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Football | Homecoming | Softball | Cross Country | Golf | Volleyball | Tennis | Boys Soccer Fall Sports News 2007-2008 | Fall Sports 2006-2007 | More Fall Sports Archives | Other Sports News
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The 2008-2009 fall sports season brings one change for CHS and one major one statewide. At CHS, after three years of existence, the boys' swimming program has been terminated due to the lack of outside-donor funds necessary to support it. Also, different this fall is that an additional round of football playoffs will be included on a 2-year trial basis. Second-place teams from each classification's districts will qualify for those playoffs. FOOTBALL (Phil Willard, head coach) - 8:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. (due to an FCA event that evening) on Monday, August 11; 8:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. August 12-15 and 18-22 at Jerry Litton Memorial Stadium. SOFTBALL (Stan Baldwin, head coach) - 8-11 a.m. and 6:30-9 p.m. Players should come dressed in appropriate practice attire and should bring a water/cold drink jug with them. CROSS COUNTRY (Tim Riekena, coach) - 7 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. at west shelter house in Simpson Park. Twice-daily practices the first two Mondays and Tuesdays. All other practices will be at 7 a.m. Practices will last about 1 1/2 hours. BOYS' SOCCER (Bill Allison, coach) - 4:00-5:15 p.m. (due to FCA event) August 11 at Danner Park field; August 12-15, 5:00-6:30 p.m. and 7:30 - 8 p.m.; Saturday, August 16, 7:30-9:30 a.m.; August 18-20, 5:00-6:30 p.m. and 7:30-8:30 p.m.; August 21, 5-7 p.m. Bring plenty of water or sports drink. Call 816-294-9068 with questions. GIRLS' GOLF (Vickie Garrett, coach) - 8 a.m. at Green Hills Golf Course. Call CHS office or coach with questions. GIRLS' TENNIS (Amy Baker, coach) - 8 a.m. at Danner Park courts. A meeting will be held in the adjacent shelter house if it is raining. Bring an unopened tube of tennis balls and drinking water. VOLLEYBALL (Karen Jackson, head coach) - 9 a.m. at CHS gym. FOOTBALL Football Mom's information... | CHS Football Alumni
2008 CHS Hornets (above) and Coaches (below)- Photos by Bailey Studio
2003
State Playoff Results & Photos | Homecoming
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2006-07 Fall
Sports | 2007-08
Fall Sports Five Hornets Reap Media, Coaches' All-State Honors Five Chillicothe High School football Hornets players have been chosen to positions on the Missouri Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association’s 2008 All-State team for Class 3, the association announced. Senior linebacker Kyle Dosterschill and junior running back Bryce Young each earned first-team berths, while defensive lineman Tommy Hargrave, offensive guard Cory Lowe, and punter Clint Dysart – all seniors – received second-team recognition for their contributions to the Hornets’ 13-1 season which included a Midland Empire Conference and District 16 championship and advancement to the semifinals of the state playoffs where Chillicothe out-played, but lost by a point, to subsequent state champion Cassville. The MSSA All-State teams traditionally have been announced the second Wednesday after the conclusion of state playoffs to allow for member print and electronic media to be confidentially advised of the players selected in order to prepare coverage which all members can then present on the same date. However, this year, representatives of the association’s various districts and All-State team coordinators were delayed in compiling some of the information on some players. The C-T obtained the confirmed final All-State list from another MSSA representative and distributed it to the other district members of the group. The same five Hornets also have been honored as 2008 All-State players by the Missouri High School Football Coaches Association, according to CHS head coach Phil Willard. Hargrave joins Young and Dosterschill as first-team MHSFBCA All-Staters, while Lowe was second-team on the “O” line and Dysart third-team punter. 2008 Football Hornets Honored
The many people attending last night’s Chillicothe High School football postseason awards banquet for 2008 can identify a bit better today with marathon runners who help refresh themselves during their races with a quick sip of cold water before splashing the rest on their faces. Perhaps befitting a spectacular season which lasted as long as any in CHS history (14 games), the event honoring the Hornets went on long into the evening, eventually concluding at around 10:15 p.m., some four-plus hours after the meal portion began. Yet there was scarcely a moment in which the recognition accorded to the players, coaches, and others associated with the program which didn’t seem richly deserved, not after one of the greatest seasons ever in the wonderfully-rich Hornets history, a year for which it could legitimately be argued that Chillicothe was the best Class 3 team in Missouri, even if it didn’t win the state title. Bushels-full of team and individual accomplishments – highlighted by CHS’ first Midland Empire Conference pigskin championship since 1996, its first trip to the state semifinals since 1997, and a run of 13-straight victories, many in runaways – were recounted and celebrated during a program held in the CHS gym. The evening drew to a conclusion at last with the presentation of 12 special awards to nine players and the viewing of a season highlights video.
