By Troy Hayes, Decatur Herald & Review
Special to MaxPreps.com
The Kessler’s Crossroads Classic returns to Effingham and Effingham St. Anthony High Schools this weekend with matches pitting some of the best talent in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Missouri.
The volleyball tournament, hosted by the two Effingham schools as well as Stewardson-Strasburg High School, features 24 teams, including at least a couple of teams with respective state title aspirations.
Belleville Althoff and Wheaton St. Francis are top 10 in Illinois according to prepvolleyball.com and St. Francis is the two-time defending champion of the Classic. The competition seems to increase every year.
“It gets a little more intimidating each year with who they bring in,” said Warrensburg-Latham coach Sherri White, whose 6-2 Cardinals will play Freeport on Friday. “We go 2-3 usually but the team is never completely overmatched. It’s a challenge which always makes us work harder — which is good.”
Indianapolis Chatard, St. Charles Duchesne, Owensboro Catholic and St. Louis Nerinx Hall will also vie for the tourney title.
Unbeaten, Untouched
Cissna Park-Crescent-Iroquois isn’t just 7-0 to begin the volleyball season, they haven’t dropped a game in the early going, according to the Champaign News-Gazette’s Fred Kroner. Monday against St. Anne, CPCI yielded only 12 points in another sweep.
Football: East St. Louis Routs D.C. Squad
Washington, D.C.’s St. John's High School traveled 15 hours by bus to take on the East St. Louis Flyers last week. They probably wish they’d stayed home.
The Flyers, who own the state’s most wins all-time with 728 in 110-plus years, scored touchdowns on six of their first seven possessions, easing to a 40-7 halftime lead. They coasted to a 54-13 win on their new FieldTurf surface.
"They played the game we knew they were capable of playing," St. John's coach Joe Patterson told Rod Kloeckner of the Belleville News-Democrat. "They have a lot of good athletes, and we made enough miscues on our side to really facilitate what happened today.
"That's just an awfully good football team which has playmakers who make a lot of plays."
Quarterback Detchauz Wray threw three touchdown passes to three different receivers and also scored a rushing touchdown as the Flyers rolled up 387 yards of offense.
Box Goes 3-For-3
If you only get three carries in a half, it’s imperative to make an impression.
Edwardsville sophomore running back Reggie Box was stunning in his limited chances last week against Chicago Corliss, scoring all three times he touched the ball in the first half.
Box had touchdown runs of 9, 22 and 33 yards in the Tigers 49-0 shutout of the Trojans.
"I was trying for four, but I couldn't get it," Box, who added a 2-yard gain and a 9-yard gain on his only carries of the second half, told the News-Democrat. "I absolutely have to thank my blockers. They're the best. They got me the holes, and I did my best to get through them for touchdowns."
Game You Can’t Miss
A big matchup looms in East-Central Illinois on Friday. Westville (1-1), ranked sixth in the latest Class 2A poll but playing without its starting quarterback because of suspension, takes on undefeated and Class 1A No. 4-ranked Salt Fork.
Westville, a Class 2A runner-up last year, is playing with Matt Maser at quarterback while two-year starter Dustin Billings sits. They still managed to stay with 2A’s No. 3 team, Momence, before falling last week.
And speaking of Momence, the Redskins take on Class 3A perennial power St. Joseph-Ogden in a game that will be a smash mouth affair. Momence has speed, St. Joe’s has a chip on its collective shoulder after being handled by Class 4A’s Stillman Valley 44-25 last week. It is the Spartans worst loss since falling 26-0 to Tolono Unity in the 2003 playoffs.
Also on tap this week in the state’s smaller school division: Class 1A’s No. 8 Stark County takes on No. 9 Alexis United, No. 3 Milledgeville should get a test against undefeated Pecatonica.
In 2A, AP’s No. 2-ranked Casey-Westfield takes on undefeated Flora in a Little Illini tilt. No. 7 Tolono Unity hosts 1-1 Macon Meridian and stud quarterback Dakota Getz. Getz is coming off an eight touchdown (five rushing, two passing, 1 fumble return) performance against Sullivan in Week 2.
Troy Hayes covers central and southern Illinois for MaxPreps. He may be reached at thayes@herald-review.com
