Eagles fall to Cats
By TERRY LIDY
It was another tough night for the Eagles last Friday as they closed out their 2009 Apollo season with a 20-0 loss to the Salem Wildcats at Jim Finks Field.
Salem scored single touchdowns in the first and second quarters and added a third quarter score to send the Eagles to their fifth straight setback as the scoring drought continued.
The Eagles got the ball first in this contest as Zak Snearley returned Zeke Light's kick to the 29. A screen pass from Brian Emmerich to Jake Pilman gained to the 38 on the first play, but the Eagles were flagged for holding on the gain to set them back to the 21 to set the stage.
The Eagles failed to overcome the penalty advancing only to the 32 as Emmerich passed to Alex Frohning. On fourth down, Dustin Hord punted to the Salem 31 with 9:13 left. From that point, Salem marched 69-yards in 5 plays with the final 24-yards covered by Shane Prosise with a run around right end.
With 7:14 left, the Eagles trailed 6-0 as a two point conversion run failed.
Back on offense after Caleb Will returned to his 35, the Eagles had their best drive of the night as Jake Pilman and Alex Frohning carried to the 50 on four runs. Facing a 3rd and 6, Emmerich passed to Kelby McCoy to the Cats 45. On fourth and one, Frohning gained a first down at the 44. Next Emmerich tossed an 11-yarder to Jerry Howze to the 32 after a short Frohning carry.
The drive continued as Pilman plowed ahead to the 18. Emmerich then tossed a 3-yarder to Frohning. On a running play, Frohning gave the Eagles a first and goal at the 6 as the quarter ended 6-0, but with the Eagles knocking on the door.
The Eagles had possession of the ball over the final seven minutes of the first quarter. Now they needed to punch in a score and take the lead. After a Pilman carry and an Emmerich run gained only a yard, Emmerich looked for McCoy in the endzone. However, his pass was picked off by Cory Kloppendahl, a 215 lb. linebacker who lumbered down to the Eagle 13 before being caught from behind. It was a revolting change of momentum.
However, to their credit, the Eagle defense dug in as the Cats advanced only to the 10. On fourth down, QB Jace Hall was flushed from the pocket and threw the ball away for intentional grounding.
The Eagles gained only to the 17 as yardage was tough to come by and Hord punted to the Eagle 44 with 7:00 remaining in the half. A run by Prosise to the 40 resulted in a 15-yard face mask penalty on the Eagles to the 25. Once again the Eagle defense stiffened and held with 3:51 left. Starting from the 25, the Eagles moved the chains to the 36 on a Pilman run. However, Newton advanced to only the 40 and Hord punted to Quentin Garrison darted to his 40. Next, Doug Hanns carried to the Eagle 40, but Salem was guilty of a holding penalty which put the ball back to their 30 with 1:06 left. Next Kloppendahl broke free and carried to the Eagle 24. During the run, Salem was called for holding at the Eagle 28 with 8.2 seconds left in the half.
With a first down at the Eagle 38, Coach Jason Fulton called a timeout to discuss the last play strategy before the half.
When play resumed, Salem QB Hall pitched back to Bryce Harris, another QB in the game, who launched a long toss down the middle to Dan Conklin who had freed himself behind the Eagle secondary. As Conklin caught the ball near the 5 and was about to be tackled, he turned and lateraled to his right to Blake Phillips to complete the old hook and ladder play. It was another revolting twist as the half ended 12-0 as a two-point run failed.
Down 12-0, the Eagles stopped Salem on their first possession in the second half as Light punted to the Eagle 27 with 9:38 left. The Eagles went three plays and out as Hord punted for Newton to Garrison who returned to the Eagle 46 with 8:42 remaining.
On their first play at the 46, Prosise broke loose for a 32-yard gallop to the Eagle 14. Later Harris gave Salem a first and goal at the 4 with QB Hall scoring the final touchdown with a one-yard run at the 7:12 mark. Harris then converted a two-point run to make it 20-0.
After Jordan Kocher returned Light's kick to the 36, the Eagles went to the air where Emmerich's third down pass was picked off by Conklin at the Salem 41 with 5:11 left.
Salem however, failed to take advantage of the turnover as Light punted to Frohning who benefited from a crushing block by Pilman at the 33 yardline.
With both teams seeming aroused by the block, Salem was flagged 15-yards for a personal foul as Frohning ran to the 37. After the penalty, the Eagles were in Cat Country at the 48 with 3:16 left. When Emmerich passed to Pilman to the 38, Salem again was penalized for roughing Emmerich on the pass. Suddenly the Eagles were at the 23. However, the Eagles advanced only to the 20 on three Frohning carries. Then on fourth down, Salem held as Emmerich lost 4-yards as the quarter ended.
In the final period, Salem moved from the 24 to their 44, but the Eagles tightened up and forced Light to punt to the Eagle 26 with 9:16 left.
Here the Eagles went three plays and a punt as Hord punted to Hanus who returned from the Salem 48 to the Newton 10 with 6:40 left.