Willard also ran through an abbreviated list of new CHS individual and team records, as researched by dedicated CHS basketball and football historian Randy Dean, sports director of KCHI Radio, which were set during this past season as well as performances which rank high in the Hornets records annals. Among team marks broken this past season were most total offense, points, touchdowns, team rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, and first downs and best pass completions percentage. Individual marks shattered in 2008 included Young’s average yards per carry, yards from scrimmage (rushing/receiving/passing), all-purpose yards (offensive yards plus return yardage), and yards per reception; Connor Lindley’s point-after touchdown kicks and kick scoring, and Parker’s kickoffs yardage in a season. Each full-time varsity coach introduced the players with whom they most-closely worked as position coaches, speaking briefly about the players’ performances and contributions to the successes of 2008. Assistant coach Jeff Staton, who oversees the game coaching for junior-varsity play, spoke of that group’s excellent season in which it won seven of eight. The only loss was to Maryville in a combination JV/freshman game. "I see great things for the future,” he remarked. “I’m excited about that." The JV Hornets scored 30-plus six times in the eight games and had eleven TD passes, probably the most ever for CHS. The defense posted three shutouts. On the freshman level, Chillicothe won three of five freshmen-only contests and was 2-1 in freshman-sophomore or JV/freshman games, Staton – filling in for an ailing Ron O’Dell – related. Twenty-two freshmen received certificates of participation for their efforts. Prior to the coaches’ portion of the program, the Football Moms organization presented the coaching staff with dazzling, oak-framed glass etchings commemorating some of the accomplishments of this year’s team.
Gifts also were presented to medical caregivers Dr. Donald Metry and physical therapists Debbie Hershberger and Mary Mathew of Covenant Rehab Clinic. Banner Year Rewarded Double-digit win seasons by the Chillicothe Hornets, Hamilton Hornets, and Carrollton and solid, playoff-qualifying years for a couple of other C-T-area teams this week led to among 32 area players or coaches being recognized by regional media members with inclusion on the 2008 Missouri Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association high school football all-district team for the media organization’s northwest district. As reported yesterday, selected to the combined classes 3-5 all-district squad from Class 3 state semifinalist and 13-1 Chillicothe were senior running back Clint Dysart, senior offensive end Colin Parker, senior linebacker Kyle Dosterschill, senior offensive guard Cory Lowe, senior defensive tackle Tommy Hargrave, junior offensive guard Brenden Pagliai, and junior running back and defensive back Bryce Young. The Hornets’ Phil Willard was selected combined classes 3-5 co-coach of the year. Taking a thumbnail look at Chillicothe’s honorees – some of whom, along with some from the area, may go on to receive some level of All-State recognition in coming weeks – and how they earned their 2008 all-district laurels: CLASSES 3-5 DL Tommy Hargrave, Chillicothe, Sr., 6-1, 210 – Shifted from starting linebacker to tackle, his quickness-and-strength combination, his tenacity, his quick recognition made him a big-play maker as well as a constantly-disruptive force. According to tackling statistics CHS coaches gleaned from game video, he had an amazing 981⁄2 tackles, 141⁄2 of those behind the line. By C-T game play-by-play tracking, he had six quarterback sacks, second-most on the team. His extra-point kick block at Maryville stood up as the margin of victory in midseason and his fourth-quarter pass-rush deflection created the Hornets’ only takeaway and gave them their best field position in their state semifinals loss at Cassville. LB Kyle Dosterschill, Chillicothe, Sr., 5-10, 210 – Far and away the Hornets’ leading tackler with 153, the powerful, intense linebacker completed a career which saw him starting at the critical defensive post part-way through his freshman year (when Austin Sloan was hurt) and become a fixture there. Although his other statistics aren’t that gaudy (two quarterback sacks, one pass interception, one safety), Dosterschill was a huge force on a starting defense which didn’t allow a touchdown and only one field goal through the first half of the season and then produced consecutive playoff shutouts. His attacking style and ability to penetrate blocking schemes and either blow up or make plays before they developed was a constant concern for opposing offenses. RB-DB Bryce Young, Chillicothe, Jr., 5-11, 165 – Already having been chosen All-State by the state’s coaches association for his cornerback play as a sophomore, Young continued his outstanding play there, making five interceptions and breaking up several other passes while being a good tackler downfield or in run support. However, he exploded as an offensive force, breaking off long run after long run while also catching 19 passes for an average gain of 30 yards. His 12 100-yard games (in 14 outings) running the ball tied David Macoubrie’s 1978 school record (13 games) and enabled him to rush unofficially for just under 1,950 yards with an average gain of nearly 12.5 yards per carry. He scored 17 times on the ground. RB Clint Dysart, Chillicothe, Sr., 5-10, 165 – Never the marquee figure on offense or defense and