Games of Sept. 29

Prairie Central 41, Rantoul 7

Jerid Coleman threw three touchdown passes, all to Phillip Short, and Ben Herr added three short TD runs as Prairie Central rolled to a 41-7 win over Rantoul in a Corn Belt Conference football game Friday night at Fairbury.

Prairie Central, ranked No. 2 in Class 4A, exploded for 31 points in the first half before a homecoming crowd.

Coleman connected with Short on scoring passes of 24 and 16 yards, respectively, in the first quarter. A 3-yard touchdown run by Herr came between the scoring passes as the Hawks (6-0, 5-0 Corn Belt) took a 21-0 lead.

Coleman, who finished with a near perfect 11 completions in 12 attempts for 150 yards, again found Short with a 4-yard scoring pass to open the second period. Herr followed with a 4-yard TD run to give the Hawks a commanding 34-0 lead at halftime.

Herr, who scored his third touchdown from 10 yards out in the third quarter, carried 21 times for a game-high 97 yards. Short finished with six receptions for 106 yards.

Rantoul's lone score came in the final period on a 2-yard run by Darin Young. Rantoul (1-5, 1-4) gained 116 yards on the ground, 74 by Young, and 17 through the air.

Prairie Central's defense recovered three Rantoul fumbles and made one interception. Herr recovered two of the fumbles. Tyler Popejoy had the interception.

Pontiac 42, Eureka 13

Junior running back Kendrique Coats rushed 30 times for 309 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Indians as Pontiac High School defeated Eureka in a Corn Belt Conference game at Eureka.

Pontiac, ranked No. 6 in Class 4A, improved to 4-1 overall and in the conference while Eureka dropped to 1-5 overall and 1-4 in league play.

Eureka scored first midway through the opening period on a B.J. Zobrist 1-yard run to take a 6-0 lead before Pontiac put six consecutive touchdowns on the board to pull away.

Indians quarterback Patrick Miller scored on a 1-yard run and Tyler Sweitzer added a 2-yard touchdown to give Pontiac a 14-6 lead after one period.

After a scoreless second quarter, Pontiac found the end zone three times in the third period to pull out to a 36-6 lead with one quarter to play.

Alex Smith scored on a 13-yard touchdown run before Coats added scoring runs of 15 and 3 yards.

Brad Miller scored the final touchdown for the Indians on a 28-yard run before the Hornets completed the scoring on a Zobrist to Dean Eastman 39-yard touchdown pass.

It was the 10th touchdown reception of the season for Eastman, who tied a Eureka all-time single season mark with the catch.

Alex Smith finished with 48 yards rushing on nine carries for Pontiac while Sweitzer led the Indians with 54 yards receiving. Patrick Miller completed 5 of 12 passes for 86 yards.

Eastman finished with 48 yards receiving on three catches while Devin Small added 46 yards on four catches. Zobrist completed 8 of 18 passes for 136 yards while Ryan Mountz led the Hornets with 32 yards rushing on eight carries.

Mahomet 41, Olympia 6

Mahomet-Seymour quarterback Lyle Shallenberger threw four touchdown passes to lead the Bulldogs to a Corn Belt Conference victory over Olympia at Stanford.

Mahomet-Seymour (3-3 overall, 2-3 in the Corn Belt) raced to a 14-0 first-quarter lead behind Shallenberger TD tosses of 6 yards to Michael Nickrent and 19 yards to Brandon Cantu.

Nickrent, who had 71 yards rushing on nine carries, then scored on a 1-yard run late in the second quarter to up the Bulldog margin to 21-0 at the half.

In the third quarter, John Porter scored on a 25-yard run before Shallenberger found Cory Christensen on a 14-yard touchdown pass as Mahomet-Seymour took a 34-0 lead into the final period. Porter finished with 89 yards on 10 attempts as the Bulldogs rushed for 193 yards.

Shallenberger's fourth TD pass, a 15-yard hookup with Jonathan Smith, closed the scoring for Mahomet-Seymour. Shallenberger was 6-for-17 for 102 yards without an interception.

Olympia (0-6 in Corn Belt and overall) scored with 54 seconds left when 6-foot-4, 260-pound offensive lineman Colt Stroud blasted in from 1-yard out. Matt Westerfield had 106 yards on 16 carries for the Spartans, the first 100-yard game by an Olympia running back in three years.

"The kids played physical throughout and never backed down," said Olympia coach Matt Koeppel. "Despite the score, Mahomet knew they were in a game."