By Craig Lang | Prairie Advocate Sports

NISHF Meeting

The Northern Illinois Sports Hall of Fame Committee will meet on Wednesday, November 7th at Manny’s Pizza in Savanna. An “Attitude Adjustment” will be held at 5:45 with dinner at 6:30 and the meeting to follow. Members are urged to attend. The purpose of the meeting will be to evaluate the 2012 induction banquet and set the calendar for next year. Members are asked to RSVP to Brian Reusch.

IHSA Volleyball Sectionals

Class 1A Polo Sectional

October 30

Rockford (Keith Country Day) 2 Newark 0 (25-14, 25-17)

Stockton 2 Erie 0 (26-24, 25-17)

November 1

Rockford (Keith Country Day) 2 Stockton 1 (21-25, 25-20, 25-16)

Class 2A Byron Sectional

October 30

Dakota 2 North Boone 0 (25-6, 25-13)

Oregon 2 Westmont 1 (25-7, 22-25, 25-22)

November 1

Dakota 2 Oregon 0 (25-13, 25-22)

Class 3A Mendota Sectional

October 30

Dunlap 2 Freeport 0 (25-21, 25-18)

Rock Falls 2 LaSalle-Peru 0 (25-20, 25-16)

November 1

Rock Falls 2 Dunlap 0 (25-11, 25-18)

IHSA Volleyball Super Sectionals

Class 1A

At Eastland

November 3

Rockford (Keith Country Day) 2 Elgin (Harvest Christian Academy) 1 (18-25, 25-19, 25-18)

Class 2A

At Pecatonica

November 3

Dakota 2 Chicago (University) 0 (25-10, 25-9)

At Serena

November 3

Port Byron/Riverdale 2 Watseka 0 (25-23, 25-19)

Class 3A

At Galesburg

November 3

Champaign (Centennial) 2 Rock Falls 0 (25-17, 25-21)

IHSA Volleyball State Finals

At Redbird Arena, Normal

Class 1A

November 9

Mt Pulaski vs. Valmeyer – 9 a.m.

Rockford (Keith Country Day) vs. Kansas (Coop) – 10:30 a.m.

November 10

Third Place game – 9 a.m.

Championship game – 10:30 a.m.

Class 2A

November 9

Dakota vs. Edwards County – 12 noon

Deer Creek-Mackinaw vs. Port Byron/Riverdale – 1:30 p.m.

November 10

Third Place game – 12:25 p.m.

Championship game – 1:55 p.m.

Class 3A

November 9

Champaign (Centennial) vs. Wheaton (St. Francis) – 4:30 p.m.

Rickmond-Burton vs. Jacksonville – 6 p.m.

November 10

Third Place game – 4 p.m.

Championship game – 5:30 p.m.

Comets Grind Out The Win

In a close first half, the Sterling Newman Comets did what they do best in the second half to claim the twelve point win at Roscoe Eades Stadium on Saturday in Sterling.

Newman scored first to go up seven to nothing but the Titans responded with a score to knot the contest at seven. Sophomore Dillan Heffelfinger’s four yard TD run put the Comets up thirteen to seven in the third quarter.

Sterling Newman used running backs Nick Rude, Heffelfinger and Brian Bahrs to pound the football down the field and run the clock. The Comets went up nineteen to seven as Heffelfinger again found the end zone. An eight yard run by Martel Hunter closed the gap to five points with just over eleven minutes tp play. Newman drove down the field and scored their final TD on a run by Bahrs to seal the Comet victory.

Rude led the Comets ground game, rushing the ball twenty seven times for one hundred seventy nine yards. Hunter, who piled up over seventeen hundred yards for the season, was held to just seventy two yards on twenty seven carries for the Titans.

The Comets (9-2) travel to Wilmington to face the (9-2) Wildcats in the Class 3A Quarterfinals.

Forreston Earns Overtime Win

Despite not being known as a primarily passing team, the Cardinals used the pass effectively on Saturday to down the Ottawa Marquette Crusaders 35-34 in overtime.