quietly efficient with his special teams contribution, Dysart may have been as valuable a player as the Hornets had this year. On offense, he gained nearly 900 yards rushing and over 100 receiving, surpassing 1,000 yards gained from scrimmage and totaling 12 touchdowns. He, with others, also delivered many a key block on the numerous long Young runs. While honored on offense at the district level, he also was a remarkably versatile and effective performer on defense and his directional punting skills enabled the Hornets to incredibly have only one punt returned all season. E Colin Parker, Chillicothe, Sr., 6-2, 175 – Although relatively slender, Parker was an effective blocker at the line and downfield, whether lined up tight or split. As a receiver, his sure-handedness made him a favorite target. He made a team-leading 20 catches for an average of around 17 yards and scored seven times through the air. OLs Cory Lowe, Chillicothe, Sr., 6-0, 200, and Brenden Pagliai, Chillicothe, Jr., 6-0, 191 – The Hornets’ guards played bigger than their weight inside, using leverage and positioning to get the upper hand, while their mobility was critical in getting out in front of the wide runs by Young, Dysart, et al, which generated so many big plays and points. The heart of a line which paved the way for over 5,000 yards of total offense, a figure which ranks high in all-time state records, and over 4,000 rushing yards, a new CHS record. Seven Hornets Honored Seven Chillicothe High School Hornets and their head coach are among 32 C-T-area high school football players and coaches recognized by regional media members on the 2008 Missouri Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association all-district team for the media organization’s northwest district. Selected to the combined classes 3-5 all-district squad from the Class 3 state semifinalist and 13-1 Hornets were senior defensive tackle Tommy Hargrave, senior offensive guard Cory Lowe, senior linebacker Kyle Dosterschill, senior running back Clint Dysart, senior offensive end Colin Parker, junior running back and defensive back Bryce Young, and junior offensive guard Brenden Pagliai. Chosen as combined classes 3-5 co-coach of the year was CHS’ Phil Willard, who guided a veteran team to within one point of the state championship game. He shares the distinction with Chillicothe’s seven-player cadre predictably was the largest from any team in classes 3-5. The CHS group actually occupies eight of the available positions on that level’s squad as Young was named at both offensive and defensive back, just as was Class 5 St. Joseph: Central’s Ghaali Muhammad. Traditionally, in order to recognize as many different, but deserving, players on its all-district team, the northwest MSSA members place outstanding two-way players at only one position – either offense or defense, depending on which side they are considered to have made their greatest contribution. However, on occasion when either a player’s performance on both sides is so outstanding or the pool of other all-district nominees is slim enough that to omit an outstanding player already designated on the other unit would diminish the general standards on which the media group tries to honor deserving players. This year, it was a combination of those factors which led to both Young and Muhammad being chosen both ways. A number of the area players selected to the MSSA’s all-northwest district team – especially some from the teams which had outstanding regular seasons and/or playoff runs – now will be considered for possible inclusion on the All-State teams which association district representatives will discuss and choose during a meeting held in conjunction with the Show-Me Bowl state championships event. Bitter Pill CASSVILLE — Instead of the sweetness which Chillicothe High School football teams have tasted seven times in one of the state's most-illustrious histories, the enormously-successful 2008 Hornets stunningly were forced to sip of the most-bitter of potions. Untarnished by defeat previously and one victory away from appearing in the "Show-Me Bowl" state championships event in St. Louis' Edward Jones Dome for the first time, the seven-time state-finalist and five-time champion Hornets saw their season conclude one game short of playing for a sixth state title Saturday. The underdog Cassville Wildcats, who only made the Class 3 playoffs by the margin of an overtime conversion kick, edged the visiting Hornets in a 14-13 state semifinal triumph which puts the southwest Missouri team, now 11-3, in the state finals for the first time in four postseason appearances. "It's a great feeling, any way you look at it," Cassville head coach David Large, whose first Wildcats team went 0-10 *** years ago, said of playing for state crown when his club finished only third in its Big 8 Conference and second in its district. "It's just a great experience for the community, as well as the kids." For Chillicothe, however, the dismay was emotionally overwhelming, especially because, even with what the Hornets felt was a less-than-their-best effort, it had seemed – until the game’s second-to-last play – like what had been a magical season was destined to see a memorable last-second victory which would send them on St. Louis and the Show-Me Bowl, an event which didn’t exist the last time Chillicothe won the state championship (1991). However, after a dominating second-half performance which saw them out-gain the host Wildcats 185-36, a 14-play drive begun at their own 32 with 6:05 remaining and which reached the