Thursday, October 22, 2009

Odds and ends

Volleyball update

The McLouth High School volleyball team improved to 18-12 by sweeping a recent triangular with Valley Falls and Pleasant Ridge.

The Bulldogs defeated Valley Falls, 25-21, 18-25, 27-25, and Ridge, 25-17, 25-23, to improve to 8-3 in Delaware Valley League play.


The Bulldogs followed that performance up with a fourth-place finish at the DVL Tournament Saturday. The Bulldogs went 4-3 on the day to improve to 22-15 overall.


They defeated Horton, 25-10, 23-25, 25-16, Valley Falls, 25-23, 25-21, Wathena, 25-20, 25-16, and Pleasant Ridge, 27-25, 13-25, 25-20, and lost to JCN, 25-13, 25-18, in pool play. They advanced to the semifinals and lost to Oskaloosa, 25-23, 25-23, before losing to KC Christian, 25-22, 25-19, to end the day on a sour note.


Kylie Shufflebarger had 78 kills on the day for the Bulldogs while Jeri Holwick had 60 assists and Courtney Chilcoat had 54 assists.


JCNMS wins league tourney

The JCNMS Volleyball team recently won the Delaware Valley League Tournament at Effingham Middle School. The girls won five matches to earn the title and finish the season 16-1. Team members include Jamie Navinskey, Amber McCown, Kayla Jobbins, Mallory Kramer, Bailee Deviney, Kylie Manville, Jacee Kramer, Cheyenne Johnson, Heather Polson,
Coach Shawna Deviney, and Coach Beth Wilson.




County football scores from Oct. 16 games

Friday’s games (Oct. 16)

Jefferson West 31, Hiawatha 14
• The Tigers moved to 5-2 with the win and 1-0 in district play.

Pleasant Ridge 36, Oskaloosa 22
• The Rams used a 14-0 third quarter to hold off the Bears and drop Oskaloosa to 5-2 overall and 0-1 in district play. Oskaloosa senior Brandon Barnes ran 27 times for 257 yards and two touchdowns, of 6 and 3 yards, plus added two 2-point conversions. Junior Levi Wade ran 15 times for 82 yards and a 7-yard score. Junior Mark Newell had 18 rushes for 85 yards.

Valley Falls 36, Lyndon 14
• The Dragons improved to 4-3 overall and 1-0 in district play as they took a 30-14 halftime lead and held on to win. Senior Chance Gier had scoring runs of 44, 4 and 30 yards plus a 2-point conversion run. Senior Tyler Wynkoop had a 42-yard touchdown run and a 2-point conversion run and junior Alex Lederer had a 98-yard touchdown run and a 2-point conversion run. Gier had 11 carries for 161 yards and 3 scores, and Lederer had 8 carries for 102 yards and a score.

Jeff. Co. North 27, McLouth 0
• The Chargers did all their scoring in the second half to improve to 4-3 overall and 1-0 in district play. The Bulldogs dropped to 1-6 overall and 0-1 in the district. Junior Jeff Hale had touchdown runs of 5 and 28 yards, and senior Breck McMillan had a 5-yard touchdown run and a 16-yard scoring catch from Hale. Hale added three extra points. McMillan ran 13 times for 99 yards and a score while Hale had 12 carries for 74 yards and two scores.

Eudora 45, Perry-Lecompton 14
• The Cardinals outscored the Kaws, 31-7, in the second half to drop the Kaws to 1-6 overall and 0-1 in district play. Perry-Lecompton got scores from junior Trent Robb on a 5-yard pass from sophomore Jeremy Immenschuh and a fumble recovery by junior Cody Amerine in the end zone. Senior John Mehl added the extra points.

Oskaloosa falls to P. Ridge, 36-22

The Oskaloosa Bears gave the visiting Pleasant Ridge Rams all they could handle in the first game of 3A district play Friday but a couple key mistakes factored in to a 36-22 Bears loss.

The Rams only outgained the Bears by a few yards, 470-462, but while Delaware Valley League-leading Pleasant Ridge scored very easily at times on the Oskaloosa defense, the Bears offense was more methodical in grinding out 426 rushing yards on the night.


The tone for the game was set early as Oskaloosa took the opening kickoff and drove 68 yards to the Rams 5 thanks in part to runs of 13 and 28 yards by senior back Brandon Barnes. On second-and-goal at the 5, Barnes made a run close to the end zone but fumbled and the Rams came up with the ball in the end zone for a touchback.


The Rams got a 7-yard run from senior quarterback Matt Hager on first down, but then the next seven Rams offensive plays went for either a first down or score. Junior back Will Ryan had runs of 10 and 41 yards to set up a Hager 22-yard touchdown run with junior Gary Flack kicking the extra point for a 7-0 Ridge lead with 5:48 left in the quarter.


