When you're part of Team IHSS, the leading online website for small school sports action in Illinois, you enjoy covering the BIG games, and that is exactly what our IHSS staff and members did during the first seven weeks of the Illinois high school football season.  IHSS staffers and members across central and southern Illinois have covered dozens of state-ranked teams such as: Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin, Lombard Montini, Marion, Cahokia, East St. Loius, Alton, Hardin-Calhoun, Maroa-Forsyth, Decatur St. Teresa, Aledo, Lewistown, Auburn, Mt. Olive, Nokomis, Hillsboro, Greenville, Du Quoin, Johnston City, Anna Jonesboro, Breese Mater Dei, Bloomington Central Catholic, Pontiac, Prairie Central, and several others. For 1A-5A gridiron action, IHSS is where its at! Join IHSS and tell a massive statewide audience about your favorite small school team. Get involved today!

Friday 10.13.2006 Greg Behrens - IHSS Commentator/Photographer @Bloomington #2 state-ranked Prairie Central wins the Cornbelt Conference Championship! Hawks defeat the #5 state-ranked (4A) Central Catholic Saints, 17-13

Prairie Central RB #28 Sr. Ben Herr busts through for a big gain. #32 Jr. RB Waldron avoids #34 and turns upfield Check out  IHSS' exclusive 20MB (3:01 duration) highlights of this Cornbelt Conference Championship game! In a clash of Class 4A state-ranked teams, #2-ranked Prairie Central defeated #5-ranked Central Catholic, 17-13. The Hawks offensive line did a GREAT job against the much-heralded BCC defensive front. In the first half, the Prairie Central defense held the Saints to ONE first down, and just 15-yards of offense! WOW, great job by the Hawks defense and kudos to PC defensive coordinator, Kirk Brandenburg. For Central Catholic, #69 Sr. Josh Brent (an Illini recruit) was effective at defensive tackle, but certainly not overpowering. But to be fair, PC ran away from Brent all game long. The Saints had NO answer whatsoever for Hawks #21 Sr. WR Phil Short! The kid is an amazing athlete, an absolute stud, who in the 1st quarter turned a 4th and 17 from the 33-yard line into a TD run for the Hawks first score. In the 4th quarter with BCC leading 13-10 with under 3 minutes to go, Short takes a screen pass, breaks a couple tackles, and rumbles 60+ yards for the go ahead TD. Like I said, Phil Short was a one man wrecking crew on offense, and quite frankly, as effective as Short was when he did get the ball, I don't think Phil got enough touches. Besides that, Phil Short is also a very CLASSY kid, one I've come to respect over the last few months for his obvious athleticism, but more importantly, his respectful and friendly personality. The Prairie Central fans should be proud of athletes like Phil Short. Coach Brian Hassett has lead Prairie Central to an 8-0 record and the Hawks take on the Rochester Rockets in their final game of the season. Central Catholic has BEAUTIFUL facilities! Their grass was in GREAT shape for the middle of October, their lighting is college football quality, and they have large bleachers on both sides of the field. BCC has a superb team, a tremendous athletic complex, and a gorgeous campus. No wonder so many kids want to attend Central Catholic, its obviously a top-notch school. Great nail biter game with lots of drama. See all 50 high-quality IHSS pics of this game by clicking HERE. Glad I covered this game for IHSS instead of the SHG blowout of Taylorville.

