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| St. Teresa quarterback Ryan Fyke kept his composure and led the Bulldogs to another late-game comeback on Friday. |
There isn't much secret to St. Teresa not getting flustered in late-game situations.
Between the Sullivan-Okaw Valley comeback and now the Tuscola comeback last week, St. Teresa coach Tim Brilley said he's seen plenty of growing up since Week 1. But between the two, the one against Sullivan may have had a bit more significance.
"We've grown a lot as a team, and I feel like once you do it once, you're never out of it," Brilley said.
It's not rare for a sophomore quarterback to come in and start, but the way that St. T quarterback Ryan Fyke has let mistakes roll off his back is a notch above of normal expectations. Wide receiver JD Mattingly said there's not one person who rallies in the huddle to boost morale, it's a team effort.
And Fyke said he's learning how to handle himself not only in the huddle, but around the opposition when things aren't going the Bulldogs' way.
"First, I probably keep my mouth shut around those guys. I keep my calm," Fyke said about . "When I come back out, I just try to pick everybody back up."
Mattton crumpled that idea up with its 40-34 win against Effingham, setting up a four-way tie atop the conference.
Now four teams will have a chance to win a share of the conference title on Friday as Effingham hosts Mount Zion, and Taylorville hosts Mattoon.
In the Little Okaw Valley Northwest, Arcola can close out a perfect run through the division with a win against Cerro Gordo-Bement.
And Casey-Westfield can knock Marshall out of the four-way tie that they share with Lawrenceville and Robinson, which all sit at 6-1.
But it's worth looking at who is on the bubble for each of the classes, which fluctuate from week to week.
The current cutoff for Class 1A is 308 students. That makes Maroa-Forsyth (312) the third-smallest school in Class 2A and Tuscola tied for the fourth-smallest.
While Arcola is the only undefeated team left in the H&R area, what’s happening in central Illinois isn’t exactly indicative of what’s happening around the rest of the state.
After hitting a low of 24 undefeated teams in the regular season in 2011, the number of unbeaten teams has risen to 29 the past year.
There are 37 undefeated teams right now, and that number will drop with six games between teams without a loss. That still leaves a chance for 31 undefeated teams at the end of the year, showing parity is at an all-time low in recent history.
The Vandals were coming off a 1-8 season, the lowest mark in a decade. But after the last three weeks, it’s hard to deny Vandalia has shown what it takes to make the postseason.
In Week 5, they won an epic 50-48 2OT game against Litchfield where they converted their two-point conversion for win No. 3. Then in Week 6, they edged out Hillsboro after
For the Vandals fifth win, and to give them playoff eligibility, they scored twice in the fourth quarter for a 28-21 comeback win against Piasa Southwestern.
There are 11 teams still searching for that fifth win and eight can get it Friday.
Mattoon, Warrensburg-Latham, Sangamon Valley, Cumberland, Maroa-Forsyth, Monticello, Olney East Richland and Nokomis are all at 4-3.
There are three that need a two-week sweep to grab playoff eligibility -- Cerro Gordo-Bement, Newton and Pana.
Maroa's defense allowed five touchdowns to the Bulldogs in the Trojans' 39-36 loss, then three weeks later allowed six touchdowns in a 44-38 loss to Tolono Unity.
But in Maroa's other five games, it's held all its opponents to 17 points or less – including the No. 1 team in Class 3A during last week's 20-17 loss to St. Joseph-Ogden.
“We've gotten a lot better defensively, especially these last couple weeks, and hopefully that continues to take some pressure off the offense,” Maroa coach Josh Jostes said.
There are times, though, that there are still holes in Maroa's secondary. Against Monticello, Brandon Wildman found some open receivers early until the weather got worse and Maroa's blitzers started getting home against Wildman. And while SJO quarterback Eli Oltean was just 7-of-18 for 101 yards, no touchdowns and an interception, he was able to find a big receiver in Connor Janes (6-1, 215 pounds) against smaller Maroa defenders in key situations to set up both of SJO's touchdowns.
“They were crowding a lot of people in the box, and Eli came up with some nice throws to give us some crucial first downs,” SJO coach David Duval said. “I would liked to have thrown more, but we were in good shape on field position and I didn't want to put any more pressure on them than we already were.”
Between the Sullivan-Okaw Valley comeback and now the Tuscola comeback last week, St. Teresa coach Tim Brilley said he's seen plenty of growing up since Week 1. But between the two, the one against Sullivan may have had a bit more significance.