Cassville 13 with a first-and-10 with just under 40 seconds to go, died – and the Chillicothe season with it – when a pass altered when a pass rusher hit quarterback Tyler Trammell released it came close enough to the Wildcats sophomore linebacker Trenton Tanner for him to make a diving intersection at the 11 with 16 seconds remaining. With the Hornets out of timeouts, one kneel-down by Cassville quarterback Jake Nolan set off a wild celebration on the Cassville side of the dusty field while the stunned Hornets and their fans wondered how their dream had been destroyed. "It is really tough on them because I know how bad they wanted it,” Hornets head coach Phil Willard commented. “…I know it's going to hurt for several days, but it'll pass. "I feel like the kids had a great season. I can't thank the seniors enough for the dedication they put into our football program." As the last minutes of the game elapsed, Cassville’s Large was among those who wondered whether Chillicothe was going to overcome its missed conversion kick after a touchdown that started the fourth quarter by dramatically scoring a winning touchdown or field goal. "I haven't been nervous all week at all. Really don't get too nervous, but, let me tell you, two minutes left in the game, it's hard not to be nervous when they've got the ball going in," he remarked to reporters just after addressing his team following the thrilling, tense contest. Noting how long the last drive took – a march in which the Hornets twice converted fourth-and-short situations with strong line blocking and Kyle Dosterschill power runs, Large mused, "Time stood still there for a long time." However, eventually, as Cassville’s weary, but grudging, defense denied the Hornets any big plays, time became Cassville’s ally. Having used one timeout late in the third quarter to call what turned into a productive play during the 8-play, 71-yard march which produced their second touchdown (Clint Dysart’s 17-yard reception of a Bryce Young halfback-option pass on the opening play of the fourth period), the Hornets – still down a point when school record-holder Connor Lindley’s conversion kick after Dysart’s second TD had been pushed short and wide – had spent a second when facing a fourth-and-3 at the Cassville 38 the next time they had the ball. That stoppage resulted in a call on which Trammell tried to hit a briefly-open Young down the middle. However, throwing into the approximately 10-15 miles per hour wind, hung up a bit, allowing a defensive back and Young to reach for it at the same time. As they bumped, the ball caromed up and away to the same player, Tanner, who would eventually salt the win away later. Even had he not made the interception, the ball would have gone over to Cassville on downs. That left Chillicothe with only one timeout as it made its final bid, a timeout it preserved until needing, with 44 ticks left, to patiently decide on the fourth-and-2 play at the Wildcats 17 on which Dosterschill gained four. After maintaining possession and getting a fresh set of downs, but, now without a timeout, the Hornets tried a swing pass to Clint Dysart. However, three plays after hustling back to trip Dysart up from behind on a screen pass which looked like it might gain significantly more than the five it got, senior defensive tackle Nathan Riehn of Cassville got a hand on this throw to knock it down. Trammell faded back to throw again on second down, but didn’t spy anyone open quickly and, feeling pass rush pressure, tried to scramble. He was pulled down for a 1-yard loss, but the play was negated by a five-yard illegal motion penalty on the Hornets. Now second-and-15 at the 18, Trammell once more dropped to pass, looking down the right seam where one of his two receivers to that side was steaming inside the 10. However, as he tried to fire a dart between the linebacker the receiver was going past and in front of a safety, Trammell was hit by a Wildcats pass rusher and the ball floated out across the line of scrimmage, far short of its target. As it neared Trenton Tanner, the Cassville linebacker lunged forward to cradle it to his body before it could hit the grass and be incomplete. "They made a play. That's all you can say,” Willard related, not faulting his senior quarterback for the pick. “They put pressure on the quarterback and he got hit just as he's throwing. That's going to happen to a lot of people." Had Trenton Tanner not made the catch, Chillicothe would have had a third-and-15 from the 18 with 16 seconds to go, with the option of trying one more pass – either to the boundary to try to get closer for a field goal attempt into the wind or into the end zone – or lining up to have Colin Parker try a 36-yard field goal on third down. However, that chance never came. "The difference was they made plays when they had to. We had our chances and just weren't able to finish things," Willard said of the near-miss, referring to his team having three long drives in the second half, but uncustomarily getting only six points out of them. "The defense – you can't talk enough about them,” Large said, looking at the glass-half-full side of that unit’s performance – allowing only the two touchdowns, not the 261 rushing yards and 345 total yards Chillicothe amassed. “This is a great, great football team that they held to 13 points today, and I think that speaks volumes." Even with the big total offense (345-221 yards, including 298-96 the last three periods) advantage with which his team finished, Willard gave high praise to the Cassville “D.” "I thought it was the best defense we've played against all year. Hard-hitting and they had a good game plan," he stated. "We were having to work for the yards we got." Unbeaten MEC Champ Hornets
