Local readers of this blog may be wondering why I didn’t cover the past few weeks of Redskins football. My logical reason: I am disappointed with the sloppy play and can’t find better sports news, so I abandoned ship and avoided making posts.

Now, matters are worse for coach Gabe Cesaretti and the Redskins squad. as they go on into next week 0-6 with a 13-game losing streak. Cesaretti is now 15-21 as head coach, which should now arise questions of his leadership of the squad.

Best suggestion for athletic director Robert Davis is avoid being slaughtered by Williamsville in the season closer and play Roxana instead. Otherwise, don’t give Cesaretti another year just to screw things up. Give the incoming freshmen a new coach and start from scratch – since most of the freshmen who have skills will have to play varsity next season.

I plead to everyone in Redskins Territory in Nokomis – don’t give Cesaretti another season to destroy the team. As a matter of fact, Brent Engleman might be a better head coach than Cesaretti.

I could care to go through the Nokomis/Mount Olive game today, but the fact of losing three games in a row makes this sportswriter want to avoid the stat sheet for one week. So, I have comprised scores from all over the state (covered by the Springfield State Journal-Register and Decatur Herald & Review) of wins or losses by a touchdown or less (The Good), wins or losses between 8 points and two touchdowns (The Bad) and wins or losses by more than two touchdowns (The Ugly). Let’s begin:

The Good
Gillespie 45, Virden 41 (Prairie State: Gillespie and Virden are 1-2 overall and 1-1 in the conference)
Riverton 27, Athens 20 (Sangamo: Riverton 1-2 overall, 1-1 conf.; Athens lose three straight)
Hillsboro 30, Alton Marquette 24 (South Central: three OT quarters needed for win)
Auburn 14, Petersburg PORTA 7 (Sangamo: PORTA first loss after winning two straight)
Williamsville 19, Pleasant Plains 12 (Sangamo: Willamsville scored 13 points in first half)
Knoxville 14, Havana 12 (West Prairie Trail SE)

The Bad
Mount Olive 28, NOKOMIS 14 (Prairie State: Nokomis lose three straight)
New Berlin 23, Niantic Sangamon Valley 13 (Sangamo: Sang. Valley lose two straight since defeating Nokomis)
Beardstown 28, Hamilton West Hancock 14 (West Prairie Trail SW)
Hardin Calhoun 22, Greenfield 14 (Western Illinois Valley South)
Taylorville 14, Lincoln 0 (Central State Eight: Taylorville win three straight)

The Ugly
Chatham Glenwood 41, Jacksonville 21 (Central State Eight)
Springfield High 56, Springfield Southeast 28 (Central State Eight)
Sacred Heart-Griffin 47, Springfield Lanphier 7 (Central State Eight)
Bloomington Central Catholic 41, Pontiac 10 (Corn Belt)
Fairbury Prairie Central 61, Eureka 12 (Corn Belt)
Mahomet-Seymour 42, Rantoul 8 (Corn Belt)
Stanford-Olympia 35, Normal University 0 (Corn Belt)
Staunton 60, Girard 6 (Prairie State: Staunton tied with Pawnee as conference co-leader)
Pawnee 58, Kincaid South Fork 6 (Prairie State)
Greenville 32, Carlinville 7 (South Central)
Litchfield 32, Piasa Southwestern 12 (South Central)
Vandalia 35, Roxana 0 (South Central: Roxana drops three straight)
Astoria South Fulton 41, Mendon Unity 7 (West Prairie Trail SE)
Carthage Illini West 44, Camp Point Central 7 (West Prairie Trail SW)
Concord Triopia 72, Jacksonville ISD 0 (Western Illinois Valley North: Triopia ranked #2 in 1A poll)
Mount Sterling Brown County 74, Virginia 0 (Western Illinois Valley North)
Carrollton 21, White Hall North Greene 0 (Western Illinois Valley South)
Pleasant Hill 53, Bunker Hill 34 (Western Illinois Valley South)
Rochester 49, Jerseyville 14 (non-conference)
Bushnell-Prairie City 56, Rushville-Industry 14 (non-conference)
Pittsfield 58, Sciota West Prairie 6 (non-conference)

Across The State Recap
Out of all of the games covered, one ended in a forfeit but unsure if it was about not enough eligible players or maybe just a no-show. I would go through them today, but the scores are more than likely to be in The Ugly department.