"We've grown a lot as a team, and I feel like once you do it once, you're never out of it," Brilley said.
It's not rare for a sophomore quarterback to come in and start, but the way that St. T quarterback Ryan Fyke has let mistakes roll off his back is a notch above of normal expectations. Wide receiver JD Mattingly said there's not one person who rallies in the huddle to boost morale, it's a team effort.
And Fyke said he's learning how to handle himself not only in the huddle, but around the opposition when things aren't going the Bulldogs' way.
"First, I probably keep my mouth shut around those guys. I keep my calm," Fyke said about . "When I come back out, I just try to pick everybody back up."
Conference champs
Parity has reigned this year in the conference play, and nowhere was that stronger than the Apollo. After Mount Zion beat Mattoon, then Taylorville beat Mount Zion, and then Effingham beat Taylorville, it seemed like there might be a clear pecking order.Mattton crumpled that idea up with its 40-34 win against Effingham, setting up a four-way tie atop the conference.
Now four teams will have a chance to win a share of the conference title on Friday as Effingham hosts Mount Zion, and Taylorville hosts Mattoon.
In the Little Okaw Valley Northwest, Arcola can close out a perfect run through the division with a win against Cerro Gordo-Bement.
And Casey-Westfield can knock Marshall out of the four-way tie that they share with Lawrenceville and Robinson, which all sit at 6-1.
Playoff picture
This is the time of the year where people trying to sort out the playoff picture two weeks in advance can start to lose their sanity.But it's worth looking at who is on the bubble for each of the classes, which fluctuate from week to week.
The current cutoff for Class 1A is 308 students. That makes Maroa-Forsyth (312) the third-smallest school in Class 2A and Tuscola tied for the fourth-smallest.
Still perfect
The number of undefeated teams has risen in the past three years, and that number may hit a new high again this year.While Arcola is the only undefeated team left in the H&R area, what’s happening in central Illinois isn’t exactly indicative of what’s happening around the rest of the state.
After hitting a low of 24 undefeated teams in the regular season in 2011, the number of unbeaten teams has risen to 29 the past year.
There are 37 undefeated teams right now, and that number will drop with six games between teams without a loss. That still leaves a chance for 31 undefeated teams at the end of the year, showing parity is at an all-time low in recent history.
Vandals rising
After a down year, Vandalia has certainly showed resilience this season.The Vandals were coming off a 1-8 season, the lowest mark in a decade. But after the last three weeks, it’s hard to deny Vandalia has shown what it takes to make the postseason.
In Week 5, they won an epic 50-48 2OT game against Litchfield where they converted their two-point conversion for win No. 3. Then in Week 6, they edged out Hillsboro after
For the Vandals fifth win, and to give them playoff eligibility, they scored twice in the fourth quarter for a 28-21 comeback win against Piasa Southwestern.
There are 11 teams still searching for that fifth win and eight can get it Friday.
Mattoon, Warrensburg-Latham, Sangamon Valley, Cumberland, Maroa-Forsyth, Monticello, Olney East Richland and Nokomis are all at 4-3.
There are three that need a two-week sweep to grab playoff eligibility -- Cerro Gordo-Bement, Newton and Pana.
Still a concern
Maroa-Forsyth's defense was deemed questionable after its loss to St. Teresa, but has recently emerged as the team's strength.Maroa's defense allowed five touchdowns to the Bulldogs in the Trojans' 39-36 loss, then three weeks later allowed six touchdowns in a 44-38 loss to Tolono Unity.
But in Maroa's other five games, it's held all its opponents to 17 points or less – including the No. 1 team in Class 3A during last week's 20-17 loss to St. Joseph-Ogden.
“We've gotten a lot better defensively, especially these last couple weeks, and hopefully that continues to take some pressure off the offense,” Maroa coach Josh Jostes said.
There are times, though, that there are still holes in Maroa's secondary. Against Monticello, Brandon Wildman found some open receivers early until the weather got worse and Maroa's blitzers started getting home against Wildman. And while SJO quarterback Eli Oltean was just 7-of-18 for 101 yards, no touchdowns and an interception, he was able to find a big receiver in Connor Janes (6-1, 215 pounds) against smaller Maroa defenders in key situations to set up both of SJO's touchdowns.
“They were crowding a lot of people in the box, and Eli came up with some nice throws to give us some crucial first downs,” SJO coach David Duval said. “I would liked to have thrown more, but we were in good shape on field position and I didn't want to put any more pressure on them than we already were.”
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