Games of Sept. 29

Heyworth 41, Blue Ridge 14

Quarterback Nick Kronmiller ran for two touchdowns and threw for two more to lead Heyworth High School's football team to its first win of the season, 41-14 over Blue Ridge, Friday night at Heyworth.

Heyworth (1-4 in Heart of Illinois, 1-5 overall) jumped on Blue Ridge (0-5, 0-6) early when Nathan Spaulding scored on a 10-yard run at 9:24 of the opening quarter. Kronmiller then hit Jacob Van Winkle with a 31-yard pass at 8:30 before ripping off a 65-yard TD run at 5:44 to give the Hornets a 21-0 lead at the end of the period.

Kronmiller scored his second touchdown on a 5-yard run at 9:19 of the second quarter and then hooked up with Van Winkle again, this time on a 20-yard toss, and the Hornets found themselves with a comfortable 34-0 halftime lead. Kronmiller finished with 100 yards on four carries and was 2-for-2 passing for 51 yards and the two Van Winkle scores.

Blue Ridge finally got on the board at the 9:02 mark of the third quarter on a 21-yard Thomas Williams pass to Jonathan Cox.

Heyworth responded at 8:04 of the final period when Jacob Underwood raced 35 yards to make it 41-6. Underwood had 85 yards on seven attempts and Nick Law added 102 yards on 14 carries as the Hornets piled up 382 yards on the ground and 433 yards in total offense.

Max Godin closed out the scoring with a 61-yard run for Blue Ridge. Godin finished with 170 yards on 31 carries as the Knights registered 288 yards in total offense.

"We really needed this win to get our confidence up," said Heyworth coach Mike Law. "We've been in every game this year right down to the wire but would either make a mistake or get hit with a big play that cost us."

Lexington 56, Tri-Valley 0

Senior quarterback Alex Tanney threw four touchdown passes, three in the first quarter alone, as Lexington (4-2, 4-2) rolled past Tri-Valley in conference action at Lexington.

"We put a premium on a fast start tonight,'' said Lexington coach Don Tanney. "The defense set the pace for us with the interception for touchdown."

That interception was provided by Ryan Hanes, who returned the stolen pass 35 yards for a 7-0 Lexington lead.

Alex Tanney took over from then on with scoring strikes of 13, 8 and 3 yards, respectively, to Eric Schuler. Hanes followed with a 30-yard scoring jaunt as Lexington exploded for 35 points in the opening quarter.

The Minutemen tacked on three more touchdowns in the second period on a 22-yard run by Hanes, a 5-yard run by Cody Leigh and a 32-yard pass from Tanney to Zach Freed.

Tanney finished with 16 completions in 19 attempts for 241yards. Schuler, who also made all eight conversion kicks, caught a game-high nine passes for 79 yards. Freed had three receptions for 79 yards while Leigh had two catches for 62 yards. Hanes was the leading ballcarrier for the Minutemen with 52 yards.

"We were able to take control early and play a lot of kids,'' Don Tanney said. "And all the kids contributed."

Tri-Valley (1-5, 0-5) was held to 48 yards of total offense by the Minutemen defense. Chris Asmar rushed for a team-high 42 yards on 19 carries for the Vikings, who lost two fumbles and had two passes intercepted.

Fieldcrest 21, Flanagan 15

Jake Martin scored from 12 yards out in overtime as Fieldcrest earned a victory over previously unbeaten Flanagan-Woodland in a key conference game at South Streator.

The victory lifted Fieldcrest, 5-1 overall, into a three-way tie for second place in the HOIC with GCMS and Flanagan-Woodland at 4-1. All are a game behind league-leader Ridgeview.

Fieldcrest built a 15-0 lead in the first half on a 3-yard touchdown run by Jordan Krone, a safety, and a 73-yard kickoff return following the safety by Jake Bane.

Flanagan-Woodland (5-1, 4-1) pulled to within 15-7 by halftime on a 27-yard run by junior Aaron Willis. The Falcons knotted the score at 15-15 on a 34-yard scoring run by Willis in the third quarter. Neither team scored in the fourth quarter.

Flanagan-Woodland received the ball first in overtime, but was stopped on downs after two quarterback sacks. A short gain and penalty on Flanagan-Woodland set up the winning touchdown run by Martin.

