, a dangerous team. He was what they were missing — that extra playmaker. It also helps Coventry has emerged.

Tuscola shutting out Cumberland is a good sign in the first round. I think this could be a trend. Brown County won’t be easy, but the Hornets run the wing-T, and that plays into Tuscola’s hands. I think a spread team has a better chance against the Warriors than a team running into the teeth of that defense.

I think the IHSA has a great system for the football playoffs. In fact, I haven’t heard of any state with a better one (though I wish it were still six classes). Having to earn your way in and basing seeds on wins and the total number of your opponent’s wins is brilliant.
But I do have a problem with the way they pair the teams. Why have such an efficient system, only to ruin it by worrying about travel? I’d love to see them seed the teams 1-32 based on wins and playoff points — like they already do — then pair it like a true playoff. No. 1 should play No. 32, No. 2 should play No. 31, etc.
Football fans WILL travel for the playoffs, no matter if it’s one hour or five hours. I realize cost is an issue, but nearly every team in the state has a booster program. Trust me, when it comes to football, there are plenty of deep pockets. Plus, it would save the IHSA the headache of having to worry about travel, and having to hear people complain about being treated unfairly by the system.
And I’ll admit, I love going to places I haven’t been and seeing the state. And I think that’s good for the players, too.
I’ve always thought it would be cool if, when a team is on a playoff run in any sport, a history or geography teacher at the school devoted a day to learning about the town the team is traveling to.