In a battle between the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in eight-man football, it was Polo over Milledgeville in a great atmosphere at Floyd Daub Field.
Before getting into game specifics, let’s go back several years when both schools were considering a co-op in football. At the time, it made sense, especially the close proximity to each other.
With declining enrollments, schools all over Illinois were co-oping for football to keep programs afloat. So, why not Milledgeville and Polo?
Without getting into all the details, there was a resistance to it, and it never came to fruition. This past Friday was proof positive that the right decision was made.
We also have to give an assist to the formation of eight-man football. That has made it much easier for stand-alone programs like Milledgeville and Polo to thrive.
Had both remained the brutally-tough NUIC, it would be a different story. Let’s say Milledgeville and Polo would have co-oped to stay competitive in the NUIC and play 11-man, the community interest would not have the same intensity as it did Friday at Milledgeville.
The story of the game was the performance of Brock Soltow, I mean Gus Mumford. Bearing likeness to the former eight-man MVP, Mumford accounted for 290 of the 314 total yards Polo had in the 30-14 win.
And, how about the Marco defense holding Milledgeville to 50 points under its season average of 65. In the high-scoring theatre of eight-man, Polo has only allowed 28 points all year, a mark that some teams put up in one quarter.
One final thought. After tearing up eight-man from the get-go, Polo has managed to keep its prominence afloat for each of the past six seasons. Credit to head coaches Jeff Bumstead, Ted Alston and all the assistants for maintaining a proud heritage.
Earlier in the season, I questioned whether Oregon had the mental fortitude to be truly competitive. With Stillman Valley running all over the Hawks in the first half, I still had my doubts.
But they didn’t quit. As SV coach Mike Lalor aptly put afterwards, Oregon “hung in here”. Yes, Oregon caught more breaks than the Cardinals did in the 21-13 victory.
However, they capitalized on the breaks and seemed to get stronger as the game went on. That’s difficult to do with SV’s no-huddle offense allowing hardly any time between plays.
With the way Oregon stood up in the face of adversity, it was the most gratifying Hawk win for me to witness in recent memory.
Credit also to my Rochelle Hubs for their somewhat stunning demolition of highly-ranked Morris. If Rochelle drops down from 5A into 4A, they have to be considered one of the favorites to win state.
When talking to coach Broc Kundert after he first came to Oregon, he said one of the drawing cards for him was that Oregon had a history of good track & field and wrestling and those sports lend themselves to good football players.
That is so true and quite evident at Rochelle where several of their best football players are elite wrestlers. Rochelle has never been overly talented, but it would be hard to find a team more physical than them.
Lena-Winslow surprised people with a running clock over Pec-Durand. Make no mistake. Le-Win is still the kingpin of the best small conference school in the state.
Last year in the state finals, they did get their comeuppance at the hands of Camp Point Central. An even bigger challenger looms downstate with Belleville Althoff.
The private school of 288 with D-I talent has been destroying schools several times larger than them. Althoff is an independent and peppers its schedule tougher than what is seen in the NUIC.
Additionally, the area 1A playoff picture has gotten stronger with private schools Sterling Newman and Rockford Lutheran on board. That is one of the effects of 30 schools playing eight-man. It has driven larger schools to 1A, subsequently toughening things up.
At halftime of the Forreston football game, the inaugural hall of fame class was announced. Reviewing the selections, this had to be a complicated affair for the committee.
Rather than focusing on a sports HOF, Forreston’s encompasses all aspects at the school. Categories included dedication, extra-curriculars, service and teamwork.
Credit to Forreston for attempting to honor all graduates. For example, the criteria for service is contribution to community, state or country.
Speaking of Forreston, congratulations to junior Kaden Brown for qualifying for the 1A state golf tourney, by shooting at 78 at the sectional.
Jake Guse, son of Lutheran coach Tom Guse, was individual medalist for the third year in a row. Equally impressive was the 299 carded by Riverdale to win the team title, an average of under 75 for its four top players.
Also headed downstate from the 2A boys sectional is senior Davis Baker of Byron.
For the girls, both Alayne Brandt (79) of Byron and Amelia Dunseth (82) went top five at the Byron sectional to qualify.
Andy Colbert is a longtime Ogle County resident with years of experience covering sports and more for multiple area publications.
