| Northern Illinois H.S. Sports |
| Features |
| Have a high school sports news tip or press release? |
 |
| THE |
| MAILING LIST! SUBSCRIBE TODAY! |
 |
| NISB Publisher Cody Cutter tells it like he sees it in high school sports: because he says so ... |
| NISB BLOGS |
| *Tyrone Anderson's* *Photo Gallery!* Click above to view photos |
|
| Your Source For Northern Illinois High School Sports Since 2004 !! http://www.geocities.com/northernillinoissportsbeat |
| Stark County Earns A Trip To State |
| After trailing 18-0, Stark County comes back to defeat Milledgeville 27-24 |
| By Jon Lewis, Northern Illinois Sports Beat writer MILLEDGEVILLE - It was once said that it isn�t always the best team that wins; it is the team that is the hottest at that time. Milledgeville had gone 12-0 including defeating defending state champion Galena twice. However Stark County�s passing game has become increasingly better as the weeks progress. It would rein supreme over the running style of their last three NUIC opponents. The game started as Jake Workman returned the opening kickoff to the house for Milledgeville. The two-point conversion attempt failed, so the Missiles led 6-0 right off the bat. After a three-and-out Stark County once again kicked it to Workman, who took the punt back to the 17-yard line. It led to a one-yard touchdown run by all-state performer Kirk Engelkens. Once again the two-point conversion was no good. With 7:29 left in the first quarter the Missiles were in control leading 12-0. Following another three-and-out Milledgeville blocked a punt by Jeremy Morrissey, which left Milledgeville in prime field position on the Stark County 16-yard line. On the ensuing play Greg Fredericks went 16-yards to paydirt with 5:43 left in the opening quarter. Another two-point conversion failed for the Missiles leaving the score at 18-0 Milledgeville. Stark County finally got the offense going and with 10:13 left in the second quarter Greg Daum found his favorite target, tight end Calvin Lewis from five yards out. Lewis then added the extra-point making the score 18-7 Milledgeville. Later in the quarter Morrisey added a six-yard touchdown run for the Rebels. The extra-point was no good leaving the score at 18-13 Milledgeville The ensuing kickoff was bounced of off a Milledgeville up-man and recovered by the Rebels, who then marched it down to the one-yard line but were held back on the first half, making the halftime score 18-13 in favor of Milledgeville. The second half got off to a slow start for the Missiles but with 5:54 left in the third quarter Morrisey scored his second touchdown of the day from 15 yards out. Stark County then went for two and Daum found Lewis in the back of the end zone to give the Rebels their first lead of the day 21-18. The ensuing drive for the Rebels also culminated in touchdown pass from Daum to Lewis. Lewis�s extra-point was no good so Stark County lead 27-18 with 11:32 left in the game. �We couldn�t get to the quarterback,� Milledgeville head coach Gary Hartje stated. Milledgeville however wasn�t going to roll over that easy and let their season come to an end. With 10:29 Engelkens found Kurt Landis for a 71-yard touchdown pass. The two-point conversion try was once again no good and the Missiles now only trailed by three 27-24. After an onside kick was recovered by Stark County, they went to their running attack. It wasn�t their strong point and Milledgeville stopped them on a three-and-out. With plenty of time remaining Milledgeville was set up perfectly to have one last methodical drive to earn a spot in the state championship. The drive started off okay for the Missiles with a couple of first downs but with less than four minutes remaining the Rebels forced a fumble and looked to be well on their way. But with less than two minutes remaining, Milledgeville recovered a fumble. Milledgeville hopped and locked once again to be in prime scoring position. But with three straight incomplete passes punctuated with a fourth down sack of Engelkens by Lewis the Missiles season was over. �They stopped the run and that is what we are best at," Hartje said. "We were up early and it looked bright but they took the momentum from us and we never really got it back.� The Stark County Rebels will move on to the Class 1A State Championship at Champaign's Memorial Stadium for the first time since 1997. They will play Concord Triopia Friday morning at 10:00 a.m. |
| Northern Illinois Sports Beat - Nov. 4, 2008 |
| http://www.geocities.com/northernillinoissportsbeat |