Here are the latest rankings of Illinois high school football teams in each class, according to an Associated Press panel of sportswriters:
Class 8A
School W-L Pts Prv
1. Maine South (7) (2-0) 88 2
2. Chicago Mt. Carmel (2) (2-0) 81 1
3. Bolingbrook (2-0) 70 3
4. Naperville North (2-0) 60 4
5. Hinsdale Central (1-1) 49 5
6. Fremd (2-0) 40 6
7. Lincoln-Way East (2-0) 37 7
8. Belleville West (2-0) 25 10
9. Gurnee Warren (2-0) 22 8
10. Belleville East (2-0) 6
Others receiving votes: Palatine 5, Loyola 5, Naperville Central 4, Downers South 2, Machesney Park Harlem 1,
———
Class 7A
School W-L Pts Prv
1. St. Rita (6) (2-0) 87 2
2. Glenbard West (1) (2-0) 77 3
3. Wheaton-Warrenville South (2) (1-1) 66 1
4. Geneva (2-0) 56 5
5. Prospect (2-0) 54 4
6. Rockford Boylan (2-0) 43 6
7. Crystal Lake South (2-0) 37 8
8. Carmel (1-1) 29 7
9. Lake Zurich (1-1) 17 9
10. Huntley (2-0) 14
Others receiving votes: Hononegah 11, Glenbrook North 3, Wheaton North 1,
———
Class 6A
School W-L Pts Prv
1. East St. Louis (8) (0-2) 110 1
2. Lemont (3) (2-0) 107 2
3. Cary-Grove (1) (2-0) 91 3
4. Providence (1-1) 90 6
5. Danville (2-0) 68 8
6. Morgan Park (1-1) 47 4
7. St. Viator (2-0) 38 9
8. Rock Island (1-1) 26 —
9. Antioch (2-0) 25 —
10. Bloomington (1-1) 24 —
Others receiving votes: Crete-Monee 11, Richwoods 7, Woodstock 7, Normal Community 4, Oswego 3, Springfield 2,
———
Class 5A
School W-L Pts Prv
1. Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin (14) (2-0) 140 2
2. Cahokia (2-0) 105 4
3. Joliet Catholic (1-1) 103 1
4. Nazareth (2-0) 94 5
5. Decatur MacArthur (2-0) 70 6
6. Washington (2-0) 69 —
7. St. Francis (2-0) 67 7
8. Kankakee (2-0) 46 8
9. Montini (1-1) 33 10
10. Metamora (1-1) 19 3
Others receiving votes: Champaign Central 12, Triad 7, Morris 2, Wheaton Academy 1, Hillcrest 1, Marion 1,
———
Class 4A
School W-L Pts Prv
1.(tie) Bloomington Central Catholic (3) (2-0) 127 2
1.(tie) Rochester (9) (2-0) 127 1
3. Quincy Notre Dame (2) (2-0) 111 3
4. Geneseo (2-0) 99 4
5. Richmond-Burton (2-0) 94 5
6. Bishop McNamara (2-0) 55 6
7. Mendota (2-0) 54 7
8. Coal City (2-0) 38 8
9. Pontiac (2-0) 22 10
10. Effingham (2-0) 21 8
Others receiving votes: Mt. Zion 10, Rock Island Alleman 9, Waterloo 1, Harrisburg 1, Breese Mater Dei 1,
———
Class 3A
School W-L Pts Prv
1. Illini West (Carthage) (6) (2-0) 98 1
2. Elmhurst Immaculate Conception (4) (1-1) 89 2
3. Wilmington (2-0) 86 3
4. Stillman Valley (2-0) 65 5
5. Decatur St. Teresa (2-0) 60 7
6. Tolono Unity (2-0) 48 6
7. Pittsfield (1) (2-0) 39 8
8. Greenville (2-0) 33 10
9. Auburn (2-0) 22 —
10. DuQuoin (1-1) 19 4
Others receiving votes: Breese Central 9, Pittsfield-Griggsville-Perry 8, Columbia 8, Anna-Jonesboro 8, Champaign St. Thomas More 5, Mt. Carmel 5, Aurora Christian 2, Winnebago 1,
———
Class 2A
School W-L Pts Prv
1. Bureau Valley (4) (2-0) 101 2
2. Maroa-Forsyth (5) (2-0) 91 1
3. Mercer County (1) (2-0) 90 3
4. Clifton Central (1) (2-0) 64 4
5. Casey-Westfield (2-0) 61 6
6. Westville (2-0) 50 5
7. Stark County (2-0) 48 7
8. Orion (2-0) 33 9
9. Morrison (2-0) 32 10
10. Wethersfield (1-1) 7 —
Others receiving votes: Amboy-LaMoille 6, Eastland-Pearl City 6, Watseka 5, Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley 4, Williamsville 3, Alton Marquette 3, Flora 1,
———
Class 1A
School W-L Pts Prv
1. Dakota (9) (2-0) 124 1
2. Triopia-Meredosia-Chambersburg (3) (2-0) 114 2
3. Brown County (1) (2-0) 107 3
4. Salt Fork (2-0) 86 6
5. East Dubuque (2-0) 59 10
6. Lena-Winslow (1-1) 54 9
7. Tuscola (1-1) 52 4
8. Jacksonville Routt (2-0) 47 —
9. Alexis United (2-0) 29 —
10. Greenfield-Northwestern (1-1) 11 8
Others receiving votes: Galena 9, Cerro Gordo 4, Fisher 4, Lexington 3, Aquin 3, Pawnee 3, Polo 2, Palestine-Hutsonville 2, Bushnell-Prairie City 1, Princeville 1,

It was another week for the Redskins squad and their first conference game, but their efforts would still lead to another game with a 10-point loss.

