Rockets roll on in football playoffs, SJO's season ended

Tre Hoggard
Photo: Sentinel/Clark Brooks

TOLONO - Unity fans erupted in excitement after receiver Tre Hoggard scored a touchdown against the visiting Spartans from St. Joseph-Ogden. The Rockets avenged their regular season loss of 24-21 to SJO in Week 3. With this victory, Unity (8-3) advanced to the Class 3A quarterfinals by upsetting the state-ranked Spartans, winning 35-7. With their season extended for another week, the Rockets will host the Nashville Hornets at Hicks Field this Saturday at 2 PM. More photos coming later this week.

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Photo Gallery |
Spartan win sets collision course with Rockets

Photo: Sentinel/Clark Brooks
Kodey McKinney hands the ball off to running back Wyatt Wertz during their home game last Saturday against West Frankfort. The Spartans won the first-round IHSA playoff game easily, 48-0. Below are a few moments from the game that sealed a date at Unity yesterday. See even more photos on photonewsphotos.com.

See 80 more photos and special graphic design pieces from PhotoNews Media here.

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Unity football team celebrates playoff win over Roxana, date with SJO set

Rockets celebrate touchdown
Photo: Sentinel/Chris Johns

ROXANA - With Roxana's Mason Shaw looking on, Unity's Jacob Thomas and Tre Hoggard celebate after Hoggard’s touchdown in the first half in Saturday’s Class 3A first-round matchup. The Rockets (7-3) ended the Shells playoff run via a 44-31 defeat. The win sets up a football playoff showdown against undefeated Illini Prairie Conference rivals St. Joseph-Ogden (10-0) on Saturday at 2 pm at Hicks Field. See more photos from Unity - Roxana game here.

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Unity advances to Round 2 after ousting Roxana from playoffs

Garrett Richardson scores a Unity touchdown
ROXANA - Unity's Garrett Richardson outruns Roxana defensive players Dalton Carriker (10), Mason Shaw (51), Zebediah Katzmarek (22), and Mason Forsythe (72) for Unity touchdown. Up 24-3 at the half, the Rockets held on for the IHSA first-round playoff win, 44-31. Improving to 7-3, Unity will host rival St. Joseph-Ogden at Hicks Field on Saturday at 2 pm, playing for a spot in the Class 3A quarterfinals.

Photo: For the Sentinel/Lori Garrett

Regional soccer title on their minds, Tigers crush the Vikings in semifinal match

Urbana's Emir	Martinez
Photo: Sentinel/Clark Brooks

Emir Martinez lines up a pass during second half action against Danville. The Urbana junior scored twice in his team's overwhelming victory over the Vikings on Tuesday at the Urbana Tigers Sports Complex.

URBANA - The #3 seed Urbana Tigers cruised past Danville in a dominant 7-0 shutout Tuesday evening, advancing to the Class 2A regional final. Playing on home turf at the Urbana Tigers' Sports Complex, the Tigers showcased their offensive prowess, scoring twice in the first half and exploding for five more goals in the second. The win improved their record to 11-8-1, while Danville's season ended at 7-12-4.

Urbana's attack was ignited by junior Emir Martinez, who opened the scoring just 10 minutes and seven seconds into the match. His early strike set the tone for what would be a lopsided contest. Martinez wasn’t finished, netting his second goal of the game with 17:10 left in the second half to push Urbana's lead to 5-0.

The Tigers’ relentless offensive display continued with Winner Nana scoring two goals of his own. His first came with just 5:32 left in the first half, giving Urbana a comfortable 2-0 lead at the break. Nana wasted little time adding to that tally after halftime, striking again just 7:34 into the second half to make it 3-0. Not to be outdone by his younger brother, senior Fortunel Nana found the back of the net shortly after, extending the lead to 4-0 with 31:31 remaining.


Urbana's Fortunel Nana
Photo: Sentinel/Clark Brooks
Fortunel Nana settles the ball during the second half. The senior booked a goal eight and a half minutes into the second half for the Tigers.

Danville, seeded #6 in the Warrensburg-Latham Subsectional, struggled to contain Urbana's aggressive offense. The Vikings, who finished 9th in the Big Twelve Conference, failed to generate significant scoring chances throughout the match. Their defense, which had held Urbana to just two goals in their previous meeting on October 1, couldn’t replicate that performance in the postseason.

Urbana continued to apply pressure even as the match seemed out of reach. The Tigers’ sixth goal came courtesy of Arnau Sanchez-Marin, who chipped the ball over the Danville goalkeeper in the 74th minute. Sophomore Lemex Ondongo capped off the scoring with just 53 seconds left, adding the final dagger in Urbana's commanding victory.

The Tigers now turn their attention to the regional championship, where they will face Mahomet-Seymour, a familiar foe. The two teams split their regular-season series, with Urbana winning 3-1 in their first encounter on September 7, but falling 1-0 in the rematch on September 30. Mahomet-Seymour's defensive improvement in the second meeting will be a key storyline heading into the final.

Urbana, which finished 6th in the Big Twelve Conference with a 4-5-1 record, will look to continue its postseason momentum as it chases a regional title.



