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Sports Editor Matt Daniels with a look at what’s going on around the area:
Coy Taylor and the St. Joseph-Ogden football team beat Unity 24-21 on Sept. 6 when the two long-time Champaign County small-school rivals played two months ago at Dick Duval Field in St. Joseph. On Saturday, SJ-O and Unity meet again, this time at 2 p.m. at Hicks Field in Tolono for a Class 3A second-round playoff game.
Three reasons we love sports today
➜ 1. Can’t beat a rivalry game in the second round of the high school football playoffs. At least one Champaign County team will advance to the state quarterfinals, with St. Joseph-Ogden (10-0) playing at Unity (7-3) at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Class 3A playoffs. Should be a good one — and a good crowd — at Hicks Field in Tolono.
➜ 2. SJ-O is one of four area unbeaten teams still left playing. Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin, LeRoy and Sullivan/Okaw Valley all carry 10-0 records, too, going into their second-round games on Saturday.
➜ 3. The area conference with the most high school football teams still in the playoffs? The Illini Prairie as Monticello, Paxton-Buckley-Loda, SJ-O and Unity all have a shot to reach the quarterfinals.
Illinois forward Kendall Bostic signs a autograph for 8-year-old Kyndal Daily of Urbana after the Illini women’s basketball team beat Florida State 83-74 on Thursday night at State Farm Center in Champaign.
Numbers game: 215
more rebounds Kendall Bostic needs to become the all-time rebounding leader in Illinois women’s basketball history. That equates to an average of 7.7 the rest of the regular season — possibly less depending on how many Big Ten tournament games and postseason games the Illini might play — for Bostic to surpass the 1,217 rebounds Jenna Smith grabbed from 2006-10. Bostic has 1,003 rebounds in 94 games.
The Mahomet-Seymour volleyball team will try to keep their magical season going when the Bulldogs (36-3) play Mascoutah (32-7) at 6 p.m. Monday in the Class 3A Effingham Super-Sectional.
Crowd control
Three events I’m paying attention to
➜ 1. Marquette at Illinois women’s basketball. If the Illini can beat the Golden Eagles, an NCAA tournament team last season, common sense would seem to think Shauna Green’s team will be ranked in the next Associated Press Top 25 poll.
➜ 2. Mahomet-Seymour vs. Mascoutah volleyball. Mahomet-Seymour (36-3) is one win away from its first trip to the Class 3A state tournament and faces the Indians (32-7) at 6 p.m. Monday in Effingham.
➜ 3. Cissna Park vs. Windsor/Stewardson-Strasburg volleyball. Cissna Park (34-3) is one win away from its fourth trip to the Class 1A state tournament and plays the Hatchets (31-8) at 6 p.m. Monday in Lexington.
Andy Romine has led the Tuscola football program to eight playoff berths in his 10 seasons coaching the Warriors.
Coach’s corner
Three questions with Tuscola football coach Andy Romine, who has a 79-26 record and has guided the Warriors to eight playoff appearances during his 10 seasons in charge of the program:
➜ 1. My favorite sports team is … the St. Louis Cardinals.
➜ 2. Three coaches I’d like to have dinner with are … Pat Summitt, Geno Auriemma and Gus Malzahn.
➜ 3. My biggest pet peeve is … laziness and excuses.
