Transitioning from one prep sports season to another
The closing down of the fall sports season has taken place since my last Saturday sentinel.
Technically, the fall Morris season still existed this weekend as Lady Redskin sophomore diver Alyssa Applebee took part in the 2009 IHSA State Swimming Meet.
But for all intents and purposes, the fall sports including football, boys soccer, girls volleyball, cross country, golf and girls tennis have given way to winter sports such as basketball, wrestling, bowling and boys swimming.
But the ending of the fall season cannot take place with a review.
One of the highlights certainly was the football playoffs. The first week, I was in attendance when Minooka hosted Edwardsville in IHSA Class 7A action on a Friday night. Then, on the Saturday afternoon that darkened into Halloween, Herald ace photographer Adam Nekola and I got to travel to Hanson Stadium on the west side of Chicago to cover the Morris versus Chicago Raby contest.
On the second week of the postseason, I got to head north to Richmond to view the Coal City Coalers at Richmond-Burton Class 4A contest.
Rockets coach Patrick Elder afterward had words of praise for the Coalers saying, "Coal City is one of the traditional powers in high school football. To beat a team with that reputation is nice."
Richmond-Burton left little doubt as to the outcome of the contest, scoring a touchdown in the first minute on its initial possession and then adding another TD on a 95-yard run on the first snap the second time it controlled the ball.
The only offense generated by the Coalers was a 25-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Colt Smith to senior wideout Alec Smith to kick off the second half.
During that drive, Coal City unveiled its version of The Lonesome Polecat formation, with Colt Smith finding usual senior linebacker Tiger Onsen for a 17-yard completion. That gave a little excitement to the Coaler fans, who were facing a 30-0 deficit at intermission.
Richmond-Burton heads to Geneseo this week. Last year, the two teams met up at Bob Reade Field turf in the quarterfinals. The Rockets blanked the Maple Leafs 21-0 with Elder's father-in-law broadcasting the game for the Geneseo radio station. Elder's wife is from Geneseo.
The break between the fall and winter sports seasons was short. After covering the Coal City at Richmond-Burton football game on a Saturday, I headed up to Willowbrook three days later to cover the Minooka Indians boys bowling opener versus Hinsdale South.
Despite losing four starters from a year ago, Minooka posted an easy 2,860 to 2,719 victory at Willowbrook lanes. Senior Ryan Lakota led the Indians with a 658 series that included a 266 line in his opening game. Tyler Heintzelman added a 570 series for Minooka, with a 222 opener.
"A key to our season will be picking up our spares," said Minooka coach Derrick Rapsky. "We are not going to be a big strike team so we will have to pick up our spares."
Lakota, though, had a bunch of strikes in his 266 game, going strike-spare in his opening pair of frames. Lakota then had eight consecutive strikes before leaving the 6-10 on his 11th roll. Lakota added five strikes in the middle game and four more in the nightcap.
Heintzelman had a turkey after two spares in the first game. He then had two more strikes and a trio of spares. Heintzelman chipped in with a pair of strikes in the middle game before having a turkey (and five strikes overall) in the final game.
Matt Pollock had games of 182 and 183 (three strikes in each game) before closing out with a five-bagger and a 220. His only open frame in the nightcap was in the fourth frame when he rolled a 3-10 split, knocking down the 3 by missing the 10 on his spare attempt.
