Bison soccer close to turning corner

BY STAN MADDUX

The record doesn’t reflect just how competitive the New Buffalo High School boys’ at New Buffalo. Beers said the defense this year has kept a vast majority of their opponents to just a few goals or less per game. soccer team has been this season.

The Bison (1-8-5) finished the regular season with a 5 to 1 loss at home to Bloomingdale Monday, Oct. 10.

New Buffalo trailed 2-1 with about 20 minutes left in the final half, but Bloomingdale took advantage of some changes made on defense to score three additional goals.

Head Coach Erik Beers said Bloomingdale came on offensively after he moved first string goalie John Riley into the center mid-field position as an experiment before the post season.

Beers said another player wound up getting injured and could have returned but was kept out to be at full strength for the post season.

Nick Haskins with an assist from Hagen Davis scored the only goal for the Bison.

Davis struck the ball with his head toward Haskins, who then kicked the ball a short distance past the goalie and into the net.

The Bison, though, were not able to take advantage of other scoring opportunities from balls, including several at close range, kicked wide or over the net.

The Bison play Cassopolis Thursday, Oct. 13, at 6 p.m. in the district tournament, which is The Bison, for example, lost 2-0 to conference champion Howardsville Christian and were defeated 1-0 by a good Michigan Lutheran squad. He blamed the offensive struggles on having a team of mostly young players still learning how to fully execute when scoring opportunities present themselves. “The offense is a little more technical in terms of the patterns that you got to play and the runs you got to make and the finishing. It’s taken a little bit longer to get to the point we wanted, but it’s coming,” he said. “We’re not that far off,” Beers said.

The team seems positioned to take their play to a higher level next year.

The Bison are losing seniors Landon Haskins, Evan Messinger and Harucki Everly, but three of their best players, Elliot Bourne, Axel Rodriguez and leading scorer, Geovanni Sanchez, are expected to return.

“I’m looking forward to what we’ll do next year. We’re knocking on the door and, hopefully, we’ll take that step through next season,” Beers said.

SPORTS

From the Bleachers

COLUMN BY KURT MARGGRAF IN CHICAGO

What a nice weekend I just

had.

After spending a great day with family at Dinges searching for the perfect pumpkin, we had a bite to eat in Three Oaks where I had a spirited game of darts with my six year old grandson, and after returning to Chicago, was able to watch a couple of the MLB wildcard games.

For some reason, I’ve got a soft spot in my heart for Cleveland, so I was happy they beat Tampa Bay. Seattle had a great series and beat Toronto, and in the National league, the Cardinals and Mets both lost, making me extremely happy. Being a Cub fan almost automatically makes me a Cardinal hater, and I’m also a big former Cub Kyle Schwarber fan, so Philadelphia’s victory over the Cards was twice as sweet.

The Mets are another story. Way back in 1969, the Cubs had their first good team since 1945, when most players were soldiers in WWll. I was a young man that lived and died with the Cubs, and the Mets came out of nowhere to beat them and get to the World Series. Sports fandom isn’t necessarily logical, so I’ve hated the Mets for the last fifty three years.

Plus, former Cub Yu Darvish pitches for San Diego and I’ve always liked Yu. I think that it’s time for me to forgive the Mets and Cards for their past transgressions over the Cubs. Next year I’ll do my best to not root against them, unless of course, they’re playing the Cubs.

The Bears game against the Vikings started out horribly. I was literally yelling at the television set like I was a teenager. My disgust with everything connected to the team was as high as it’s been in years. In the first half, I was so disappointed with the coaches and players, i didn’t know who to blame.

While I was trying to figure it out, the Bears started to play better and the coaches started to coach better. The second half was completely different. Had it not been for a somewhat questionable penalty while Justin Fields was scampering for a touchdown, the Bears just may have pulled out a victory.

While the Bears have quite a distance to travel before they can compete for a championship, everyone, including us fans, have to be patient and realize that there are a lot of potholes on the road to success.

Hockey and basketball are in the midst of their preseasons. Soon the Blackhawks will begin their rebuilding era with a new coach, a bunch of youngsters, and Toews and Kane. I can only hope this year won’t be too painful.