Friday 10.6.2006 Greg Behrens - IHSS Commentator/Photographer @Lewistown #1-ranked Aledo steamrolls the #9-ranked Lewistown Indians, 56-21  The #1-ranked team in 1A, Aledo (7-0), was REALLY pouring it on the #9-ranked Lewistown Indians (5-2) when I left with 8 minutes to go, 56-14 . The final score was 56-21. I saw Aledo perfectly execute a 20-yard 2-pt conversion. It was a halfback motion, fake reverse, Statue of Liberty play, where the motion back (Dennis Clark) handed off to the WR on a fake reverse, who tossed it back to the QB (Adam Hines)  , who then passed it back to the slot back (Clark) who continued in motion and ran a little wheel route into the endzone. Amazing play. Aledo's passing game is sooooo efficient, much like Tuscola's, only out of a pro-style set. The Green Dragons are EXTREMELY balanced and can beat you through the air or on the ground. Aledo's team speed is tremendous for a 1A school and their two backs, Dennis Clark and Justin Allen run with power AND speed. The Adam Hines(QB)to Darrin Blaser(WR) passing combo was on fire for two perfectly thrown long TD's. The Green Dragons are a deserving #1-ranked team. In my opinion, Aledo would beat Mt. Olive, Calhoun, or Nokomis by at least two touchdowns, but it's football, and we all know the "on any given day" cliché. See all 55 high-quality IHSS pics of this game by clicking HERE.  Aledo's Sr. QB #7 Adam Hines was dropping dimes all over the field. Hines is a VERY accurate passer who throws a crisp ball and threw for 270 yards and 3 TD's in the win.   Lewistown's  Sr. WR #80 Scott Schaeffer took a kickoff 95-yards to the house for the Indians second touchdown. Aledo's #45 Sr. RB Zach Frick rushes for Aledo's last TD from 49-yards out. Friday 9.29.2006 Greg Behrens - IHSS Commentator/Photograher @Hillsboro #7-ranked Hillsboro(4A) survives against #5-ranked Greenville(3A), 20-13 This game was won and lost with special teams and defense. The Toppers converted their first TD after #82 Jr. DB Chris Jurgena intercepted a Josh Tebbe pass down to the Topper's 15-yard line. Four plays later, #32 Sr. RB Devin Greenwod punched it in from 5-yards out. Hillsboro later scored on a 90 yard kick-off return for a TD by Cody McCoy and then another 72-yard kickoff return in the third quarter by #7 Sr. RB Jordan Chiles set up Hillsboro's last TD, as #8 Sr. QB Nate Clinard broke a tackle and powered into the endzone from the 7-yard line. Clinard and his Topper teammates were hyped after the score. Greenville outgained the Toppers on the ground and in the air, but penalties late in long drives stopped their momentum as Greenville failed to score on two of those opportunities. Hillsboro lead 14-0 at half, but Greenville marched down the field in the third quarter, scoring on a 6-yard rushing TD by #23 Jr. Rb Erik Fohne. Then after a Hillsboro fumble on their own 42-yard line, Greenville recovered and took only five plays as #30 Sr. RB Josh Hulvey sprinted up the middle into the endzone. Check out all 55 high-quality IHSS pics from this SCC titantic tilt by click HERE. Hillsboro head coach Rich Stewart has lead the Toppers to 7-0 record with just 26 players on the sideline. Only thirteen Topper players entered this game and eight of them played both ways. Hiltoppers #7 Sr. RB Jordan Chiles is brought down by Cody Mains. Greenville's #30 Josh Hulvey gets outside of #11 Cody McCoy.       Friday 9.29.2006 Tyler Lowrance - IHSS member & contributing photographer @ Casey-Westfield Palestine-Hutsonville wins an LIC titanic tilt, 21-0 over Casey-Westfield A coming-out game for the Palestine-Hutsonville Pioneers, as they defeat perrenial LIC power, Casey-Westfield, 21-0. If P-H's QB Ryan Roberts isn't coming at you with his passing or running, you have to look out for the Milams, Jake or his brother David , leading the charge through the line of scrimmage. Check out all of Cubfan's pics from this game by clicking HERE. The Warriors take the field on Casey's rebuilt football complex. What a great new facility with lots of light and a terrific playing surface. The Pioneers played with a passion all evening, here Jake Milam turns the corner for a big gain. Click on the links above and check out IHSS' own Tyler Lowrance (Cubfan) and his high-quality photos from the game.  Friday 9.23.2006 Mike Robertson - IHSS member & contributing photographer @ Elkville Orion charges past Elkville in "Mud Bowl" game, 50-12 As you can see from the 1st picture, needless to say it was like playing in a large mudpit, and I was on the sidelines. The game started out just the way the Falcons wanted. On their opening drive they struck first for a 6-0 lead.. But thats the only lead they would see. A good defensive effort kept them in the game at half only down 28-12. But the Chargers struck again for a 36-12 lead and tacked on 2 more for the final of 50-12. Check out over 70 of Mike's pics from this game by clicking HERE. The standing water on the Orion sideline was an obvious sign an old-fashioned southern Illinois "mud bowl" game was about to take place. In a lake of standing water, #9 Ryan Heiman dives to bring down Orions's #24 in the Charger's 50-12 victory. #23  RB Ryan Hancock turns up field with grit and determination to get to the endzone Saturday 9.23.2006 Greg Behrens - IHSS Commentator/Photographer @Williamsville Redskins shoot down the Bullets, 32-14 In a one-sided contest, the Nokomis Redskins(5-0) defeated the Williamsville Bullets(3-2), 32-14, in a PSC match-up of two teams with conference championship and playoff aspirations. This contest was Williamsville's homecoming game but it was a big offensive day for Nokomis on the ground as Jr. RB #34 Matt Flowers rushed for 199 yards and 3 TD's, while #22 Sr. RB Ben Rakers added a 5-yard rushing TD in the first quarter as well. #43 Sr. RB Kyle Clark scored Nokomis' final TD with a 5-yard plunge with less than 2:30 to go. Williamsville's #20 Sr. QB Alex Stake rushed for the Bullets' first TD from 7 yards out after Wiliamsville recovered a Nokomis fumble in the first quarter, then Stake finished the Bullets scoring by tossing a 33-yard TD pass to #80 Jr. WR Chris Hanson. See all 44 high-quality IHSS photos from this game by clicking HERE. Williamsville's QB Sr. Alex Stake rushed for one TD and threw for a 33-yard strike for the Bullets last score. #Nokomis Sr RB/DB #28 Blake Harrison had three interceptions on the day. Nokomis Jr. RB #34 Matt Flowers rushed for 199 yards and 3 TD's First year Nokomis head coach, Gabe Cesaretti, has lead the Redskins to a 5-0 start after Nokomis finished 1-8 a year ago.