Category Archives: Sports Feature

Lady Timberwolves Overcome Adversity on Sr. Night

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Photo by Joe Wheeler Pictured are the Okaw Valley volleyball seniors who were celebrated last Thursday at home against Bement (from left to right): Blair Monroe, Caity Ohm, Amanda McClain, Abby Vander Burgh, Savannah Birch, Haley Carlson, and Amy Orris. Not pictured is Amy Monroe.

Photo by Joe Wheeler
Pictured are the Okaw Valley volleyball seniors who were celebrated last Thursday at home against Bement (from left to right): Blair Monroe, Caity Ohm, Amanda McClain, Abby Vander Burgh, Savannah Birch, Haley Carlson, and Amy Orris. Not pictured is Amy Monroe.

October 22, 2014

Teamwork key in 3-set victory over Bement

By Joe Wheeler
Bethany Reporter

Bement was in town Thursday evening and looking to spoil Okaw Valley’s senior night for the ladies in black.

The Lady Bulldogs came out strong in the first set, scoring three in a row before OV would get on the board. Some Bement errors and two OV kills would even things up at four early in the set, and later the home team would string together six points in a row. Bement would battle back, one point at a time, to eventually tie it up at 15 all mid-set. Unfortunate errors then set the Lady Timberwolves back late in the set, and they would eventually fall 20-25. Read More

Playoff Bound Redskins Hammer Rams 47-14

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Photo by RR Best Chanley Heykoop makes a run for the end zone Saturday night. Heykoop had 161 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries.

Photo by RR Best
Chanley Heykoop makes a run for the end zone Saturday night. Heykoop had 161 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries.

October 15, 2014

First post-season in store since 01

by Matt Kracht
NP Sports Reporter

The Sullivan Okaw-Valley Redskins bounced back strong Saturday night in a victory over the Shelbyville Rams. Senior quarterback Nick Frerichs put up a five touchdown game setting the tone for what would be a dominant performance for the Redskins. The win ends a decade old postseason drought as the Redskins move to 6-1 on the season, solidifying a playoff spot with two weeks left in the regular season.

“Nick understands what we want done,” said SOV head coach Gerald Temples. “He is a great leader and a heck of a competitor. He stays after people, and that’s a positive for us. He just does a great job and is such a competitor who wants to do well. I just can’t say enough about him.”

But early on, it was Shelbyville who put the first points on the board taking the opening drive down all the way. Read More

Knights Soccer Takes Second in Mattoon Tourney

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Photo by Keith Stewart Jovanny Martinez (no. 12) goes to volley the ball Saturday afternoon against Effingham St. Anthony. Martinez’ volley would score and earn the Knights a 1-0 victory.

Photo by Keith Stewart
Jovanny Martinez (no. 12) goes to volley the ball Saturday afternoon against Effingham St. Anthony. Martinez’ volley would score and earn the Knights a 1-0 victory.

October 8, 2014

Nearly upset host for crown

by Keith Stewart
keith@newsprogress.com

Jeff Trower and his team had to wait around Saturday afternoon to see whether they would be coming home with a trophy after tying two games and winning one in the 14th annual Mattoon soccer tournament.

“First time ever,” said the head coach Trower. “It’s great.”

The  Knights would only need to stick around till the half of Mattoon’s game against St. Joseph Ogden, at which point the Green Wave were up 4-0 and would go on to win easily 7-0, putting the title out of reach for Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond, who would instead finish second. Read More

SOV Remains Undefeated with 47-7 Win

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Photo by Joe Wheller SOV’s Jake Eaton hits his gap for the touchdown Friday night against Meridian. Eaton ran for 50 yards and two touchdowns on eight carries.

Photo by Joe Wheller
SOV’s Jake Eaton hits his gap for the touchdown Friday night against Meridian. Eaton ran for 50 yards and two touchdowns on eight carries.

October 1, 2014

Redskins roll in one-sided rout of Meridian

By Joe Wheeler
NP Reporter

It was all Redskins Friday night as the boys in red opened up the field on the Meridian Hawks in a 47-7 win.

SOV was 4-0 going into this past week’s matchup and was looking to keep things going versus a Meridian squad who has had trouble getting things going this season. The Hawks, 1-4 after Friday night, could not do anything to stop the high-powered offense of Sullivan-Okaw Valley.

“We were able to get some things going in not only the running game, but also the passing game,” head coach Gerald Temples said. “Our kids really did a great job of executing the game plan tonight.” Read More

Sullivan’s Cardiac Kids Come Back to Win Regional Championship

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Photo by Keith Stewart Pictured is the 2014 Sullivan Middle School baseball team with its regional championship plaque Monday evening. The Redskins defeated Argenta-Oreana 9-7 in Sullivan to earn their first title in five years. Front row, left to right: Andrew Kirk, Brycen Dalbey, Tim Lawyer, Matt Klukis, Case Crawford, John Meyer, Gary Herschberger, and Ethan Foster. Back row, left to right: Ian Hill, Beau Atchison, Dalton Rogers, head coach Jon Harwood, Caden Ellis, Gabe McGregor, Wyatt Sentel, Spencer Johnson, Aaron Garvey, and assistant coach Troy Rogers.

Photo by Keith Stewart
Pictured is the 2014 Sullivan Middle School baseball team with its regional championship plaque Monday evening. The Redskins defeated Argenta-Oreana 9-7 in Sullivan to earn their first title in five years. Front row, left to right: Andrew Kirk, Brycen Dalbey, Tim Lawyer, Matt Klukis, Case Crawford, John Meyer, Gary Herschberger, and Ethan Foster. Back row, left to right: Ian Hill, Beau Atchison, Dalton Rogers, head coach Jon Harwood, Caden Ellis, Gabe McGregor, Wyatt Sentel, Spencer Johnson, Aaron Garvey, and assistant coach Troy Rogers.