Once again to the Eagles credit, the defense rolled up their sleeves and denied Salem another score. First Austin Blair broke through and tackled Hanus for a 5-yard loss. Later, Derek Casey sacked QB Hall for a big loss as Salem kept moving backwards. The series ended as a brave bunch of Eagles stopped the Cats at the 21 with 4:35 remaining.
From there, the Eagles moved for a pair of first downs on runs by Alex Frohning, David Storer and Jake Pilman to the Salem 48. Here, the Eagles fumbled and Cole Boozer recovered for Salem to kill the final series of the night.
The statistics for the night were fairly close with the Eagles gaining nine first downs to Salem's eight. Both teams had trouble converting third down situations with the Eagles only one of eleven and Salem one of nine.
Despite the 20-0 final score, the Eagles defense limited Salem to 230 total yards. Two key plays were the pass interception in the end zone and the last play of the first half that produced Salem's second score.
"I thought the kids played hard, especially on the defensive side of the ball," said Coach Jason Fulton afterwards. "We made a couple of mistakes and Salem took advantage. All in all I was proud of the kids' effort. We ran hard, but we're just young. We're coming. It's encouraging that our offensive line will have all the guys coming back next season. I know it's frustrating for the kids, staff and community, but good things will come," added Fulton.
The Eagles finish the Apollo with a 1-5 record and are 2-6 overall going into the final game against Breese Mater Dei. Friday's game will be Senior Night.
"I would encourage everyone to come out and support these seniors. We would like to give them a nice farewell," concluded Fulton.
In other Apollo games last Friday, Mt. Zion claimed their second straight Apollo title with a 54-22 win over Olney. Robinson stopped Paris 28-7 and Effingham edged Charleston 26-21.
Final Apollo standings: Mt. Zion 7-0, Effingham 6-1. Robinson 5-2, Charleston 3-4, Salem 3-4, Paris 2-5, Newton 1-6 and Olney 0-7.
School records set at Apollo Cross Country
By TERRY LIDY
In finishing second at the Apollo Conference Cross Country meet last Tuesday at Sam Parr, the NCHS girls team broke three school records. Freshman Morgan Swingler set a new freshman record with a sixth place time of 18:28.10 to break the 2007 record of Maura Cummins which was 18:29.07.
Sophomore Jamie Michl set a new sophomore record with a fifth place time of 18:27.05 to break the 2002 record of Jenna Flowers which was 18:46.0. Michl's time also eclipsed the old varsity record of Maura Cummins of 18:29.07 set in 2007 over the 2.85-mile course.
Mt. Zion won the girls' title with 33 points as the Braves won three of the first four places. Taylor Green won the 2.85-mile race in 17:23.15.
Newton finished second with 55 points. Behind Jamie Michl and Morgan Swingler, Maura Cummins placed 12th in 19:16.05. Carly Niebrugge was 13th in 19:21.65. Jackie Michl finished 19th in 20:20.65. Cecilia Lindgren was 20th in 20:26.10. Erin Schackmann placed 24th in 20:53.96.
Other times turned in were by Katie Woods 21:24.80, Taylor Rauch 21:33.10, Kendra Kerner 21:41.55, Adrienne Ochs 25:39.10, Katie Simpson 28:26,35.
Other girls team results were Robinson with 69, Salem 81, Effingham 123, Charleston 163, Olney and Paris had no team score as 59 girls competed for All Apollo honors for the top 10 runners. With their fifth and sixth place finishes, Jamie Michl and Morgan Swingler were selected All Apollo.
In the boys' race, Mt. Zion made it a clean sweep with 57 points to second place Salem's 67. Robinson also had 67 with Salem declared second. Charleston was fourth with 73, Olney had 104, Effingham 181, Paris 185 and Newton 199.
Seventy-nine runners competed in the 2.85-mile race for All Apollo honors to the top 10. Newton's Ross Johnson finished ninth to earn All Apollo honors with a 15:09.15 time. Aaron Smith of Charleston won the boys meet in 14:32.85.
Other Eagle finishes were Levi Newton 39th in 16:53.80, Ridge Finn 49th 18:15.50, Jeffrey Short 50th 18:21.25, Evan Brooks 52nd 18:28.35, Corey Davidson 19:10.05, Austin Gowin 56th 21:57.0.
Eagle spikers handle Olney
By TERRY LIDY
In Apollo volleyball last Tuesday at Ron Herrin Gym in Olney, the NCHS Lady Eagles took both sets against the Lady Tigers 25-14, 25-16 to stay in first place in the Apollo with a 10-1 record.
Kimberlin Wallace led Newton with 10 kills, 9 assists, and 7 digs. Joni Hahn also had 9 assists and added 6 kills, and 3 digs. Whitney Koebele also had 6 kills and 5 digs. Another senior, Lucy Emmerich also had 5 digs as a defensive specialist. Emmerich and Wallace each had an ace.
Others who contributed to the victory were Nicole Schackmann with 4 digs, Terra Flowers had 2 digs, Beth Helmink, Sydney May and Erica Earnest each had a kill for the Lady Eagles now 17-6 overall.
Newton made it a clean sweep winning the freshman match 12-25, 25-20, 15-10 and the junior varsity game 19-25, 25-21, 25-9.
Newton, Ill. —