Oskaloosa answered with a more successful second drive of the game as the Bears went 67 yards in nine plays. The big play came on third-and-long at the Oskaloosa 26 when junior quarterback Adam Bowser connected with Barnes on a 26-yard play when Barnes caught a ball tipped by a Ridge defender. Junior Levi Wade followed with a 17-yard run followed by a 22-yard Barnes run that eventually set up a Wade 7-yard touchdown run to cut it to 7-6. Barnes ran the ball in for 2 points to give the Bears an 8-7 lead with 1:45 left in the quarter.


The Rams had a quick answer themselves as they went 66 yards in only three plays – two Ryan 15-yard runs and a Hager 36-yard touchdown run. Ryan added the 2-point conversion run to make it 15-8 Ridge only 59 seconds after the Bears’ score.


The Bears started another lengthy drive on their next possession after starting at their own 30. Runs of 16 and 12 yards by Barnes set the Bears up at the Ridge 10 and a 10-yard Wade run got the ball to the 2. A delay of game penalty on third down hurt the Bears by backing them up to the 7, but Barnes ran for 4 yards to set up fourth down at the 3. Barnes took the ball in from there to cut the lead to 15-13, but the 2-point conversion play came up short to keep that the score with 6:52 left in the half.


The Rams struck quickly again as Hager connected with senior Terell Jordan on a 71-yard scoring pass up the middle to make it 22-14 Ridge with Flack’s extra point and 6:37 left in the half.


The Bears converted a fourth down at their own 38 on the next drive and eventually faced another fourth down at the Ridge 37 with time dwindling. A Bowser pass to Wade fell incomplete and the Bears sideline’s plea for a pass interference call on the Rams went unrewarded and Ridge took over at the 37. Ridge almost drove for another score but an illegal block penalty called back a pass play that took the ball inside the Oskaloosa 5, and a holding call nullified a 26-yard scoring pass with time expiring. Ridge got one more play but Hager was stopped for a 9-yard run to send the game to the half with a 22-14 Rams lead.


The Rams got the ball first in the second half and Hager had runs of 27 and 12 yards before scoring from 1 yard out with Ryan adding the 2-point conversion to make it 30-14 Ridge with 9:24 left in the third quarter.


The Bears had their second stalled drive of the night on the ensuing possession as the Rams took over at their own 31. Hager took a big hit from Barnes on the next drive and would leave the game for good with an apparent leg injury. Backup sophomore Dalton Warden entered the game and the Rams relied on Ryan, who scored on a fumbled pitch from 6 yards out to make it 36-14 Rams with 58 seconds left in the quarter.


Oskaloosa got an 11-yard run from Wade and a 19-yard run from Barnes to help set up a 6-yard Barnes touchdown run, as Barnes also added the 2-point conversion to cut the Ridge lead to 36-22 with 10:10 left in the game.


The Rams forged another drive deep into Oskaloosa territory as Warden came through with a 42-yard run on the drive. Ridge eventually faced a fourth-and-1 at the 3 but Warden fumbled the snap and Barnes recovered at the Bears 5 with 4:54 to play.


Down 14 points with only that amount of time left to play, the Bears and coach Scott Whaley showed no sense of urgency on offense as they stuck to the running attack. Barnes had a 21-yard run and junior Mark Newell had a 16-yard run to take the ball past the Rams 40. Barnes ran for nine yards to take the ball to the Ridge 2 with under 30 seconds to play, but on the next play, Newell fumbled and the Rams recovered at their own 3. Warden then kneeled to run out the clock and conclude the 36-22 win.


Barnes had 27 carries for 257 yards and 2 scores for the Bears to go with 2 2-point conversions and 36 receiving yards, Newell ran 18 times for 85 yards and Wade ran 15 times for 82 yards and a touchdown. Bowser was 3-for-6 passing for 36 yards for Oskaloosa.


Ridge was led by Ryan’s 18 rushes for 164 yards and 1 TD and 9 carries for 126 yards and 3 TDs from Hager on the ground and 4-for-7 passing for 108 yards and a score by Hager.


The loss likely cost Oskaloosa, now 5-2 overall, its slim chances at a league crown as the Rams moved to 7-0. Some members of the Oskaloosa crowd were vociferous in their displeasure with the officiating throughout the game. Each team finished with eight penalties on the night.


Oskaloosa moves on to play host to JCN Friday with the second district playoff spot likely on the line, as JCN blanked McLouth last Friday. Pleasant Ridge plays McLouth in the other district game.