Jordan Pesko finished 16 for 29 passing for 334 yards, including a 54-yard bomber into the next area code and two interceptions. That’s not it, folks! Pesko made 10 rushing attempts for 28 yards, including a 16-yard run. He also had three defensive tackles and would lose the ball in a fumble once.

Tyler Morse, Cameron West and Langston Brummet had another great night on the rushing stat sheet, but a Morse fumble would lose some momentum. Morse rushed six times for 46 yards, West eight times for 48 yards and Brummet 15 times for 51 yards.

Along with Morse and West, Michael Cheek, Blake Chausse and Ryan Pavolka would have their chance of getting the ball. Cheek got the ball five times for 64 yards, Morse four times for 103 yards, West 2 times for 80 yards, Chausse once for 11 yards and Pavolka four times for 76 yards. West was on the receiving end of the Pesko 54-yard power throw.

Nokomis contributed 41 tackles on the night.

Kincaid’s Jack Hanlon threw for three touchdowns, two of which came to the hands of Kyle Swisher, to snap a 35-game losing streak since winning against Nokomis in Week 2 of the 2005 campaign. Kincaid followed that game with seven straight wins and then their day in the sun went away. The Ponies went 0-9 in the 2006, 2007 and 2008 campaigns and was followed by a Week 1 loss to Petersburg PORTA this season.

Area Scores

• Chatham Glenwood 54, Springfield Southeast 16 (Central State Eight Conference)
• Taylorville 34, Springfield Lanphier 27 (Central State Eight Conference)
• Sacred Heart-Griffin 56, Lincoln 6 (Central State Eight Conference)
• Rochester 57, Rantoul 35 (Corn Belt Conference)
• Staunton 48, Gillespie 14 (Prairie State Conference)
• Pawnee 18, Mt. Olive 0 (Prairie State Conference)
• Virden 25, Girard 8 (Prairie State Conference – final rivalry game before becoming Macoupin County)
• Petersburg PORTA 32, Niantic Sangamon Valley 3 (Sangamo Conference)
• Pleasant Plains 41, Athens 14 (Sangamo Conference)
• Auburn 24, New Berlin 13 (Sangamo Conference)
• Williamsville 41, Riverton 3 (Sangamo Conference)
• Hillsboro 41, Roxana 0 (South Central Conference – Roxana drops two straight)
• Carlinville 41, Vandalia 19 (South Central Conference)
• Litchfield 46, EAWR 6 (South Central Conference)
• Carthage Illini West 70, Bushnell-Prairie City 18 (non-conference)
• White Hall North Greene 49, Jacksonville ISD 0 (non-conference)

Scores Across The State

• Breese Mater Dei 41, Nashville 13
• Cahokia 42, Alton 0
• Casey-Westfield 41, Red Hill 7
• Champaign Central 50, Urbana 0
• Champaign St. Thomas More 49, Danville Schlarman 0
• Danville 46, Mattoon 3
• Effingham 48, Salem 0
• Kankakee 33, Oak Lawn Community 7
• Loyola 56, Chicago Sullivan 0

Nokomis/Lincolnwood vs. Kincaid South Fork

This Prairie State Conference showdown features two teams who dropped their season openers. Nokomis lost their season opener to Sangamo Conference school Sangamon Valley (Niantic/Harristown/Tri-City Co-Op) 29-19, while despite a good run on Kincaid’s side of the ball would lose 41-34 against Petersburg PORTA.

With all-around errors on the Redskins squad last week, Nokomis hopes to bring their season to 1-1, but it’s uncertain if coach Gabe Cesaretti will start senior Jordan Pesko, junior Hayden Brownback or sophomore Nick Fox. After Pesko’s sloppy play in the opener, he should be questionable in starting tomorrow night.

As for Kincaid South Fork, the defense wasn’t too effective to hold Petersburg PORTA which may leave some loopholes for the Redskins to break through. The offense scored 34 points in the final quarter when they didn’t score anytime during the other three quarters, which may arise questions on who made offensive errors to not score anytime except the fourth quarter.

Nokomis/Lincolnwood plays South Fork in Kincaid tomorrow night at 7 PM.

Pana vs. Alton Marquette

After Pana’s beatdown of Roxana in the first South Central Conference showdown of the season 36-6, they face Alton Marquette, who defeated Carlinville 34-21.