Have 14 on All-MEC List CAMERON — Fourteen was a lucky number for the Chillicothe High School football Hornets when it came to selections for the 2008 all-Midland Empire Conference team. They hope it will remain lucky for them on the field this Saturday afternoon. As they prepare to seek their 14th triumph without a loss when they visit Cassville for a Class 3 state playoffs semifinal contest Saturday, 14 Hornets were included in the all-MEC first- or second-team or honorable mention groups selected by league coaches earlier this week. The CHS players recognized – seniors Tommy Hargrave, Kyle Dosterschill, Clint Dysart, Cory Lowe, Colin Parker, Justin Followwill, Stephen Quinn, Tyler Trammell, and Clayton Dahlberg, juniors Bryce Young, Brett Stephens, Brenden Pagliai, and Connor Lindley, and sophomore Josh Rockhold – occupy 23 spots on the ’08 all-MEC team. That compares with 17 positions at which a dozen Hornets were selected in 2007. This season, as conference champion for the first time since 1997, Chillicothe players have four spots each on the all-conference first-team defense and offense and one on special teams. Chosen by league coaches as among the very best at their defensive positions in the eight-team league were CHS defensive tackle Hargrave, defensive end Dysart, linebacker Dosterschill, and cornerback Bryce Young. On offense, given top rank were three of those same four, along with guard Cory Lowe. Adding offensive laurels to their defensive kudos were Dosterschill at fullback, Hargrave at end, and Young at running back. Rounding out the first-team honorees is Dysart as punter. Second-team berths were accorded three Hornets in each phase – offense, defense, and special teams. The by-team breakdown of first-team picks reflects the conference standings for the most part. Chillicothe’s nine spots were followed by runner-up Maryville’s seven and third-place Smithville’s six. Savannah, which finished fourth in the standings, also had the fourth-most first-teamers – four. However, cellar-dweller St. Joseph: Bishop LeBlond, which is in its first year back in the league, had three first-teamers, while fifth- and sixth-place St. Joseph: Lafayette and Benton, respectively, had two apiece and Cameron, which beat LeBlond, was shut out on the first team. Chillicothe’s offensive players have helped the team compile mind-blowing statistics, including being on the verge of breaking the 1985 CHS record for most rushing yards in a season (3,911). With an additional 1,400 passing yards, the Hornets have around 5,300 yards of total offense in 13 game, an average of over 400. In addition, the Hornets average scoring a smidgen under 40 points per contest. Defensively, CHS is allowing just over 11 points per game on 2,840 total yards. It has made 24 takeaways, making the Hornets a plus-10 in the takeaway/giveaway category. Special teams also have been solid. Dysart has punted for a solid average, but also using his directional kicking skill to allow a nearly-unbelievable only one punt to be returned all season. Lindley has reset the CHS record for extra points kicked in a season with 57 in 67 attempts. Returners have been sure-handed and have produced relatively-good yardage and, aside from a couple of occasions, the Hornets’ kickoff and punt coverage has been very good. Hornets Push Snooze Button, Put Roosters To Sleep
C-T photo / Butch Shaffer With their offensive and defensive lines establishing the upper hand early – albeit not as dominant a control as they have against most prior opponents, senior running back Clint Dysart providing a potent alter ego to dynamic, but targeted, backfield mate Bryce Young, and junior linebacker Brett Stephens helping establish a strong defensive tempo early, the Chillicothe Hornets gave the Pleasant Hill Roosters no chance to crow Saturday afternoon. Their offensive line allowing them to move the ball consistently, the defensive front putting unwelcome heat on PHHS quarterback Cody Todd right from the start while not yielding much on the ground, and Dysart and Stephens repeatedly making solid plays, the Hornets scored 23 unanswered points from late in the first quarter until late in the fourth and extended their 2008 winning streak to 13 games with a 29-13 Class 3 state playoffs quarterfinal triumph at Pleasant Hill. "It's a big win because it's been 1997 since we've been back (to the state semifinals, in which the Hornets will visit 10-3 Cassville next Saturday at 1:30 p.m.)," CHS head coach Phil Willard stated after the win on a blustery, cold, cloudy afternoon. The Hornets scored first on a long touchdown pass from Tyler Trammell to Young on their second possession, but fell behind for one of the few times this season when Pleasant Hill answered with a good drive it culminated with a 45-yard Matt Hertzog run on a trick play. With Bubby Smith's conversion kick, Pleasant Hill was up 7-6. Less than 2-1/2 minutes later, Chillicothe regained the lead for keeps when, with the wind at their backs, Colin Parker sneaked a high, slicing field goal from 35 yards away just inside the right upright with 1:10 remaining in the opening stanza. By halftime, the CHS margin had become 16-7 as Trammell, the Hornets senior quarterback who has really matured as a passer and field general this season, hit Parker with a 16-yard scoring strike and Connor Lindley split the uprights with the PAT kick. "They're