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| SportsFriday, October 27, 2006 10:51 PM CDT |
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Four more HOIC teams take the field in playoffs
The new 13-team Heart of Illinois Conference produced memorable matchups on a nearly weekly basis this season. Week 10 won’t be any different with HOIC members and former Midstate Conference rivals Flanagan-Woodland and Ridgeview meeting at 1 p.m. today at Flanagan in the first round of the Class 1A playoffs. “We know Flanagan pretty well and they know us pretty well,” said Ridgeview coach Mike Benton. “It’s going to come down to who executes better.” Two other HOIC teams will be in action today in Class 1A. Unheralded Tremont will visit second-ranked and unbeaten Galena at 1:30 p.m., while ninth-ranked GCMS will host perennial state power Carthage at 2 p.m. in Gibson City. Flanagan-Ridgeview Seventh-seeded Flanagan-Woodland (7-2) and 10th-seeded Ridgeview (6-3) didn’t meet in the regular season. The Falcons were one of the few league powerhouses Ridgeview avoided as the Mustangs closed with three straight losses after a 6-0 start. Flanagan-Woodland coach Ted O’Boyle isn’t reading anything into Ridgeview’s late-season slide. “When the playoffs start everybody is zero and zero. That’s the good thing about it,” O’Boyle said. “It doesn’t matter what you’ve done in the past. You have to come ready to play every week or you go home.” Ridgeview better be ready for a potent Flanagan-Woodland running attack led by Brent Smith (1,010 yards, 11 touchdowns), Aaron Willis (663 yards, 9 TDs) and Keith Funk (341 yards, 7 TDs). Quarterback David Harnish has thrown for 562 yards and three TDs. “The Smith kid is a great running back,” Benton said. “He’s probably one of the best we’ll see, but you can’t lose sight of Williams and Funk. We have to be able to tackle. They just try to pound that left side, and we have to figure out how to stop them.” Ridgeview will counter with a punishing ground attack featuring Jacob Maffett (1,022 yards, 12 TDs), Nick Bose (346 yards) and Tyler Harper (331 yards). “We expect a pretty physical game,” O’Boyle said. “They’re big up front and physical. They run that offense real well. We have to make them throw the ball and do some things they don’t like to do.” Benton is hopeful the Mustangs can make a postseason turnaround. “This team just needs to get their confidence and their swagger back,” Benton said. “We’d like to get the bad taste out of our mouth and play winning football. The kids know what we need to do.” Today’s winner will face Alden-Hebron or Polo in the second round. GCMS-Carthage Fourth-seeded GCMS (8-1) won’t be deceived by the record of 13th-seeded Carthage (6-3). The Blueboys, who have won four state titles and posted four runner-up finishes under veteran coach Jim Unruh, suffered losses to top-ranked Aledo and No. 5 Cambridge. “We’re excited to draw Carthage,” said GCMS coach Mike Allen. “It’s a great program with a great tradition. We don’t want to play someone that isn’t a great opponent. We want to see where we’re at and where our program is, and this is a great measuring stick.” Carthage relies heavily on a running attack featuring fullback Joey Kelly (832 yards, 18 TDs) and tailback Cole Cameron (603 yards). Two-year starting quarterback Justin Neally has thrown for 377 yards. “They have a very good fullback and tailback and Neally is a very good option quarterback,” Allen said. “His play-action is outstanding. In the HOIC there was a challenge every Friday night and there was a playoff atmosphere every Friday night, so we think our kids are going to be able to handle that pressure and the circumstances.” GCMS has a more balanced attack. Jamie Sexton (1,148 yards) and Casey Cline (710 yards) carried the rushing load, and quarterback Wade McGuire passed for 868 yards and six TDs. “They do a good job of mixing up the run and the pass game,” Unruh said. “They have two outstanding running backs — one with power and one with speed and quickness — and that’s a very good combination. Their quarterback has a good arm and is very agile. “Defensively they really mix up their schemes and have a lot of stunting within their schemes. They’re just an all-around very good football team.” Carthage hopes to add another page to its storied football history. “I think our tradition has been awfully important for us,” Unruh said. “Our players know what to expect at this time of the year. They’ve been accustomed to making long road trips like the journey we’re going to be making (today).” The GCMS-Carthage winner will play LeRoy or ninth-ranked Arthur in the second round. Tremont-Galena Tremont (5-4) earned a playoff berth and a No. 16 seed by whipping Fisher 35-7 last week. The Turks’ reward was a date with top-seeded Galena (9-0), which captured Class 1A state titles in 1997 and 2003 and finished second in 1999. “Where we thought we were going to end up and where we ended up are two different things,” said Tremont coach Lou Wicks. “We were looking at playing a one-seeded 2A and now we’re playing a top-seeded 1A. We’re ecstatic about going 1A.” Wicks isn’t as thrilled about facing Galena and standout running back Brandon Decker (1,047 yards, 18 TDs) although he likes the Turks’ chances. “They’re an awfully strong team,” Wicks said. “We really have no common opponents, and it’s really hard to tell the strength of their schedule but we know what our strength of schedule is. We feel the way we’ve competed with most of the teams in our conference, we can compete with anybody. “We’ll just go up there and take a shot and see what happens.” Galena will see plenty of Tremont senior quarterback Jake Szetela, who has thrown for 1,056 yards and nine TDs while rushing for 374 yards. “We definitely think they’re a very good ballclub and we have a lot of respect for their quarterback,” said Galena coach Ed Freed. “He runs the option very well and the sprint-out pass. He’s a dangerous threat and we have to make sure we have some good controlled pressure on him and don’t allow him to set up. “We know we have to play well because Tremont is a dangerous team. We’ll have to be at our best.” Lexington or Stark County awaits the Tremont-Galena winner in the second round. Get area high school sports scores and statistics at Varsity Sports. E-mail this story | Print this story | Search archives | RSS Show comments |  Hide comments | Hide comments on all stories |
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