By Ben Cox
Boys Soccer
The Jacksonville High School boys’ soccer team is in the midst of one of its best stretches in recent memory. The team is on a six-game winning streak with one tie in between dating back to September 4. The Crimsons are currently 9-2-1 and 3-1-1 in Central State 8 Conference play so far. They have a tough stretch ahead with long-time rivals Quincy, Macomb and Sacred Heart-Griffin coming up within the next week.
A bit of school history was recently set in a game against Athens on September 17 at Alumni Field. Senior forward Joe Reif broke the school’s all-time assists record. The old record of 40 career assists was held by Ryan May set in 2014. Reif finished the game with four assists against Athens, bumping his total to 42. We’ll keep an eye on where he finishes the season.
Volleyball
The Triopia volleyball team is certainly eyeing the WIVC Conference crown after wins over North Greene and last year’s state title winners Calhoun this past week.
Circle October 7 on your calendar. That’s when Triopia will face off against Carrollton — the other undefeated conference team. Carrollton is looking for a return to dominance after Calhoun had their way with 1A teams last year. Triopia has some battles ahead this week against 2A foe Auburn as well as Routt and Havana this week.
Routt continues to have stretches of stagnant offense on the season. After picking up two wins in tournament play this week and a win at Griggsville, the Rockets struggled to put points on the board at times against Hart-Em and then inconsistency led to a three-set loss against Greenfield-Northwestern.
Outside of the aforementioned match with Triopia, the Rockets will take on Payson-Seymour and Springfield Lutheran this week. West Central still finds themselves winless at this time. Carrollton, Beardstown and Barry-Western are on the schedule this week for the Cougars. South County has an interesting match up this week. Head Coach Tyann Hallock will face off against her former team Greenfield-Northwestern.
The Lady Vipers have shown flashes of brilliance this season, but are currently 8-7. They are on a 3-game losing streak heading into the week.
The Jacksonville Lady Crimsons have put together their best stretch of volleyball in the past week. They went 3-1 coming out of tournament play, with the lone loss to top rated Normal U-High. The Crimsons have a rough stretch before the Troy Triad Tournament next month, with games coming up against Quincy, Glenwood, Decatur-MacArthur and SHG.
Football
The Jacksonville Crimsons shut out the Lanphier Lions on the road 48-0 this past week. It was a must-win game for the Crimsons. They will now have to find 3 more wins over the next five weeks to be in line for a playoff berth. Springfield Southeast has been a tricky opponent for them in years past.
The Spartans will be on a short week after their Saturday game was postponed due to weather and finished on Monday this week. West Central had high hopes in a high-profile match up with Carrollton this past week. However, penalties and difficulty defending the passing game upended those hopes with a 15-12 loss. A late 44-yard Carson Flowers touchdown pass to Brady Clendenen sealed the Cougars’ fate. Next week isn’t any easier for the Cougars as they welcome in top-rate Calhoun.
Triopia’s Grant Fricke returned from injury while the Routt Rockets scored for the first time this season in a game where Triopia won 26-7. Routt scored for the first time in four games on its opening drive on a 2-yard run by Gavan Sheehan. Triopia answered on the next drive with a score of their own. The Trojans took the lead for good after scoring on their first possession in the second quarter.
Routt is now 0-4. Triopia is 2-2. Routt visits Beardstown while Triopia gets the tough test in state-ranked Brown County.
Illinois College
The University of Chicago jumped out to a 24-7 lead and then held off a Blueboys rally in football on September 20 for a 24-21 win. The Blueboys dropped to 2-1 overall and 1-1 in conference action. The Blueboys will have a bye this week and return to action on October 4th when they welcome Lawrence University to England Stadium for the annual homecoming contest. Kick-off is set for 1 p.m.
Joey Hernandez scored in the 72nd minute and the Illinois College men’s soccer team remained unbeaten in its last five matches with a 1-0 win over Elmhurst on September 20 at home. IC moved to 5-1-2 in the men’s season. The Blueboys will close out the non-conference portion of the season on September 23 at home at 7 p.m. against Westminster.
The Illinois College women’s tennis squad swept a pair of dual meets on September 20 at home. IC stopped Franklin, 7-0, in the morning match before coming back in the afternoon to stop Olivet Nazarene, 6-1, in the afternoon. The Lady Blues are now 6-5 overall.
The Illinois College volleyball team wrapped up play at the Illinois College Invitational on September 20, splitting their matches with Nebraska Wesleyan in the morning and Central College (Iowa) in the afternoon. The Lady Blues are now 4-8 on the season. They are heading to Wisconsin this weekend for a tournament at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
