Eagles suffer disappointing loss
By TERRY LIDY
It was a perfect night for the 2009 Homecoming honoring the Class of 1959 and crowning Caleb Will and Lucy Emmerich King and Queen. The only flaw was the outcome of the game, which went to Paris 22-8. Paris came in with 0-4 record in the Apollo and 0-5 overall, while the Eagles started the night at 1-3 in the Apollo and 2-3 overall.
As in the previous weeks, the Eagles had to play catch up as Paris scored first after a scoreless first quarter. The Tigers added a field goal to lead 9-0 at the half and scored again in the third period to build a 15-0 cushion before the Eagles rallied.
In the end, it was too much Levi Eslinger as the senior carried 35 times for 225-yards and scored twice to make the difference.
"Coming in we knew that Eslinger was probably one of the best backs in the conference and we prepared to stop him," said Eagle Coach Jason Fulton. Blessed with great speed and the ability to cut and dodge tacklers, Eslinger was a one man wrecking crew gaining 225 of Paris' 246 rushing yards.
A.J. Hyatt got the 2009 Homecoming game started as Blaize Kachmar returned the kick to the 40. With Eslinger carrying, Paris reached the Eagle 48. However, the Eagles held as Paris was forced to punt to the Eagle 20. The Eagles quickly gained a first down as Alex Frohning carried twice and Brian Emmerich gained a first down at the 33. Frohning next carried to the 35 and then to the 42. A Brian Emmerich to Jerry Howze pass reached the Paris 47 with 5:37 left. Next Emmerich hooked up with Kendall Bahl to the 36 for another first down.
Here the drive stalled and A.J. Hyatt punted to Eslinger who returned to the 20. On the play, Paris was called for holding which placed the ball at the 9 with 2:49 left. Now Eslinger became a factor as he carried four straight times to the 47 as the quarter wound down scoreless.
In the second quarter, Paris continued to march as Eslinger and company moved to the Eagle 11. On third down lefty QB Clay Bess fired an 11-yard strike to Devin Niebarger in the left corner of the end zone with 9:40 remaining for the first score. The PAT by Robert Morris was wide right, but Paris led 6-0 covering 91-yards in 11 plays.
Starting from their 20, the Eagles moved across the 30 as Emmerich passed to Caleb Will at the 33. A face mask penalty added 15-yards to the 48. A.J. Hyatt next carried on three straight plays to the Paris 44.
On fourth and two, the Eagles went for it, but Emmerich's pass was incomplete with 6:04 left in the half. Eslinger next carried for a first down to the Newton 43. Looking for the run, Paris went to the air as Bess found Ethan Mason for a 36-yard toss to the Eagle 7 with 3:47 left. Here the Eagles held Eslinger to 2-yards on consecutive carries to the 5. An incomplete pass made it fourth down and Paris decided on a field goal try by Morris. The 21-yard attempt was good as Paris took a 9-0 lead with 2:12 remaining.
Starting from their 33 after the Hyatt kickoff return, the Eagles proceeded to make a quick march westward. After Hyatt gained 8, Emmerich tossed a 12-yarder to Bahl at the Paris 48 with 1:17 left.
Emmerich stayed hot as he tossed a 10-yarder to Kelby McCoy at the 38 with 57 seconds left.
A pass interference call on Scott Lawrence of Paris moved the ball to the 23 on an attempt to Bahl. Next Emmerich tossed completions to Jerry Howze and Kelby McCoy to the Paris 3. Hyatt next ran to the one-yard line giving the Eagles a first and goal, but with only 15.8 seconds left. After Emmerich spiked the ball to stop the clock, an Alex Frohning run gained no yardage, forcing the Eagles to call a timeout with 8.2 seconds left. On third down, the Eagles failed to capitalize on the scoring opportunity as Emmerich's pass was incomplete as Paris put on a strong rush.
Jason Fulton disputed with the officials that time had not expired on the play. However, the officials changed nothing and the half ended with the Eagles empty-handed and trailing 9-0.
In the third quarter, the Eagles received as Connor Walters returned the pigskin to his 23. An illegal procedure penalty set the Eagles back 5, but they rebounded as Hyatt ran to the 25 and Emmerich connected with McCoy to the 37. After Hyatt lost 2-yards to the 35, Emmerich found Howze open for 17 to the Paris 48. However, Frohning fumbled on the next play as Paris recovered only fumbling too while advancing the ball. The end result was a break for the Eagles at the Paris 44 with 8:09 left. Emmerich quickly went for the jugular vein and found A.J. Hyatt while open behind the Paris defense. However, the ball slipped through Hyatt's hands. The play was contagious as the Eagles had two more dropped passes in the series as Paris held after the Eagles had advanced to the 25. It was a golden opportunity that went astray.
