Category Archives: Sports Section

Haegen, Lady Redskins Win Conference Title in Golf

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Sullivan Boys Golf took second in the Lincoln Prairie Conference Meet last week. Team members are (left to right): Camden Watkins, Caden Saul, Drew Woolen, Brett Bushue, Daniel Downs, Cameron Crowe

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Sullivan’s Girls Golf Team won the LPC Conference Meet last week. Members of the team are Shae Ellis, Kate Bushue, Ruby Haegen, Hannah Righter, Devon Richardson, Taylar Mercer.

•September 27, 2023•

The Lady Redskins golf team has been dominant all year long. They proved that last week at the Lincoln Prairie Conference Tournament hosted at the Moweaqua Golf Course. The boys golf team had a strong showing as well picking up second place.

Ruby Haegen led the lady golfers shooting an 80 on the day and picking up the individual conference championship title. Shae Ellis and Hannah Righter tied for second behind Haegen, each shooting a 90. Kate Bushue and Devon Richardson finished 7th and 8th, respectively. All five Lady Redskin golfers were named all conference. Read More

SOV Tame Broncos to Extend Winning Season

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Dexter Parrish with one of his three runs. He had 63 yards rushing in the game.

•September 27, 2023•

by E. Scott England

The Sullivan-Okaw Valley Redskins put the Cerro Gordo-Bement Broncos to pasture last Friday with a dominant win of 59-7. The stampede by the Redskin offense started early and continued all four quarters with 7 different players finding the end zone throughout the night.

On just the second play of SOV’s first possession, junior ball carrier Aian Fryman did what he does best, taking his first carry of the night 82 yards for the first of his three touchdowns. The Broncos tried to respond with a methodical offensive possession that moved them down the field 72 yards within their own five yard line. The Redskin defense held strong with key tackles coming from seniors Landry Still and Hayden Moody and junior Elijah Beeler. The drive would result in a turnover on downs. Read More

Tough Competition Gives Valuable Learning Lessons for Redskins Volleyball

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•September 27, 2023•

by E. Scott England

It was a busy week last week in volleyball for the Sullivan Redskins. The first five teams the Redskins faced had a combined record of 64-24.

The week started Monday on the road in Monticello. The Redskins split the first two sets with the Sages (25-21, 14-25) forcing a third set which Monticello won 10-25. The team had a total of 24 kills on the evening with senior Paige Connor leading the team with five. Juniors Emily Miller and Mayci Strauf each had four. Offensively, the Redskins had four aces. Sophomore Aeralyn Thrasher had a team high of 2 with Miller and junior Isabella Stone each picking up one apiece. Read More

Redskins XC Compete in Road Meet at Spartan Classic

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•September 27, 2023•

by E. Scott England

The Sullivan Redskins XC teams took to the streets of St. Joseph, Illinois to compete in the St. Joseph-Ogden Spartan Classic last Saturday. Twenty-eight teams brought a total of 313 runners for the traditionally fast road course. It looked like a repeat for team results as the Tolono (Unity) girls once again took first in the meet while Tuscola again secured the win for the boys. Read More

SOV Clinches Fourth Win of Season for OV Homecoming

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SOV’s Hayden Moody (25) completing one of his ten total tackles of the evening during the football game against Argenta-Oreana held at Okaw Valley High School for Homecoming.

•September 20, 2023•

by E. Scott England

Argenta-Oreana Bombers, coming off a win last week, stormed into Bethany looking to hand the Redskins their first loss of the season. A-O’s plan was diffused by Sullivan-Okaw Valley on Bethany’s homecoming, extending their record to 4-0.

Both teams came out with strong defensive stands, forcing each other to punt after a three and out. However, on the Bombers’ second possession, SOV’s defense stayed persistent, eventually forcing a failed fourth down attempt. The Redskins’ offense came alive on their second possession, driving 75 yards to set up Aiden Ballinger for an 8-yard touchdown reception. 

The defense got back to work with senior Kaden Guest forcing a second A-O fumble. With the ball back in their possession, the Redskins only needed one play to extend their lead. Ballinger took a shovel pass 84 yards to the endzone. Junior signal caller Cooper Christensen completed 8 passes on 13 attempts for 231 yards. Senior kicker Easton England tacked on his second of three extra points for the evening. The Bombers attempted to close the gap in the second quarter with a touchdown run by senior running back Michael Spurling. The point after attempt was no good.  Read More

Moody, Iacobazzi Lead Redskin XC Teams at Tuscola Invite

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Johnathan Iacobazzi runs during the Tuscola Invite at Wimple Park in Tuscola. Iacobazzi brought home a trophy with a sixth place overall finish in a time of 16:25.

•September 20, 2023•

by E. Scott England

Over 300 total runners across 24 schools gathered at Wimple Park in Tuscola for the 46th Annual Tuscola Invite last Saturday. Tolono (Unity) won the girls meet while Tuscola secured the win for the boys.

Illness plagued the Lady Redskin runners as only two runners were healthy enough to compete. Senior Allison Cullen and Freshman Julia Moody both finished in the top half of the 136 runners in the girls meet. Moody led the pair, finishing 33rd overall. Cullen also secured a medal on the day. The girls did not receive a team score since they were short runners.

The boys ran second against a total of 195 runners. Sophomore Johnathan Iacobazzi brought home a trophy with a 6th place overall finish and a time of 16:25. Finishing behind him was Easton England, Davis Diepholz, Landon Jesse, Luke Waelde, Aston Martin, and Carson Swinford. Read More

Off to the Races: Sullivan-Okaw Valley Cross Country Season Underway

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•September 13, 2023•

by E. Scott England

Under the guidance of new head coach, Isaiah Plank, the Sullivan-Okaw Valley Cross Country team finally had the opportunity to get some meets in after the opening meet of the season was canceled during the heatwave in late August.

The new opening meet was the Cow Chip Classic held in Chrisman held on September 2. As if the name wasn’t unique enough, this meet featured a one-of-its-kind formatting where runners left in flights in 20-25 minute intervals. Meet organizers tout this atypical structure as an opportunity for runners to compete against other runners of similar ability. Jonathan Iacobazzi had the highest finishing place with 7th overall. Julia Moody led the Lady Redskins runners with a 31st place finish out of 97 runners. Read More

SOV Extends Winning Streak With Win Over Cumberland

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•September 13, 2023•

by E. Scott England

The Sullivan-Okaw Valley Redskins stormed into Cumberland last Friday looking to extend their winning streak to three. They knew it wasn’t going to be easy as the Pirates of Cumberland were looking to add to their undefeated record as well.

Containing two-way threat Cumberland Senior Blake McMechan was one of the main focus points in the Redskins’ preparation throughout the week. And McMechan proved why just 38 seconds into the game when he stole a pass from Senior wide receiver Kaden Guest. The Pirates couldn’t capitalize as a solid defensive stand from the Redskins forced a fumble, recovered by senior Hayden Moody. Read More

SOV Dominates During Home Opener Against Arcola

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•September 6, 2023•

by E. Scott England

In the shadows of a beautiful three story high video scoreboard, Sullivan-Okaw Valley Redskins, looked to extend their week one momentum as the Purple Riders of Arcola rode into Sullivan with a like-minded goal. The SOV home opener on Victory Field was greeted with much milder temperatures than last week’s scorcher. Read More