"We played great defensively,'' said Fieldcrest coach Brett Cazalet. "Both teams missed opportunities to score during the game."

Josh North led Fieldcrest in rushing with 70 of the Knights' 86 total yards. Krone completed 5 of 12 passes for 100 yards with Darin Meierhofer the top receiver with three catches for 70 yards.

Willis led all ballcarriers with 126 yards rushing on 10 carries for Flanagan-Woodland. Brent Smith was held to 31 yards on 13 carries. The Falcons gained 32 yards through the air.

"We told the kids this was a turning point for this team,'' said Cazalet. "Either last week (a loss to Lexington) was going to be the turning point or this week. We showed we could beat a good team. This was a big one for our confidence."

EPG 25, Dee-Mack 8

Sophomore running back Ryan Augsburger ran for a pair of second-half touchdowns and quarterback Jordan McKinsey threw for another as El Paso-Gridley (3-3, 3-2) spoiled Deer Creek-Mackinaw's homecoming with an HOIC victory at Mackinaw.

EPG held a slim 12-8 lead at halftime on a 15-yard interception return by Jeremy Balf and a 7-yard scoring pass from McKinsey to Matt Schifferer, both in the opening quarter. Augsburger sealed the win for the Titans with scoring runs of 29 and 13 yards, respectively, in the fourth quarter.

Deer Creek-Mackinaw (0-6, 0-5) outgained EPG on offense, 235 yards to 199. But the Chiefs could only muster a 3-yard touchdown run by Matt Taylor in the first quarter.

Taylor finished with a game-high 93 yards rushing on 18 carries for the Chiefs. Daniel Miller added 66 yards on 21 rushes.

McKinsey ran for 58 yards to lead EPG while completing 6 of 13 passes for 43 yards with two interceptions.

Tremont 35, LeRoy 14

Five first-half turnovers by LeRoy allowed the visiting Turks to pull out to a 28-7 halftime lead and Tremont held on to upset LeRoy in a Heart of Illinois Conference game at LeRoy.

Tremont (3-3, 3-3) led 7-0 after one period on a Ben Martin 7-yard touchdown run before J.D. VanRheeden put the Turks up 14-0 with a 2-yard run with 3:37 to play in the second quarter.

LeRoy (4-2, 4-2) pulled to within 14-7 on a Ryan Koerner 34-yard pass to Garrett Moyer at the 1:17 mark of the half before Tremont struck twice in the final 37 seconds to open up the lead.

Jake Szetela found Phillip Schafer on a 60-yard touchdown pass before a fumble gave the ball back to the Turks. VanRheeden scored on a 5-yard run with nine seconds to play for the halftime score.

Rodney Henson added a 1-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter for the Panthers before Szetela put the game on ice for Tremont with a 19-yard touchdown run with 2:18 to play.

"Turnovers really put the field position in their favor in the first half," said LeRoy coach B.J. Zeleznik. "We knew coming in that Tremont had good speed and we needed to contain the big plays. We contained them on offense but the defense came up with the big plays for them."

Szetela completed 4 of 15 passes for 100 yards to lead Tremont while Schafer finished with two catches for 72 yards and one touchdown. VanRheeden rushed 12 times for 45 yards and two touchdowns.

Koerner led the Panthers with 21 rushes for 104 yards and completed 8 of 23 passes for 92 yards and one touchdown. Brent Alexander caught two passes for 79 yards to lead LeRoy.

"Hats off to Tremont, they needed the win and capitalized on turnovers to get it done," Zeleznik said. "I'm not disappointed in my kids. We took strides defensively but it was tough to defend the short field position."

Fisher 35, Shiloh 8

Running backs Josh Ingold and Colten Unzicker combined to rush 38 times for 205 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Bunnies past Shiloh East Central in a nonconference game at Fisher.

The Bunnies (3-3, 2-3) produced 328 total rushing yards off 61 carries. Unzicker scored on a 10-yard run in the first quarter and then on a 12-yard run in the third quarter. Ingold tallied his only touchdown with a 1-yard score in the third quarter.

Senior Kody Thomas scampered 20 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, followed by an Unzicker 16-yard TD.

Freshman Andrew Taylor paced Fisher's defense with six solo tackles and an interception. Billy Derges led the team with three tackles for a loss.

"The first half was pretty sloppy," said Fisher coach Matt Leng. "I am really proud of the way our kids played."