Paris regained the momentum as Eslinger circled right end to his 46 on first down. later facing a fourth down at the Eagle 44, the Tigers went for it in a short yardage situation. Eslinger kept the drive going with a run to the 39. From there, Bess passed to Lawrence to the 27 and Eslinger gave Paris a first and goal running to the 9. On the next play, Eslinger bolted 9 run for the score with 56 seconds left in the quarter. It was a revolting change of events. Paris tied for a 2-point conversion, but the run failed as Paris still led 15-0.
Now the Eagles desperately needed to get on the board as they started their next series from their 25 as the quarter ended. Facing a third and one at the 34, Emmerich carried for a first down at the 40. A 13-yarder to Howze by Emmerich moved the ball to the Paris 47. Emmerich then carried for 3 and passed to Jake Pilman to the Tiger 35. The Eagles worked the ball to the 26 on runs by Emmerich and Hyatt. On fourth down, Pilman moved the chains with a 3-yard run to the 23. A 9-yard toss to Kendall Bahl advanced the ball to the 14. With 8:29 left, Emmerich fired a 14-yard strike to Marc Brandenburg as the Eagles were on the board at 15-6. A 2-point pass to Kelby McCoy was good as the Eagles were back in the flow at 15-8.
After Paris started at the 35, Eslinger carried for 10-yards to the 45. But Paris was guilty of a personal foul, which put the ball back to the 30 with 7:20 left.
QB Bess then went to the air facing a second down at 25. The pass down the right sideline was ruled pass interference, which at the least was a questionable call against the Eagle. The play took Paris out of the hole with a first down at the 45. From there Eslinger took over carrying the ball seven straight times with the seventh carry a 26-yard score around right end with 3:32 left. The Morris PAT made it 22-8.
Down by two scores, the Eagles returned to the air, but Emmerich's pass was picked off by Logan Taylor at the Eagle 37 with 2:11 left to doom the Eagles on Homecoming night.
"It was just disappointing. We didn't make plays. We had other things going on during the week and that carried over to tonight," said Jason Fulton afterwards.
"Eslinger did a good job. We prepared for him, but he carried it all over the place. They didn't do anything fancy. Our guys just didn't respond. Going into the half we still were in the game. But in the second half we just didn't show up to play. We're not doing a good job. We have good drives, we just don't punch it in. It's so frustrating to us. We practiced so hard this week. We dropped passes we shouldn't have. We've got three weeks left and it's going to be tough. We will be tested," added Fulton.
That first test will come this Friday as the Eagles travel to Mt. Zion a 35-7 slugging of Effingham. The Eagles will carry a 2-4 record and a 1-4 Apollo record into the contest. Mt. Zion leads the Apollo at 5-0 and 6-0 overall.
In other games last Friday, Robinson edged Charleston 34-32 and Salem stopped Olney 26-14.
In week 7, Charleston 3-3 overall and 3-2 in the Apollo visits Salem. Effingham 5-1 and 4-1 in the Apollo travels to Robinson 4-2 and 3-2. Olney 0-6 and 0-5 in the Apollo will be at Paris 1-5 and 1-4 in the conference.
Cross Country girls second at Robinson
By TERRY LIDY
Altamont won the girls' division of the Robinson Cross Country Invitational last Thursday scoring 50 points with Newton second with 71. Robinson had 77, Teutopolis 102, St. Anthony 108, Neoga 127, Tolono Unity 157, Charleston 202 and Dieterich 230.
Liz Wortman of St. Anthony won the girls' race in 19:14.6. Morgan Swingler led Newton with an 11th place in 21:00.6. Jamie Michl was 12th in 21:01.9. Carly Niebrugge was 16th in 21:19.7. Maura Cummins was 25th in 22:12.5. Cecilia Lindgren was 40th in 23:17.7.
Charleston won the boys' game with 73 points followed by Robinson 78, Mattoon 115, Tolono Unity 125, Olney 138, Teutopolis 179, Shelbyville 209, Dieterich 218, Cumberland 224, Neoga 250, Paris 261, St. Anthony 266, Effingham 275, Mount Carmel 324, Newton 337 and Cowden-Herrick 378.
Aaron Smith of Charleston won the boys' race in 15:58.5. Ross Johnson led Newton with a 21st place in 17:22.4. Levi Newton was 63rd in 18:42.4. Corey Davidson was 92nd in 19:54.6. Ridge Finn was 98th in 20:18.6. Evan Brooks was 99th 20:19.4. Derrick Boyd was 100th in 20:20.4. Jeff Short was 110th in 21:34.3.
In the girls open race, Katie Woods was 3rd in 23:59.0. Katie Simpson was 14th in 32:12.0.
In the boys open, Austin Gowin was 36th in 24:01.