Forreston QB Brett Carlson put the Cardinals on the board first as he found Robert DeVries with an eleven yard scoring strike to put Forreston up. The Crusaders came right back with a score to knot the game at seven. Carlson found DeVries again with a sixty nine yard pass that put the Cardinals up thirteen to seven.

Ottawa Marquette jumped out to a fifteen point lead (28-13) in the third as Crusader Curtiss Johnson scored his first TD of the game. A nine play, sixty four yard drive by Forreston was capped off with a Ross Williams two yard TD run to cut the Crusader lead to just seven points with just under thirty seconds left in the third quarter.

A recovered onside kick led to a five yard score by Bryan Kraft and the two point conversion attempt was good to knot the contest at twenty eight with just under ten minutes left to play. Johnson again found the end zone to put Ottawa Marquette on top thirty four to twenty eight. The two point conversion failed setting up the Cardinals for the win.

On fourth and goal from the four yard line, Carlson found DeVries again and the Williams extra point kick gave the Cardinals the win. Carlson threw for ninety nine yards in the game, all to DeVries. Kraft ran the ball twenty three times for one hundred five yards. Johnson led the Crusaders with one hundred thirty yards on twenty six carries.

The victory advances Forreston (9-2) to the Class 1A Quarterfinals where they face the (9-2) Stark County Rebels in Toulon.

Le-Win Tops Hales Franciscan

The Panthers scored first on Saturday in Chicago as Shay Chenong caught a TD pass to put the Panthers up seven to nothing. A Patrick Nelson forty five yard TD reception knotted the score at seven. Chenong snagged another pass for a score to put Le-Win up thirteen to seven. A forty five yard punt return for a score by Tyler Oakley put the Panthers up nineteen to seven.

A blocked punt by Panther Tyler Walker was recovered by Hales in the end zone for a Panther safety putting them up twenty one to seven. A fifty seven yard run by Hales Franciscan’s Joe Morrow cut the Panther lead to twenty one to fourteen just before the half.

A fumble by Hales QB Donovan Jenkins was recovered by Le-Win, setting up an Austin Mancosky TD run to put the Panthers up twenty seven to fourteen. Hales scored their final TD with just a few ticks left on the clock and their onside kick attempt went out of bound to seal the victory for Le-Win.

The Panthers (9-2) travel to Stockton to face the undefeated (11-0) Blackhawks in the Quarterfinals.

IHSA 2nd Round Football Playoff Scores

Class 1A

November 3

Forreston 35 Ottawa Marquette 34 (OT)

Le-Win 27 Hales Franciscan 21

Stockton 44 Galena 7

Class 2A

November 3

Amboy 43 Orion 18

Mercer County 42 Rockford Lutheran 14

Class 3A

November 3

Sterling Newman 26 Monmouth-Roseville 14

Winnebago 56 Elmwood (Brimfield Coop) 20

Class 4A

November 3

Rock Island Alleman 42 Stillman Valley 7

Coal City 12 Geneseo 10

Class 5A

November 3

Lombard Montini 24 Sycamore 22

Class 7A

November 3

Rockford Boylan 22 Oak Park Fenwick 21

Lake Zurich 17 Rockton Hononegah 6

IHSA Football Quarter Finals

Class 1A

November 10

#5 (9-2) Le-Win at #1 (11-0) Stockton – Sat. Nov. 10 at 1 p.m.

#7 (9-2) Forreston at #6 (9-2) Stark County – Sat. Nov. 10 at 5 p.m.

Class 2A

November 10

#2 (11-0) Mercer County at #4 (9-2) Amboy – Sat. Nov. 10 at 1 p.m.

Class 3A

November 10

#2 (11-0) Sterling Newman at #11 (9-2) Wilmington – Sat. Nov. 10 at 5 p.m.

#9 (9-2) Winnebago at #4 (10-1) Aurora Christian – Sat. Nov. 10 at 6 p.m.

Class 4A

November 10

#1 (10-1) Rock Island Alleman at #2 (10-1) Coal City – Sat. Nov. 10 at 2 p.m.

Class 7A

November 10

#2 (11-0) Rockford Boylan at #6 (9-2) Lake Zurich – Sat. Nov. 10 at 1 p.m.