Nathan Goudschaal (50), Brown County
File photo by Greg Behrens
Well, three, in the state of Illinois.
Mount Sterling Brown County, Effingham and Chicago Senn are the teams left with no opponents lighting the scoreboard in 2009.
Mount Sterling Brown County’s foes have a 5-11 combined record, and the Hornets have faced two winless teams in Virginia and Jacksonville School for the Deaf, but they soundly defeated 3-1 Pleasant Hill and 2-2 Carrollton. They may be the first to fall from the lofty defensive ranks as they face 4-0 Jacksonville Routt this week.
Senn, which has played opponents with a combined record of 4-12 so far, may be right behind in giving up points. They’ll face 3-1 Carver Agricultural Science on Friday in what may end up the deciding factor in determining a Chicago Public Great Lakes Conference champion.
Effingham, whose opponents have just a 5-11 combined record, gets winless Olney East Richland this week before facing 4-0 Mount Zion, which has three shutouts of its own this year. That, Flaming Heart coach Mike McDonald knows, will be the start of the true tests of his team’s success.
"We know we have our toughest games coming up, and I don’t think anyone thinks we are going to go the whole season unscored on," he said. "It’s just a great thing to talk about."
You have to go back to the 1920s just to find three consecutive shutouts by the Hearts, so four is a pretty big deal.
"It’s become a community thing, not just in the school," said McDonald, whose team enjoys a plus-11 turnover ratio and has scored four defensive touchdowns so far. "We’re a very aggressive, attacking defense, and I think people enjoy watching that."
Terriers’ Kendell Edwards runs wild
Carbondale's Kendell Edwards rushed for 444 yards and six touchdowns on 39 carries against Centralia in each team's South Seven Conference opener. Both marks are school records, and the 444 yards rank as the seventh-best performance of all-time, according to the Illinois High School Association’s Web site.
Edwards split his touchdowns between halves, scoring on runs of 77, 51 and 4 yards in the first half and adding touchdowns of 46, 2 and 23 yards after the break in helping the Terriers get to 4-0 overall for the first time since 2004.
"Kendell played pretty good tonight. You want me to say a little more about Kendell?" asked Terriers head coach Dan Koester. "Our offensive line is starting to figure out what it takes Friday night instead of Monday, Thursday or Saturday. As they get better, Kendell's getting better."
Midgets can’t be beat
Weathering shot after proverbial shot, the Freeburg Midgets still stand tall at the volleyball net, collecting their 30th straight victory last week with a 25-17, 30-28 win over the Central Cougars. The Midgets, last year’s Class 2A state champions, improved to 11-0 this year, but it hasn’t been easy. Their last three wins within the Mississippi Division of the Cahokia Conference have been a struggle.
Freeburg beat Wesclin 25-21, 22-25, 25-19 earlier this month, then had to rally past Carlyle 22-25, 25-12, 25-18 last week. It was the first time this season the Midgets were taken to three games by an opponent.
"I think they've all (conference opponents) improved, but obviously, we're the ones with the target on our backs," Freeburg senior outside hitter Sam Kassing told the Belleville News-Democrat. "They're going to be out to get us. I think we haven't been playing as well as we usually do, but all the teams we've played definitely have gotten better."
Kassing added that the rivalry between the schools helped the team focus.
"Today was the first good game that we've played in a long time," Kassing said. "We were definitely pumped for this game. I get the feeling everyone's looking down on us like we're not as good as we're supposed to be, and we're finally coming back and showing that we are Freeburg."
Drug testing will continue, according to IHSA
The Illinois High School Association announced recently that it will continue its Performance-Enhancing Drug Testing Program during the fall of 2009.
The IHSA became the fourth overall and third active state association to provide performance-enhancing drug testing a year ago, when the association combined to test just under 700 students from all IHSA sports. Last January, House Bill 272 was filed by Representative Jack D. Franks. The bill called for more extensive performance-enhancing drug testing by the IHSA, including the testing of 1,000 students per year, testing of at least one student from 25 percent of the IHSA’s membership schools and random testing during the school year.
The bill also provides the IHSA with state funding to finance the program in the future. The Illinois Department of Public Health will oversee the structure and implementation of the new testing program. The IHSA has yet to receive a definitive timeline or structure from the Illinois Department of Public Health, and will subsequently implement its own testing for the fall, with the expectation that the new program will be in place by early 2010 in time to provide testing for the IHSA’s winter and spring sports.
Troy Hayes covers central and southern Illinois for MaxPreps. He may be reached at sportsgopher@yahoo.com.