Eagles Fifth in Apollo Golf
By TERRY LIDY
Robinson won the boys Apollo golf title last Friday with a 311, nine strokes better than Salem at 320. Olney followed with 337, Effingham 339, and the Eagles were fifth with 342. Mt. Zion followed with 348, Charleston had 351 and Paris had 357.
Medalist for the day was Salem's Brock Bolton with a 71 on a windy day. Newton was led by Mitch Mammoser with a 77 which was sixth best overall. Peyton Wyatt shot an 83. Phil Blank had an 89 and Dylan Probst stroked a 93. Evan Brooks had a 100 and John Ochs a 106. The event was held at Newton's Stone Throw Golf Course.
Tennis Eagles split
By TERRY LIDY
In girls' Apollo tennis last week, the NCHS Eagles divided matches with Robinson winning 5-4 and losing to Paris 4-1.
In the Robinson match, Newton won three singles points as #2 Lisa Frichtl won over Lindsey Watts 6-0, 6-1. #3 Jody Rauch also won over Carly Hatten 6-3, 6-4. #5 Amy Koebele won 6-0, 6-0 over Lyoirnne Morris.
#1 April Webb fell to Amanda Arnold 6-7, 7-5, 4-6. #4 Jennifer Niemerg fell to Elizabeth Blake 6-2, 3-6, 4-6. #6 Emily Stewart fell 6-2, 6-7, 5-7 to Emily Jenkins.
In doubles, April Webb and Lisa Frichtl fell 2-6, 7-5, 7-9 to Amanda Arnold and Carly Hatten. However, Jennifer Niemerg and Amy Koebele won over Elizabeth Blake and Ashly Akins 6-2, 6-3. Kaitlin Vahling and Kelsey Vahling also won over Megan Meyers and Beth Avery 6-2, 6-4.
In exhibition, Shelby Huschle won 6-1 over Jasmin Thomas.
Last Tuesday, Newton lost 4-1 to Paris as Amy Koebele and Jennifer Niemerg scored the love point with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Brittany Garwood and Sarah Lucken.
Paris won all three singles matches as April Webb lost 5-7, 4-6 to Alyx Hays. Jody Rauch lost 1-6, 4-6 to Maureen Sullivan. Emily Stewart fell 2-6, 2-6 to Ali Bayless.
In the other doubles match, Lisa Frichtl and Kaitlin Vahling lost in three sets to Mattie Millbourn and Jamie Vice 6-2, 3-6, 5-7.
In exhibition, Shelby Huschle and Kelsey Vahling lost 1-6, 4-6 to Nora Wright and Kayla Ervin.
Lady Eagles streak ends
By TERRY LIDY
The Casey-Westfield Lady Warriors came to town last Monday and knocked off the Lady Eagles 25-19, 25-21 to end an eight game winning streak. Casey also won the junior varsity match 14-25, 25-15, 25-13.
In the varsity match, Joni Hahn had 6 digs, 5 kills and 4 assists. Kimberlin Wallace had 6 kills, 6 assists and a dig. Whitney Koebele had 6 digs and 2 kills. Terra Flowers had 2 digs and an ace. Sydney May had 2 blocks and a dig. Hillary Keller had a kill for the 12-6 Lady Eagles.
Newton over Effingham
By TERRY LIDY
Last Thursday, the Lady Eagles made their Apollo record 7-1 with a 25-18, 25-22 win over visiting Effingham.
Newton got 9 kills, 6 assists, 3 digs and an ace from Kimberlin Wallace. Joni Hahn added 5 digs, 4 assists, 3 kills and an ace. Whitney Koebele had 5 digs and 3 kills as the seniors led the way. Others who helped out included: Terra Flowers, a kill and a dig, Nicole Schackmann 3 digs, Lucy Emmerich a dig, Sydney May a kill, Erica Earnest 2 kills.
The Lady Eagles improved to 14-6 for the season.
Lady Eagles bounce Robinson
By TERRY LIDY
The NCHS Lady Eagles rebounded from a loss against Casey-Westfield to sweep Robinson last Tuesday at the NCHS gym 25-13, 25-18 to improve to 13-6 overall and 6-1 in the Apollo.
Newton had many stars on the night led by Kimberlin Wallace with 12 kills, 5 digs, 2 blocks, one ace and an assist. Joni Hahn led in assists with 9. Hahn also had 5 digs and an ace. Whitney Koebele added 5 kills, 2 digs and 2 aces. Lucy Emmerich had 3 digs, a kill and an ace. Nicole Schackmann had 4 digs and an ace. Terra Flowers added 3 digs. Beth Helmink had a kill, an assist and a block. Syndey May had 2 kills and 2 blocks. Erica Earnest had 2 digs, while Hillary Keller had a kill for Newton.
In the freshman game, the two teams divided matches 21-25, 25-16. Newton however won the J-V game 25-22, 25-15.
Newton, Ill. —