On the other hand, the Bulls are really good. Unfortunately, so are a lot of teams in their division. If the Bulls can avoid injuries this year, and Lonzo Ball can return from his knee injury, they might be good enough to compete for the NBA crown.

Winnie the Pooh said “It’s the first day of autumn! A time of hot chocolatey mornings, and toasty marshmallow evenings, and, best of all, leaping into leaves!”

Have fun out there. Talk to you next week. Peace, love, and happiness.

Wolnik shines for Raiders in football win

Ryder Wolnik on offense and defense helped propel the Red Arrow Raiders to a blow-out victory in high school football Saturday, Oct. 8.

The Raiders (4-3) defeated the Twin City Sharks 48-0 at River Valley High School.

A fumble recovery by Wolnik set up a 10 yard touchdown run on a quarterback keeper by Eli Thomas to make the score 14-0.

The Raiders quickly scored again when Wolnik after a bad snap to the Sharks’ punter recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchdown.

The lead grew to 28-0 when a wide open Wolnik following a 20 yard gain by Ethan Lijewski on a quarterback keeper caught a 14 yard pass in the end zone.

Wolnik, though, was not finished making big plays.

The Stars were threatening to score early in the second quarter when Wolnik intercepted a pass to the end zone and returned the ball close to the 50 yard line.

“Ryder had a good game. He was all over the place,” said Raiders Head Coach Matt Johnson.

The Raiders took a 36-0 lead into halftime after Thomas intercepted a pass and ran the ball about 20 yards into the end zone.

“Defensively, we didn’t give them a lot of room to breathe,” said Johnson.

Johnson said he felt it was the best performance of the season for the team in terms of the offense and defense playing well at the same time.

He complimented the play of David Fairchild, Kaden Krieger, Peyton Lijewski, Josh Seifert and David Nicely for their work on defense.

“Across the board, we just played very, very well,” he said.

It was a homecoming game for the

BY STAN MADDUX

players on the Raiders from River Valley High School.

Homecoming for the New Buffalo players on the team is the final game of the regular season against Bangor Oct. 21.

Their next game is Oct. 14 at Lawrence.

Johnson said his vastly improved team after a 0-2 start has a chance to win the final two games of the regular season.

“There’s some things we got to clean up offensively blocking wise. If we do that, we’ll be in a good spot to win out,” he said.

Madison Moles tries her hand at the pumpkin toss

Festivalgoers enjoy food from the Roundbelly’s Pizza food truck

A scene from the wine and beer tent

Welcoming fall during Harvest and Wine Fest

BY FRANCESCA SAGALA

New Buffalo was the perfect picture

of fall when the New Buffalo Business Association (NBBA) presented the 16th annual Harvest and Wine Fest in the middle of the downtown Saturday, Oct. 8.

Fall-themed activities, such as throwing the pumpkin in the buckets and pumpkin- and face-painting, were in full swing on one end of the downtown. Tents with vendors touting their fresh apples and other fall produce and various crafts crowded the middle of North Whittaker Street. Music from a lively line-up of bands, which included The Osco’s, The Sypian Family Band, WYSIWYG and Mr. Blotto, drifted overhead throughout the afternoon and into the evening from the stage at one end of the festival’s limits.

People streamed in and out of the large white wine and beer tent, which featured a large variety of representatives from area wineries, that was located on Merchant Street. Local wineries that were featured were Domaine Berrien Cellars, Lemon Creek Winery, St. Julian Winery, Round Barn Estate, Tabor Hill Winery & Restaurant, Dablon Vineyards - Winery & Tasting Room, Marland, Chill Hill and Hickory Creek Winery. Breweries that were featured were Haymarket, Round Barn, Ghost Isle Brewery, North Pier, River St. Joe and Livery. Representatives from Journeyman Distillery and Hummingbird Lounge and North Pier Brewery were also present with their spirits and Virtue with their cider.

Madelyn Kudin, Libbey Cook and Ana Sokratov from Melore and CH Distllery

Hunter Moles tries his hand at the pumpkin toss

wyswyg takes the stge at Harvest and Wine

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