September 24, 2014

Top of the seventh heroics earn Redskins title

by Keith Stewart
keith@newsprogress.com

Head coach John Harwood  is only 27 years old. Nonetheless, he still nearly had a coronary Monday night in the top of the seventh inning when his middle school baseball team trailed no. 1 seed Argenta-Oreana 7-6 in what was the regional championship.

“They came back, and I about had a heart attack,” said Harwood. “They don’t stop fighting, and that’s something that’s changed from the beginning of the season. We used to kind of roll over and play dead. That happened in Shelbyville when we lost 15-0 in three. We came back in our regional semifinal and beat them 7-6.” Read More

Hungry SOV Squad Makes Statement in Win Over Tuscola

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Photo by RR Best Alec Ballinger (no. 15) and Jake Eaton celebrate after SOV took a 15-14 lead over Tuscola Friday night.

Photo by RR Best
Alec Ballinger (no. 15) and Jake Eaton celebrate after SOV took a 15-14 lead over Tuscola Friday night.

September 17, 2014

Victory keeps SOV atop CIC with Shelbyville

by Matt Kracht
NP Sports Writer

First place in the newly formed Central Illinois Conference was on the line Friday night at Victory Field. The Redskins rallied from a halftime deficit to defeat the Tuscola Warriors 28-22 improving to 3-0 on the season. Homecoming fans battling the elements looked on as two of the area’s top quarterbacks squared off in an instant classic.
Coming down to five minutes to go in the four quarter and the score tied 22-22, Ty “white shoes” Molzen calmly set himself at the line of scrimmage. Facing 3-and-9 Molzen was hit in stride on a slant pass from Nick Frerichs and then it happened. Molzen, per Bill Cosby, transformed into “an amoeba splitting himself in half leaving the half without the football with the tackler.” After applying the brakes causing one Tuscola defender to fly by, Molzen hit the gas and accelerated past a second, before finally carrying a man on his back and falling forward for the biggest first down of the night. Frerichs scored three plays later on a quarterback sprint putting the Redskins on top for good. Molzen finished the night with two catches for 40 yards. Read More

Knights Back on Course with Win Over Martinsville

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September 10, 2014

Schuring breaks school’s career passing record

by Keith Stewart
keith@newsprogress.com

SchuringIt was no secret that senior quarterback Tyler Schuring was going to be Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond’s biggest threat this season. But just to solidify the notion, Schuring went 7-13, throwing for 217 yards, two touchdowns, and grabbing up the school’s career passing yardage record in his team’s 41-10 win over Martinsville Saturday.
“He’s our big play guy,” said father and head coach Dale Schuring. “I didn’t think he threw it super accurate today, but I also thought that most of the balls he threw were catchable, and we didn’t catch again, which was a major problem week one. I think our receivers caught better today, but they’re going to have to make some tougher catches because as of right now unless he sticks it right in the middle of their chest, they’re not catching it. He’s pretty good, but you can’t expect him to throw every pass there. Again, better than last week. We’re making progress. He’s a big weapon, and we try to use him as much as we can.” Read More

New Band Learns to March to the Same Tune

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Photo by the Tintype Pictured is the newly formed ALAH marching band.

Photo by the Tintype
Pictured is the newly formed ALAH marching band.

September 3, 2014

After five years without, new ALAH marching band forms

by Ariana Cherry
Arthur/Lovington Reporter

Not only have different schools joined together to form a new district, ALAH (Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond), but students are learning to march together to the same tune-literally.
After almost five years without a formal marching band due to a lack of participating students, the district now has one.
For the 2014-2015 school year, the increased number of students joining the marching band has been music to both the district and the community’s ears. Band director Richard Moma notes that the community has been extremely supportive of the students too. Read More

Lady T-Wolves Drop Home Opener to Tri-County

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Photo by Keith Stewart Okaw Valley libero Savannah Birch looks to receive a Tri-County serve Tuesday night.

Photo by Keith Stewart
Okaw Valley libero Savannah Birch looks to receive a Tri-County serve Tuesday night.

August 27, 2014

OV can’t muster front line attack in defeat

by Keith Stewart
keith@newsprogress.com

Going into the regular season, OV head coach Jody McCormick wanted to take advantage of her team’s heightened, well, height, in the form of a formidable front line attack. Tuesday evening was the first test of such hope, but Tri-County had its own killer offense to beat back any impending OV attack, leading to a two set 25-14, 25-16 loss for the Lady Timberwolves.

“I didn’t get my wall like I was hoping,” said McCormick, who is in her second season as the head coach at Okaw Valley. “But we’re going to work on that, really hard.”

In the first set, the Lady Titans got out to a quick lead and ran away with the game. The only flicker of life from OV came via junior Megan Dash whose hard hitting serve accounted for  three aces and five points to pull her team within four points of the Titans at 13-9. Read More

Mo Do Jr. Legion fails to Advance to State with Back to Back Losses

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July 30, 2014

Sullivan’s Hart makes big hits, but not enough

Submitted by Duff Hoel

As the no. 1 seed in the state of Illinois 4th Division Jr. Legion tournament, the boys from the Moultrie-Douglas Jr. American Legion Baseball team entered tournament play with very high expectations. But those expectations came up short as Mo Do was eliminated by two losses on Saturday to end their season with a 30-10 record.

Zach Hrvol of Sullivan took the mound in game one for Mo-Do. Facing a quality opponent from Eureka, Mo-Do fell 5-4.  Read More