Urbana Tigers soccer, Class 2A regional semifinal, Urbana vs Danville soccer, Mahomet-Seymour regional final, high school soccer playoffs

Here's a look at area teams playing second-round IHSA football games this week

Unity quarterback Dane Eisenmenger looks for an open receiver during his team home game against St. Joseph-Ogden. The sophomore signal caller aired out the pigskin completing 15 of his 26 passing attempts for 197 yards and scored twice on three and 20-yards strikes. Eisenmenger and the Rockets will host undefeated DuQuoin (10-0) on Saturday at 2pm. The last time the two programs squared off was in a second-round game in the fall of 2009. Unity, then 10-0, defeated the 9-1 Indians, 47-7.
Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

URBANA - Just five area or area conference football teams remain in this year's IHSA football playoff. Kickoff times and location are listed below.

CLASS 1A
#7 Catlin Salt Fork (8-2) at #2 Sesser Valier (10-0), Saturday, 2 p.m.

CLASS 2A
#6 Farmington (9-1) at #3 Central Catholic (10-0), Saturday, 1 p.m.

CLASS 3A
#6 Montini (7-3) at #14 Prairie Central (6-4), Saturday, 2 p.m.
#1 DuQuoin (10-0) at #9 Unity (8-2), Saturday, 2 p.m.
#6 St. Joseph-Ogden (8-2) at #3 Roxana (10-0), Saturday, 3 p.m.


Caleb Dwyer lets out a celebratory scream as he heads to the bleachers to join teammates in singing the school song after St. Joseph-Ogden's 26-19 win over Prairie Central at Dick Duval Field. The Illini Prairie Conference runner-up travels to Roxana on Saturday for their second-round game. Meanwhile, the Hawks (5-4), who are still playing postseason football, will have home field advantage starting at 2pm against Montini Catholic School on Saturday.
Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Photo Gallery | St. Joseph-Ogden 38 - Carlinville 15

James Barron (18) and Ryker Lockhart (7) celebrate in the end zone with after Tim Blackburn-Kelley's 83-yard TD in the first quarter of their home football playoff game against Carlinville. Blackburn-Kelly, a sophomore, finished the game with 89 receiving yards and 54 rushing on six carries. The Spartans went on to eliminate the Cavaliers from the IHSA playoffs, 38-15. SJO advances to face Roxana on the road this Saturday at 3pm.
Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Logan Smith rolls out looking for an open receiver during first half action. The senior signal caller was 11-for-15 passing, tossing 204 yards and two touchdowns. Smith also tallied 70 rushing and ran the into the end zone on a 33-yard gallop 56 seconds in the second quarter against Carlinville. See more awesome photos from the SJO - Carlinville football game here ...
Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

A member from the Maroon Platoon, St. Joseph-Ogden's student cheering section, gives a high-five to school resource officer Shawn Hallet during a timeout. In addition to serving and protecting, Hallet also added a little time for cheering, eliciting smiles and laughter from fans and students, in his duties while supporting SJO at Saturday's home playoff game.
Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

A perfect day for football, Spartan fans enjoy an overcast fall day in the stands.
Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

An SJO fan cheers for the team during the second quarter.
Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks


Spartans Jared Altenbaumer, Braxton Waller and Nolan Earley bring down Cavaliers' Jack Rouse during second quarter action.
Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

SJO band in costumes

Musicians in the SJO Marching Band perform in Halloween costumes while putting on a show for spectators during halftime.
Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

SJO marching band

SJO trumpet player keeps in step and on time while performing at halftime with the SJO Marching Band. Click here to see more photos of the marching band at this game.
Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Spartan Flag Girl

The SJO Marching Band performed its competition routine during halftime. Here, a flag girl performs for one the largest crowds this season at Dick Duval Field on Saturday.
Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks


Justice Wertz

Spartan Justice Wertz weaves his way through Carlinville defenders Weston Kuykendall and Triston Thompson. Wertz finished the playoff game with 119 yards rushing and another four on a pass play. The senior delivered one of three touchdowns for St. Joseph-Ogden in the third quarter.
Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Ray Gutierrez celebrates

SJO's Ray Gutierrez celebrates a stop near the goal line. The Spartan defense held the visiting Cavaliers to just 161 yards rushing and gave up just one touchdown on the ground on a 9-yard run in the second quarter.
Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Maroon Platoon members capture School Resource Officer Shawn Hallett making his music debut playing Roto-toms during a timeout on the field.
Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Fans on the SJO stands watch the game in during third quarter action. Check out more photos of fans in stands from the SJO side of the bleachers here.
Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

SJO Linebacker

A Spartan linebacker Nolan Earley flows with the play as he watches Cavalier quarterback Rex Reels rollout desparately looking for an open receiver. Reels threw just one TD, a 17-yard 4th quarter pass to Mason Gilpin. After the two-point conversion, Carlinville trailed 38-15 with two and half minutes left in the game.
Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

Spartan football team celebrating

The St. Joseph-Ogden football team and students fans sing the school fight song after the game. The weather forecast for this Saturday's second-round contest says fans will enjoy a warm November day with temperatures around 68º under partially cloudy skys at game time.
Photo: PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

More 2023 SJO football galleries:

St. Joseph-Ogden vs Carlinville
October 28, 2023 ... 183 photos

St. Joseph-Ogden vs Paxton-Buckley-Loda
October 19, 2023 ... 183 photos

St. Joseph-Ogden vs Unity
September 1, 2023 ... 197 photos

St. Joseph-Ogden vs Monticello
August 24, 2023 ... 183 photos


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