good up front," he saluted Chillicothe's offensive and defensive lines, which featured two-way players Lowe, Hargrave, Brenden Pagliai, and Clayton Dahlberg, offensive linemen Justin Followwill and Lambert Eller, Parker at tight end, and Dysart at D-end. "They're really good up front." Behind strong offensive line play which consistently allowed the Hornets to gouge out hard-running yardage, mostly in more-modest chunks, Chillicothe unofficially had Dysart gain about 170 rushing yards as part of a team performance of again around 300 yards. Dysart's offensive heroics – and he played well on defense, too – came on the heels of a spectacular performance in the sectional round. Last Monday, he returned two blocked punts – one of which he swatted down himself – for touchdowns and ran for another TD. "He has got unbelievable balance," Willard said of the quiet senior, who continues to make significant yardage on his runs after first hits by the defense. "I just can't say enough about what he has meant to our football team this year. In addition to the time-chomping rushing attack, Trammell once more topped 100 yards through the air as CHS had over 400 yards of total offense. Defensively, aside of Hertzog's TD run on the trick, fake-fumble play, and a couple of isolated short-double-digits runs, Pleasant Hill's running game rarely produced any noteworthy gains and CHS pass rushers had Todd wary most times he dropped back to throw. The Hornets sacked him four times for 30 lost yards, that tone set early when Lowe blazed through for a 14-yard loss on a first-down play on the Roosters' game-opening possession. Other quarterback sacks came from Pagliai, Dahlberg, and Dosterschill. Also setting an early tone was Stephens at linebacker. He unofficially was either a solo tackler or in on five stops in the opening quarter alone. "Brett had a big game at linebacker for us," Willard concurred. "…He is really starting to learn that linebacker position. He's coming on now at the right time." Now Chillicothe will take the four-hours-plus trip to Cassville, about 10 air miles from the Arkansas state line, southwest of Springfield, to face a Wildcats team which defeated Logan-Rogersville at home 26-14 on Saturday. While the Hornets will go into that contest a perfect 13-0 as both Midland Empire Conference and District 16 champions, Cassville has reached the semifinal round after finishing third in its conference (Big 8) and second in District 12. The Wildcats won at District 11 champion Mount Vernon – a fellow member of the Big 8 it had beaten during the regular season and which entered the postseason 5-5 – to start the playoffs. It then avenged a close district loss to Monett by beating the previously-perfect Cubs in a sectional-round rematch before beating District 10 runner-up Logan-Rogersville. As for how to deal with the lengthy journey for Saturday's semifinal game, Willard – who expects to take his team to southwest Missouri Friday in time to get in a practice on a field there that afternoon – says he'll simply consult his old mentor who went down the playoff road so often, legendary CHS coach Bob Fairchild. Recalling that, when he was on Fairchild's staff, the 1991 Hornets went and stayed at Springfield and practiced there prior to their semifinal win over Mount Vernon and title-game victory over Herculaneum, Willard said, "Coach Fairchild's been there so many times that he gives you a pattern to go by. We'll probably go by his lead." Holiday Events To Go On As Planned
C-T Photo / Butch Shaffer Despite Chillicothe High School’s scheduled appearance in the Class 3 Missouri football semifinal playoff game — their first since 1997 — on Saturday in Cassville, Mo., this weekend’s holiday events in Chillicothe will go on as planned. Chillicothe Area Chamber of Commerce officials confirmed to the Constitution-Tribune today (Monday) that the 62nd annual Holiday Parade will remain at 10 a.m. this Saturday. “We did consider rescheduling the parade; however, there were just too many conflicts with other dates and, therefore, we have decided to go ahead as scheduled,” said Natalie Bone, administrative assistant for the Chamber of Commerce. There are 101 entries in the parade with special appearances planned by KC Wolf, Slugger, the Kansas City Marching Falcons Drill Team, and the Missouri Western State University Gold Griffon’s Marching Drumline. The parade will be led by honorary grand marshal Dave Goodwin, longtime high school instrumental music instructor. He will be accompanied by the Chillicothe Marching Hornets. The Chillicothe High School Football Hornets will travel south to play Cassville after having won Saturday at Pleasant Hill. Game time is 1:30 p.m. “The Chillicothe Area Chamber of Commerce would like to wish the Chillicothe Hornets football team good luck and a big congratulations as they battle their way toward the Missouri state championship, Bone said. Also on tap Saturday is the annual Constitution-Tribune Holiday Bazaar which will begin at 11:30 a.m. at Chillicothe High School. There are 79 vendors registered and the event lasts until 4 p.m. Also Saturday, Bishop Hogan will have its annual Cookie Bazaar and Chili and Soup Luncheon and the Masonic Lodge will have its chili luncheon. That afternoon, the Kids Christmas will be held as planned at the courthouse to give youngsters an opportunity to shop for gifts for their parents. Sleigh rides will also be given from 4 until 6 p.m. and the Community Christmas Tree Lighting will be at 6 p.m. at the courthouse plaza. Many Weapons For the second