Sports

HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS

Steamers handle Galena, but see room for improvement

By DAN WOESSNER For Shaw Media

FULTON – It wouldn’t be a stretch to picture the Fulton Steamers as a c o n t e n d e r w h e n t h e p l a y o f f s r o l l around two months from now.

The Steamers can picture it themselves, and one thing they know, that version is going to have to improve upon the version that defeated Galena 31-12 on Friday night in the 2022 season opener for both teams.

“We have to work on little things like jumping offsides and fumbling, like I did,” senior running back Ryan Eads said. “We can’t practice for who we have next, we have to practice for who we want to become.”

The Steamers (1-0) want to become contenders, and that’s what they looked like in the first quarter against the Pirates.

The opening drive had promise, starting with a 36-yard completion from Brayden Dykstra to Baylen Damhoff on the first play. Eads gained a total of 19 yards on the next two plays to put the Steamers at the 20. The drive came to a sudden end on the fourth play, as Dykstra was picked off in the end zone by Galena’s Roman Romer.

Fulton’s defense set the tone the next possession, forcing a punt after allowing one first down. The Steamers defense was stout all night, allowing only 105 total yards, including just 11 yards after halftime.

Fulton’s offense went back to work, churning 75 yards on 10 plays, concluding with a 3-yard touchdown run by Lukas Schroeder. After a threeand-out by Galena, Schroeder scored his second touchdown on a 25-yard scamper up the middle. He led all rushers with 173 yards on 22 carries.

“It feels amazing,” Schroeder said. “We came out and did what we did. We made some mistakes, but we recovered from them. We did what we were supposed to do at the end of the day. Our offense was clicking, and our defense was really good.”

Galena (0-1) put a temporary halt to a blowout by possessing the ball for the next 7 minutes, 39 seconds, thanks in part to a roughing the passer penalty on a third down that extended its drive. The Pirates moved the ball from their own 31 to the Steamer 7. The d r i v e e n d e d t h e r e a f t e r t w o p a ss attempts by quarterback John Wubben bounced off the hands of receivers on third and fourth down.

“No matter how long the defensive possession is, you just have to keep fighting and keep fighting,” said Eads, who also is a defensive back. “Keep working every play.”

After the teams traded a pair of scoreless possessions, Fulton closed the half with a 44-yard field goal by senior kicker Endi Qunaj to go into the break with a 17-0 lead.

Fulton’s Zane Pannell opened the second half with two big plays from his defensive line position. He dragged down Galena’s Sam Eaton for a loss on first down, and had a sack of Wubben on third down.

Fulton seemingly iced the game with a quick 52-yard touchdown drive after that. Dykstra hit Eads in the flat, and Eads took it the rest of the way for a 21-yard touchdown that put Fulton up 24-0.

“When I got it, I thought I was going to get laid out,” Eads said. “When I looked up, I saw that Robbie [Sheckler] was just hauling. That’s my tackle, and he just blocked it perfectly, and I just had to run it in there. He did great, and credit my offensive line, they did a lot of great work.”

Eads had 120 rushing yards on 20 carries, and he had 48 receiving yards on four receptions. The Steamers offense racked up 419 total yards.

Damhoff had the Steamers’ other score late in the fourth quarter on a 3-yard sweep.

Galena’s two scores both came on special-teams plays. A botched snap on a 46-yard field-goal attempt turned into a 54-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown by Eaton with 9:20 left in the third quarter. Eaton then had a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown with 2:54 left in the game.

“Our offense and defense were clicking,” Schroeder said, “but we had too many mental mistakes and penalties. We have to cut those out to get where we want.”

Earleen Hinton/Shaw Media ABOVE: Fulton’s Lukas Schroeder fights through the Galena line on his way to the end zone Friday night during their NUIC game in Fulton. The Steamers dominated on both sides of the ball in a 31-12 win. BELOW: Fulton’s Broden VenHuizen (48) wraps up a Galena runner as Zane Panell (55) comes into help Friday in Fulton.