Obviously, something is in Pana’s Gatorade to perform that well. Alton Marquette, not so much. We’ll just have to see how this game evolves.

I have to look into some more games, so I’ll continue this tomorrow.

Here are the latest rankings of Illinois high school football teams in each class, according to an Associated Press panel of sportswriters:

Others receiving votes: Belleville East 9, Machesney Park Harlem 8, Naperville Central 8, Loyola 6, Brother Rice 1.

Others receiving votes: Huntley 10, Hononegah 6, Glenbrook North 4, Fenwick 2, Rolling Meadows 1.

Others receiving votes: Antioch 13, Oak Lawn Richards 8, Bloomington 5, Hubbard 1, Rock Island 1.

Others receiving votes: Washington 9, Wheaton Academy 9, Sterling 8, Champaign Central 7, Triad 2.

Others receiving votes: Waterloo 9, Rock Island Alleman 7, Mt. Zion 7, Breese Mater Dei 3, Althoff Catholic 3, Mahomet-Seymour 2.

Others receiving votes: Auburn 20, Breese Central 16, Nashville 10, Anna-Jonesboro 8, Aurora Christian 2, Sterling Newman 2.

Others receiving votes: Amboy-LaMoille 14, Alton Marquette 5, Eastland-Pearl City 4, Williamsville 3, Wethersfield 1, Moweaqua Central A&M 1, Deer Creek-Mackinaw 1, Pleasant Plains 1.

Others receiving votes: Jacksonville Routt 10, Alexis United 8, Milledgeville 7, Bushnell-Prairie City 4, Villa Grove 3, Calhoun 2, Durand 1.

The 2009 campaign for the Nokomis Redskins began with a rocky start, but sloppy play on both offense and defense would give them their first loss of the season, not to mention losing the season opener.

Nokomis faced Sangamon Valley (formerly Niantic/Harristown and a handful of other schools) in the Redskins’ first non-conference game in fifteen years. With four teams gone after the end of the 2008-2009 school year to join another conference, two teams joined from a conference Nokomis has been familiar with and a conference it was formerly in at one time – the South Central Conference.

Senior quarterback Jordan Pesko would start off the first half with rather effective play, handing the ball back-and-forth between junior running back Tyler Morse and senior running back Cameron West. Pesko would make most of the first half a offensive run game, which makes Redskins fans wonder what is going on in the head of Redskins’ head coach Gabe Cesaretti and the Redskins offensive coaches.

Despite a scoreless first quarter, the Sangamon Valley Storm would manage to make their first score of the game. A field goal attempt would fail and the Storm would lead 6-0, but that lead wouldn’t last long. The Redskins made a great start toward a scoring run, thanks to a Morse kickoff return of 51 yards that would eventually lead to a touchdown minutes later and a subsequent field goal, leading the Storm 7-6.

Regardless of any attempts to stop the Storm offense, the Redskins’ plan would fail just less than a minute until halftime, when the Storm would score once again, with a made field goal to lead into halftime 13-6.

Coming into the second half, the offensive powerhouse of Sangamon Valley proved too much as the Nokomis defense had difficulty keeping them back and the offense couldn’t keep a hold on the ball, caused by two fumbles by Morse, one of which was recovered. Pesko would get run over, sacked and put in 4th and long positions and receivers in the open to catch the ball would lose the ball or they stopped when they should have kept running to catch the ball.

By the time the second half winded down to its last minutes, the damage had been done, despite a few Storm injuries in the fourth quarter. The nails have been sealed onto the coffin and Sangamon Valley would hand Nokomis their first non-conference loss in fifteen years with a score of 29-19.

Pesko would finish with 8 for 18 for 86 yards passing with 1 interception, 8 carries for 105 yards with 2 rushing TD’s, 4 tackles and 2 kickoff returns for 48 yards. Morse finished with 5 carries for 18 yards, 2 receptions for 32 yards, 2 offensive fumbles with 1 fumble recovery, 11 tackles and 2 kickoff returns for 66 yards. West finishes with 10 carries for 30 yards, 1 reception for 13 yards, 1 offensive fumble and 5 tackles.

If Cesaretti wants to bring his career record back to .500, he’ll have to win next week in Kincaid against South Fork.

It’s time for high school and college football to kick off, but it’s only a few weeks away!

But we at the SportsCenter SportsDesk in Nokomis, Illinois, cannot do it all ourselves. Our reporters are working double duty on PYIR SportsCenter and our sister blog and often don’t have enough time to gather information about the teams. That’s where you come in.

We will need the following information:

1. Team name
2. Current coach
3. Number of years as head coach
4. Overall record as head coach
5. 2009 schedule
6. 2009 roster
7. ongoing stats by the week

If you wish to have your team covered here, please email our sports staff at pyirsportsdesk@gmail.com. It would be great if you can help out in this grueling football season!