time in 11 days, the Chillicothe High School football Hornets had much more than the Smithville Warriors could cope with Monday. A ferocious two-way effort by senior Tommy Hargrave, the pinpoint passing accuracy of senior Tyler Trammell, stingy defense, and two huge plays by their punt return unit more than offset the relative success Smithville had in neutralizing the big-play running game Chillicothe used Oct. 30 in claiming the Class 3 District 16 title. With senior Clint Dysart returning two blocked punts for short touchdowns, Hargrave alertly out-racing two Smithville players to a teammate’s fumble in the end zone for a CHS TD, and Trammell’s 10-of-13 throwing for 162 yards, Chillicothe easily out-flanked Smithville’s “pick your poison” defensive game plan to hang a season-ending 40-0 loss on the visiting Warriors in Class 3 state playoffs sectional-round play. "There's always things we can improve on, but I was very pleased with the overall effort," said CHS head coach Phil Willard. The triumph kept the 12-0 Hornets going in 2008, but couldn’t keep them at home. District 13 runner-up Pleasant Hill’s 33-7 thumping of District 13 champion Holden last night meant Chillicothe would not get to play a third-straight home playoff game. Instead, the Hornets will journey southeast of Kansas City to Cass County Saturday for a 1:30 p.m. state quarterfinals clash with Pleasant Hill’s Roosters. At the same time, circumstances conspired against the Hornets – who entered Monday’s action with a chance to stay at home all through the four-round lead up to the Show-Me Bowl in St. Louis – to make last night’s contest their final at their Jerry Litton Memorial Stadium home this fall. Because both Logan-Rogersville and Cassville – runners-up in Districts 10 and 12, respectively – also won in the sectional round, whichever wins their quarterfinal contest Saturday would host Chillicothe in the semifinals, if the Hornets get that far. That’s because the first factor in deciding the home team for the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds is if there is a disparity in the number of games the clubs already have hosted. While Chillicothe’s been home twice, Pleasant Hill, Logan-Rogersville, and Cassville each have been on the road exclusively to this point. If Pleasant Hill and Cassville were to reach the semifinals, Pleasant Hill would get to stay home a second-straight week. A Roosters vs. Logan-Rogersville game would take place at Rogersville, about eight southeast of Springfield. Chillicothe secured its first chance to play a daytime game since winning at Kansas City: O’Hara early in the 2003 regular season by smothering the one-dimensional Smithville attack while ultra-efficiently executing an offensive game plan which correctly anticipated a Warriors commitment to negating the outside running game with the Hornets tortured Smithville last time. Having yielded 142 rushing yards to Bryce Young and 120 to Dysart on 12 carries each in the prior meeting, Smithville set its defensive scheme to be on the perimeter with its linebackers and defensive backs. Anticipating it might do that, Chillicothe’s coaching staff was ready from the start to both pound away between the tackles and to throw down the seams of the defensive secondary as the Warriors defensive backs advanced to provide early run support. "We did so many things to hit them on the perimeter (in the Oct. 30 game) that we felt like we were going to have to do something a little different to be able to move the ball and we were able to do that," Willard confirmed. Chillicothe 11-0 After Beginning State Playoffs With First 2008 Shutout
C-T Photo/ Butch Shafer Having given themselves a head start to victory the night before, the Chillicothe High School football Hornets wrapped up their first state playoffs victory in five years quickly Thursday night, needing only a half-hour to out-score visiting Kansas City: Pembroke Hill 14-0 over the final 19-plus minutes of game time and hang up a 42-0 Class 3 regional-round triumph. Improving their 2008 record to 11-0 by posting their first shutout of the year, the Hornets earned the right to host a familiar opponent – fellow Midland Empire Conference and District 16 member Smithville – Monday in the sectional round of the five-tier playoffs. Chillicothe handled 8-3 Smithville 34-3 at home Oct. 30. "I was pleased we were able to get them eventually stopped and get the ball in the end zone and get the clock running and get some other kids in,” Chillicothe head coach Phil Willard said of Thursday’s denouement. “That was big, especially having a short time now to get ready for Monday." Last night’s conclusion to the action begun Wednesday, but interrupted and then halted by persistent lightning, effectively was perfunctory. Pembroke Hill had little realistic hope of making a comeback to even get in contention, but it chose to make the trip from the city a second day in a row to find out. The Raiders (7-4) did manage to mount a decent drive when play recommenced Thursday, but the possession was halted just inside the CHS 40 and PHHS punted. On its first offensive play of the night, Chillicothe put the ball in the hands of its big-play maker Bryce Young and, with a huge hole opened by his blockers, he dashed 73 yards to the PHHS 5. Two plays later, Kyle Dosterschill’s 5-yard run for his second TD of the game and Connor Lindley’s PAT kick put the “running clock” rule into effect with the lead up to 35-0. Stephen Quinn recovered a fumbled snap at the Pembroke Hill 3 about three minutes into the fourth quarter and Clint Dysart bashed into the end zone one play later for the final TD. Lindley added the final point, giving him an even 50 PATs on the year. He broke Michael Holder’s 10-year-old record of 40 in a season during last week’s victory over Smithville. "That's been huge, to be able to have that consistency. That's what you've got to have," saluted CHS coach Phil Willard. Finishing the night with 226 rushing yards on nine carries, Young now unofficially has 1,652 yards on the season, 374 shy of David Macoubrie’s CHS record of 2,024 set 30 years ago. CHS Football Hornets Finish Regular Season Perfect 10-0