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

Comets on top of Mustangs in sea son opener

By CODY CUTTER ccutter@shawmedia.com

MORRISON – In a game in which five rushing touchdowns were scored, hitting and swatting were the main talents on display in the season opener Friday night between Newman and Morrison.

Both the Comets and Mustangs combined for eight sacks and 10 tackles for loss, and it was a blocked punt that gave the Comets the momentum they needed in the second half to race out to a 28-6 win at Ennis M. “Bud” Cole Field.

With 8:33 to play in the third quarter and the Mustangs punting in their own territory, Newman senior lineman Caleb Donna – whose team was up 6-0 at halftime – found a big hole in the Morrison line and got his hands on the punted ball after a 5-foot kick and swatted it backward toward the goal line. The Comets (1-0) recovered to move the ball 29 yards toward the Morrison goal line to get short field position, and Gabe Padilla ended the drive with a 2-yard run for a 14-0 lead after a successful point-after pass.

“We needed to get the team riled up in the second half,” Donna said. “I really was just ready to get that punt. That brought the momentum up bigtime, and we finished the game out pounding the football in their mouths.”

The Comets defense held the Mustangs (0-1) to a single negative yard of total offense in the first quarter, denying the Morrison ground game of nearly any big run. Donna was part of two big plays in succession midway through the second quarter when he took down Morrison senior quarterback Danny Mouw for minus-10 yards in midfield right after sophomore teammate Ryan Partington took Mouw down for minus-5 more on third down.

First-year Newman coach Mike LeMay enjoyed seeing his defense and special teams come up big when they needed to.

“Defensively, that’s our identity and that’s our bloodline, and they s h o w e d u p t o n i g h t , ” L e m a y s a i d . “Caleb’s got a motor, and that’s why he’s one of our guys running down the field on kickoffs, and for him to bust through and make that play, it was good to see the guys get that one.”

See MUSTANGS, Page 16

Earleen Hinton/Shaw Media Morrison’s Evan McDonnell picks up a fumble during action against Newman on Aug. 26.

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Boys golf

Fulton 167, Galena 172, Warren 223: The Steamers remained undefeated on the season with a win in an NUIC triangular at Fulton Country Club.

Landon Meyers shot a 40 and Brady Read fired a 41 for Fulton. Reed Owen and Dawson Price both had 43s, Jacob Voss shot a 45, and Chase Dykstra added a 47.

B u r e a u V a l l e y 1 6 8 , K e w a n e e 1 9 0 ,

Erie-Prophetstown 204: The Storm topped the Boilermakers and Panthers in a Three Rivers triangular at Lake Erie.

Blake Geuns led Erie-Prophetstown with a 46, Bryce VanDeWostine had a 51, Caden VanHorn fired a 52, and Keith Goodson added a 55. Colin Ashdown (58) and Robert Winters (69) also competed.

River Ridge 162, Fulton 162, Stockton 194:

The Steamers lost in a scorecard playoff after River Ridge’s fifth score topped Fulton’s 45-46.

Landon Meyers led the Steamers (5-1) with a 38, tying for medalist honors with River Ridge’s George Winter. Fulton’s Reed Owen, River Ridge’s Thomas Hereau and Stockton’s Jared Dvoark all had 39s.

Brady Reed fired a 42 for Fulton, Dawson Price had a 43, Jacob Voss finished with a 46, and Chase Dykstra shot a 50.

Bureau Valley 170, Erie-Prophetstown 195, Morrison 227, Annawan-Wethersfield

2 4 4 : B r y c e V a n D e W o s t i n e l e d Erie-Prophetstown with a 46, Caden VanHorn fired a 47, and Blake Geuns shot a 49. Colin Ashdown added a 53, Keith Goodson shot a 60, and Robert Winters chipped in a 69.

