News Progress

•September 11, 2019•
By Jason Brown
NP Sports Editor

The Sullivan-Okaw Valley football team dropped its first road game of the season to Newton 31-21 Friday.
The Eagles put 14 quick points on the board to take a 14-0 first-quarter lead.
From there, SOV outscored Newton but could not make up the difference.
The Redskins and Eagles each scored 14 points in the second, to make it 28-14 at half.
Sullivan scored again and held Newton to a field goal in the third quarter to cut the lead but could not get any closer in a scoreless final period. Read More

•September 4, 2019•
By Jason Brown
NP Sports Editor

First-year Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond cross country coach Lyle Dorjahn has low numbers this season, but the runners he does have he believes can be good.
“Our top 3 will compete with the area’s best,” he said. “We need to see more improvement from 4-7 scoring positions. From what I see so far, our kids will work hard to make those improvements.
Dorjahn returned four letter winners in junior Layton Hall, senior Justin Miller, senior Cade Hendrickson and sophomore Jace Green.
Hall returns from an all-state performance at the state championships, and last year the team advanced out of regionals to the sectional.
“Our strengths include Layton Hall’s leadership both with his performance as well as his interaction and encouragement of his teammates, especially the underclassmen,” Dorjahn said. “Our freshman and sophomore are a strong point and I expect them to contribute immediately. This group has responded to a heavier workload and has been fun to work with. They are developing strong team chemistry.” Read More

•September 4, 2019•
By Jason Brown
NP Sports Editor

Last season after the Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond football team took a 7-0 lead against Tri-County, the Titans scored 16-unanswered points to win the game.
Friday night in Oakland, Tri-County scored the first seven points, but it was the Knights who rattled off 41 points for a 41-1 victory.
“(One of the) keys to the game was the difference in ball security and turnover ratio,” said coach Ryan Jefferson. “We forced several.”
The Knights’ defense forced several fumbles and had an interception, while the offence did not turn over the ball once.
“We capitalized on offense almost every possession so we were able to keep pulling away from them,” Jefferson said. “We controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.” Read More

•September 4, 2019•
By Jason Brown
NP Sports Editor

In his first year as Okaw Valley boys’ golf coach, Andrew Fultz returned top golfers Addison Webner, Miles Harlin, Hayden Carleson, and Seth Webner.
It will be difficult for OV to replace last season’s top scorer, Case Crawford, but the team did return several players with match experience.
“My hopes are that they are ready for the year a year older and a year wiser,” Fultz said. “They have been there before since there were only six by the end of the year last year. That experience will help us win matches early on in the year. We can build on that and it carries us and helps out the new golfers.”
For this season, Fultz is looking for solid scores out his top two golfers. Read More

•August 28, 2019•
By Jason Brown
NP Sports Editor

Sullivan volleyball personnel are hoping the third time is a charm.
In the spring, Sullivan hired Christy Molzen to return this season for her third stint as varsity volleyball coach.
Molzen coached Redskin’s volleyball from 1997-2003 and again in 2011, and she finished with an overall record of 138-117.
This season, though, might be her most challenging attempt.
Molzen replaced Jennifer Young, who combined for a 1-89 overall record during the last three seasons.
To reestablish Sullivan as a competitive team night in and night out, Molzen has returned to fundamentals and built from there.
“We have quite a few new players so we are working at becoming more confident with volleyball skills in general,” she said. “The goal is to get better as the season progresses.” Read More