Area football players to play in all-star football game June 21

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Record-setting Taylor, power back Boyd-Meents headline Shrine Game rosters.

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ST. JOSEPH - Two of central Illinois’ top high school football talents and other members from the Illini Prairie Conference will join an elite group of players from across the state for one final game in their prep careers.

Coy Taylor of St. Joseph-Ogden and Robert Boyd-Meents of Paxton-Buckley-Loda will take the field June 21 at Tucci Stadium in Bloomington for the 51st Annual Illinois High School Shrine Game. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m., with pregame ceremonies beginning at 10 a.m. Tickets are $10 and available at the gate.

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Photo: Sentinel/Clark Brooks

RIGHT: Coy Taylor looks for running room on punt return for SJO during their home game against Paxton-Buckley-Loda. Taylor made five catches for 72 yards and rushed for 102 more on Senior Night. LEFT: PBL's Robert Boyd-Meents runs the ball against the Spartans on the same night. Boyd-Meents averaged 5.1 yards per carry and finished the game with 70 all-purpose yards against a stout Spartan defense.

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This all-star event, sponsored by the Illinois Coaches Association and the Shriners of Illinois, benefits Shriners Hospitals for Children, with all proceeds supporting pediatric specialty care. Last year’s game raised nearly $13,000 for the cause.

Taylor, who will continue his football career at DuPage College, leaves behind a record-setting legacy. The 5-foot-11, 170-pound receiver holds the IHSA all-time career receptions record with 259 catches, surpassing the previous mark held by Marist’s Nic Weishar. Taylor also ranks fourth in state history in career receiving yards with 3,658 and became only the second receiver in Illinois history to post three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons. His senior year included 83 catches for 1,045 yards, highlighted by a postseason performance in which he had seven receptions against Unity in his final game.

Boyd-Meents, meanwhile, anchored PBL’s offense for three seasons. The 5-foot-11, 210-pound running back amassed 4,020 total yards over 31 varsity games, averaging 129 yards per contest. In addition to his ground attack, he hauled in 39 receptions for 747 yards, helping the Panthers reach the playoffs each of the last three seasons.

The Blue Team will feature both Taylor and Boyd-Meents alongside Milford’s Caleb Clutteur, an 8-man football tight end. They’ll be guided by one of their own: St. Joseph-Ogden head coach Shawn Skinner, who joins the Blue Team coaching staff.

Skinner brings a resume full of recent success. He led the Spartans to a 10-1 finish in 2024, including a perfect 8-0 record in Illini Prairie Conference play. Over the past three seasons, Skinner’s teams have gone 25-5 and made deep playoff runs, including a narrow second-round postseason loss last fall to Roxana. In an interesting twist, Skinner will coach alongside Roxana head coach Wade Devries, whose team ended SJO’s 2023 season with a last-minute defensive stand on a 2-point conversion attempt.

The Red Team will also include a solid contingent of area athletes:

• George Rouse, QB, Champaign Central
• Carter Foran, WR, Monticello
• Mason High, NT, Monticello
• Evan Parish, ILB, Bismarck-Henning-Rossville-Alvin
• Matt Suaava, OL (G), Paxton-Buckley-Loda
• Ryker Grauer, ILB, Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley
• Matt Allen, DE, Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley

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Photo: Sentinel/Clark Brooks

Monticello's Carter Foran takes a handoff from quarterback Ike Young (left) during their semifinal game against Unity. He will be joined at the All-Star game with teammate Mason High. The two seniors saw action in the Class 3A championship game against Montini after defeating the Rockets last November.

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Now in its fifth decade, the Shrine Game continues to celebrate Illinois’ football tradition while raising awareness and support for young patients. This year’s banquet speaker will be Jared Williamson, newly appointed head coach at Illinois Wesleyan University, and a former Shrine Game MVP in his home state of Alaska.

Full rosters and game-day information are available online at IL HS Shrine Game.

Guest Commentary |It was a terrible idea for Musk to become so heavily involved in government and politics

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Is Musk too rich to go broke? Probably, but anyone can fail financially.

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by Glenn Mollette, Guest Commentator

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Elon Musk's wealth mainly comes from his ownership stakes in two companies: 1. Tesla – around 37% of his wealth is from Tesla stock, although it was as high as 75% in 2020. 2. SpaceX – valued contracts include a $20 billion deal with the United States federal government. He also earned money from selling PayPal to eBay for $1.5 billion in stock, receiving $175.8 million personally. His net worth is estimated to be around $424.7 billion but this varies from week to week depending on the stock market.

Other business ventures of Musk’s are Neuralink – brain machine interfaces and neurotechnology, The Boring Company - underground tunnels and infrastructure and

SolarCity which is solar energy, but was sold to Tesla in 2016. In 1995 Musk owned Zip2 which was an online content publishing company that was sold to Compaq. He also owns Starlink which is an internet constellation company.

No doubt Musk is a a true visionary, entrepreneur and one of the greatest geniuses of our era.

Musk is still a young man, born June 28, 1971. The world may be yet to see what he will achieve.

However, anyone can spread himself too thin. Obviously, he has a lot of great people working for him, but anyone can overdo their capabilities or overestimate themselves.

In my opinion, it was a terrible idea for Musk to become so heavily involved in government and politics. He makes billions from the government contracts with SpaceX. I think that is definitely a conflict of interest.

However, he is now out of his leadership role in Washington. After his temper tantrum last week and saying all kinds of dumb stuff about President Trump he probably won’t be returning to any leadership roles. He further over elevated himself and his role in Trump’s election.

This reminds us again of this truth: Intelligent geniuses can do and say stupid things. Throwing mud at President Trump on social media has made Musk look like a spoiled brat who has seemingly always gotten his way. Again, we are reminded, no one always gets his or her way in this life.

Is Musk too rich to go broke? Probably, but anyone can fail financially. Musk’s wealth is mostly tied up in stocks, making him “cash poor,” or having low liquidity. But with SpaceX capturing 70% of the global launch market, his financial downfall is unlikely. Unless, he continues to hurl ill-will at President Trump which could potentially cost Musk a lot.

The problem is that if the US cancelled its contracts with SpaceX, it could impact our manned missions to the International Space Station. New space projects like NASA’s Artemis moon program could be impacted. Dozens of NASA science programs would be affected plus the impact on national security as SpaceX provides critical space launch and communication services to the US military. These and other consequences could significantly affect the US space program and national security.

Trump, Musk and all the others on Capitol Hill need to work together for the common good of our nation. Musk has proven his genius and capabilities. However, his temper tantrum and verbiage last week make me wonder a bit as to just what he is really capable of doing in a moment of rage?

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About the author ~

Glen Mollett is the author of 13 books including Uncommom Sense, the Spiritual Chocolate series, Grandpa's Store, Minister's Guidebook insights from a fellow minister. His column is published weekly in over 600 publications in all 50 states.

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The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily representative of any other group or organization. We welcome comments and views from our readers. Submit your letters to the editor or commentary on a current event 24/7 to editor@oursentinel.com.