Adam Tichler paced Morrison with a 49. Austin Boonstra fired a 57, Jordan Luhrsen shot a 60, Blake Huizenga had a 61, Zayden Boonstra added a 63, and Sarah Wetzel had a 70.

Fulton 172, Morrison 231: The Steamers cruised past the rival Mustangs at Deer Valley, notching the six low scores in the nonconference dual.

Landon Meyers was medalist with a 2-over-par 37 for Fulton. Reed Owen shot a 44, Dawson Price fired a 45, and Brady Reed added a 46 for the Steamers, while Jacob Voss finished with a 47 and Chase Dykstra chipped in a 49.

Adam Tichler paced Morrison with a 50, Austin Boonstra fired a 57, and Jordan Luhrsen had a 59. Zaiden Boonstra (65), Blake Huizenga (79) and Sarah Wetzel (79) also played.

Fulton places fourth, Riverdale second at

Riverdale Invite: Geneseo was the champion at the 10-team Riverdale Brinkmeier Invitational on Friday at Byron Hills, shooting a 294 to defeat the host Rams (303) and St. Bede (315). Fulton took fourth (327), and Newman tied for fifth (353) with Riverdale’s No. 2 team. Erie-Prophetstown placed eighth (400) and West Carroll took 10th (455).

Fulton’s Jacob Voss and Landon Meyers tied for 11th, firing a pair of 78s. Reed Owen shot 83, while Dawson Price shot an 88, Chase Dykstra had a 97, and Brady Read added a 99 for the Steamers.

Blake Geuns shot an 83 to lead Erie-Prophetstown, while Bryce VanDeWostine shot a 98, Colin Ashdown had a 108, and Keith Goodson fired a 111. Caden VanHorn chipped in a 117, and Robert Winters added a 141 for the Steamers.

Girls golf

Erie-Prophetstown 241, Princeton 241:

After nine holes of back-and-forth, the Panthers and Tigers tied in their Three Rivers Conference matchup at Lake Erie.

Michelle Naftzger was the medalist for Erie-Prophetstown, shooting a 55. McKenzie Winckler fired a 61, Taylor Wilson added a 62, and Hannah Huisman and Lillian McWilliams chipped in a pair of 63s for the Panthers. Isabelle Johnston also competed for E-P, recording a 71.

Girls volleyball

Milledgeville def. Morrison 25-23, 25-13:

The Missiles topped the Fillies in straight sets in a nonconference match in Morrison to open the season.

Galena def. Fulton 25-18, 25-22: The Steamers dropped their season opener on the road in an NUIC contest.

Annaka Hackett had four kills and three digs, and Ava Bowen and Miraya Pessman both had three kills and five digs for Fulton. Pessman dished four assists, Reese Dykstra had four aces and three blocks, Resse Germann finished with seven digs, and Brooklyn Brennan added five digs, four assists and an ace.

Fulton def. Riverdale 25-17, 25-8: The Steamers rolled to their first win of the season in their home opener.

Brooklyn Brennan had five kills, six assists, four digs and a block for Fulton, and Miraya Pessman added three kills, eight assists, four digs and an ace. Annaka Hackett and Ava Bowen each had four kills, with Hackett adding three digs and two aces, and Bowen chipping in five digs and an ace. Reese Dykstra finished with three kills, a block and an ace, and Resse Germann had 11 digs, five aces and two assists.

Cross country

Erie-Prophetstown places fourth in

Rocket Run: In the first cross country meet of the 2022 season, several Sauk Valley area teams got off to fast starts at the 14-team Rocket Run, which was held at Centennial Park in Rock Falls.

The Rockford Christian boys dominated the competition with a first-place score of 23. Newman came in as the runner-up with 67 points. Host Rock Falls came in third with 80, Erie-Prophetstown secured fourth with 81, and Amboy-LaMoille-Ohio rounded out the top five with 96. Eastland-Milledgeville took seventh with 196. The West Carroll, Oregon and Morrison boys also competed Tuesday with incomplete teams.

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