Storer68
New member
Last edited:
Got something to say or just want fewer pesky ads? Join us... 😊
Christmas Based Footballers
- Thread starter crodonilson
- Start date
Russell SLEIGHd
The Large One
Who's Next?
Roberto DONNERdoni
Storer68
New member
And all playing American football for the Immaculate Conception
CHAMPAIGN - A couple long bus rides had provided Immaculate Conception its greatest postseason adversity entering Saturday's Class 2A state championship game against Casey-Westfield.
Lost fumbles on two of their first three possessions and a hard-hitting foe gave the Knights a long-awaited test.
IC (10-4) answered in flying navy-and-white, blasting out of a 3-0 hole with 30 straight points to win the Elmhurst school's second state football title, 36-17 at the University of Illinois' Memorial Stadium.
"We stress ball security, but I think we just came out a little nervous," said senior running back Paul Hornstra, who despite fumbling the ball away the eighth time he touched it earned 144 yards on 25 carries with touchdown runs of 1 and 16 yards.
"We had to get used to it, and after we started playing how we knew how to, it came out good. They couldn't stop us."
Hornstra - who finished the season with 2,350 all-purpose yards - cited IC's offensive line of Matt Purdom, Marco Medina, Josh Fenton, Robert Rivera and Dan Delaney, with Nick Stam rotating in, as the best in the state.
Junior back Carlos Rodriguez's 80 yards of a total 319 rushing made it hard to argue.
"It's tough to stop us when we're rolling," said Purdom, a water boy on IC's 2002 Class 3A champs. "It's just a great feeling right now. I'm overjoyed."
Casey-Westfield (13-1) may have felt the same after recovering two Knights fumbles in the first 15 minutes.
IC (10-4) stiffened defensively, including Fenton's fourth-and-inches stuff on a quarterback sneak, to allow only Clinton Scott's 32-yard field goal for a 3-0 Warriors lead at 8:41 of the first quarter.
"Against any great football team like we played today, you can get the ball anywhere you want to on the field, but that doesn't guarantee you're going to move it," said Casey coach Keith Sinclair.
IC quarterback Will Cronin said: "It's a long game, and I knew they would definitely redeem themselves."
Hornstra, Rodriguez and Cronin did to set up Robert Peachey's 7-yard touchdown run, then middle linebacker Erik Hansen returned an interception 37 yards for a touchdown and 14-3 IC lead at 4:18 of the second quarter.
"I saw that I had a couple of my 'D' linemen blocking for me and I was loving it. I was off to the races," Hansen said.
As was the whole squad, which led 21-3 at halftime on Rodriguez's 9-yard run then added the first safety in title-game history on its first defensive series of the third quarter.
IC moved to 30-3 at 4:45 of the third quarter on Hornstra's 1-yard touchdown run and Olivia Vatch's kick, the first title-game point scored by a female.
Casey rallied behind the passing duo of Mitch Snyder to Taylor Biggs, whose 5-yard run at 1:23 of the third cut IC's lead to 30-10.
Hornstra's 16-yard touchdown run at 10:17 of the fourth ensured that a final Casey score couldn't stop the Knights from being the first-ever 4-loss state champion.
"I knew it may take a little bit more time than it had in the previous playoff games," IC coach and graduate Bill Schmidt said, "but I knew we would be all right."
CHAMPAIGN - A couple long bus rides had provided Immaculate Conception its greatest postseason adversity entering Saturday's Class 2A state championship game against Casey-Westfield.
Lost fumbles on two of their first three possessions and a hard-hitting foe gave the Knights a long-awaited test.
IC (10-4) answered in flying navy-and-white, blasting out of a 3-0 hole with 30 straight points to win the Elmhurst school's second state football title, 36-17 at the University of Illinois' Memorial Stadium.
"We stress ball security, but I think we just came out a little nervous," said senior running back Paul Hornstra, who despite fumbling the ball away the eighth time he touched it earned 144 yards on 25 carries with touchdown runs of 1 and 16 yards.
"We had to get used to it, and after we started playing how we knew how to, it came out good. They couldn't stop us."
Hornstra - who finished the season with 2,350 all-purpose yards - cited IC's offensive line of Matt Purdom, Marco Medina, Josh Fenton, Robert Rivera and Dan Delaney, with Nick Stam rotating in, as the best in the state.
Junior back Carlos Rodriguez's 80 yards of a total 319 rushing made it hard to argue.
"It's tough to stop us when we're rolling," said Purdom, a water boy on IC's 2002 Class 3A champs. "It's just a great feeling right now. I'm overjoyed."
Casey-Westfield (13-1) may have felt the same after recovering two Knights fumbles in the first 15 minutes.
IC (10-4) stiffened defensively, including Fenton's fourth-and-inches stuff on a quarterback sneak, to allow only Clinton Scott's 32-yard field goal for a 3-0 Warriors lead at 8:41 of the first quarter.
"Against any great football team like we played today, you can get the ball anywhere you want to on the field, but that doesn't guarantee you're going to move it," said Casey coach Keith Sinclair.
IC quarterback Will Cronin said: "It's a long game, and I knew they would definitely redeem themselves."
Hornstra, Rodriguez and Cronin did to set up Robert Peachey's 7-yard touchdown run, then middle linebacker Erik Hansen returned an interception 37 yards for a touchdown and 14-3 IC lead at 4:18 of the second quarter.
"I saw that I had a couple of my 'D' linemen blocking for me and I was loving it. I was off to the races," Hansen said.
As was the whole squad, which led 21-3 at halftime on Rodriguez's 9-yard run then added the first safety in title-game history on its first defensive series of the third quarter.
IC moved to 30-3 at 4:45 of the third quarter on Hornstra's 1-yard touchdown run and Olivia Vatch's kick, the first title-game point scored by a female.
Casey rallied behind the passing duo of Mitch Snyder to Taylor Biggs, whose 5-yard run at 1:23 of the third cut IC's lead to 30-10.
Hornstra's 16-yard touchdown run at 10:17 of the fourth ensured that a final Casey score couldn't stop the Knights from being the first-ever 4-loss state champion.
"I knew it may take a little bit more time than it had in the previous playoff games," IC coach and graduate Bill Schmidt said, "but I knew we would be all right."
Pavilionaire
Well-known member
- Jul 7, 2003
- 31,256
Liverpool striker David Egg'Nog
Pavilionaire
Well-known member
- Jul 7, 2003
- 31,256
Wreath Rovers
astevens76
New member
John Shepherd - who apparently played for us
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Shepherd_(footballer)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Shepherd_(footballer)
16bha
New member
Trevor Sherry and Bruce Gobbler
seagull_special
Well-known member
Carlisle striker Gary Mulled Wine