C-T photo / Butch Shaffer After their defense bailed out a turnover-prone offense in the first quarter, the Chillicothe High School football Hornets seized control with a 17-point second quarter and went on to a convincing 34-3 triumph over the visiting Smithville Warriors Thursday night at Jerry Litton Memorial Stadium. Completing their 2008 regular season 10-0, including a title-winning 7-0 mark in Midland Empire Conference, the Hornets now will enter the Class 3 state playoffs next Wednesday. The District 16 champions will do so at home with a 7 p.m. game against 8-2 Kansas City: Pembroke Hill, runner-up from District 15. Thursday's triumph saw Kyle Dosterschill score on two short runs, Bryce Young dash 80 yards for another score, Clint Dysart tally once, and junior placekicker Connor Lindley hit two of three field goal attempts and all four points after Chillicothe touchdowns. Young (142) and Dysart (120) both topped the 100-yard mark in rushing yardage while averaging 10 yards or more a carry. It was Young's eighth such game this season as he surpassed 1,400 yards for the regular season. While the offense eventually racked up impressive numbers in points and yards (nearly 450 total yards), it was the defense which made that prosperity possible. CHS defenders prevented Smithville from capitalizing on two fumble recoveries in the first quarter and never let the Warriors (7-3) inside the Chillicothe 14. The only Smithville points came on a Drew Sperry field goal in the third quarter which made the score 27-3. C-T photos / Butch Shaffer CAPTION: Instead of their CHS Marching Hornets uniforms, members of the band were allowed to perform in Halloween costumes last (Thursday) night at the football game. The Hornets beat the Smithville Warriors 34-3 and maintained their unbeaten record.
Oh, To Be Young CAMERON — The one-win Cameron Dragons were caught in the wrong place at the wrong time Friday night, even if it was their home turf. The visiting Chillicothe High School Hornets, recapturing the fire and intensity which had been diminished the previous couple of games, provided paths to daylight which junior running back Bryce Young fully exploited. Young returned the game's opening kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown, added TD runs of 92 and 93 yards in each of the first two periods, and also caught a 19-yard scoring pass as Chillicothe pulverized Cameron 49-14 on the ersatz grass at Dave Goodwin Field. The triumph by the Hornets kept them unbeaten at 9-0, clinched at least a share of the Midland Empire Conference football crown – their first in a dozen years, and – when combined with Smithville's 24-13 decision over Savannah – advanced them to postseason play (for the 23rd time) next month. The winner of next Thursday's Smithville-Chillicothe clash in Chillicothe will take the Class 3 District 16 crown and earn the right to host the new regional (first-)-round state playoffs game Wednesday, Nov. 5. Next Thursday's loser will have to play on the road in the regional round. Behind a rejuvenated offensive line of senior tackles Justin Followwill and Clayton Dahlberg, guards Cory Lowe, another senior, and junior Brenden Pagliai, junior center Lambert Eller, and senior ends Tommy Hargrave and Colin Parker, Young, who entered the game with 1,079 rushing yards and a per-carry average of 13 yards, unofficially racked up 205 yards on the ground on only six carries at Cameron. In his seventh ’08 game of triple-digit rushing yardage, he topped 200 for the second time in three weeks – without touching the ball on offense in the second half and even with one would-be 38-yard scoring jaunt negated by a downfield holding penalty. With his four TDs, he now has 21 on the year – 13 rushing, seven receiving, and one on a kick return. Young was far from the only Hornet to show well in the game. The first-string defense didn't allow any points, including turning Cameron away from a first-and-goal at the Chillicothe 3 late in the first half. After quarterback sacks by nose guard Dahlberg and tackle Hargrave forced Cameron to turn the ball over on downs at the 8, Young galloped nearly the length of the fake-grass gridiron on the first subsequent Hornets play to give Chillicothe the 35-0 halftime lead necessary to initiate use of the "running clock" at the outset of the third quarter. Young's 92-yard trek also included a devastating, if probably superfluous, downfield peel-back block by Parker which leveled and briefly stunned one Cameron defender who was trying to head Young off. Trammell hit all three passes he attempted for 64 yards and two touchdowns. He now has 11 TD throws for the year, the most by a Hornets quarterback in Phil Willard's 11-year tenure as head coach and the most since Burt Dickinson had 14 (in 13 games) for the 1997 state semifinalists. After Dysart's TD made the score 42-0 four minutes into the final half, Chillicothe used only reserves on its offensive and defensive units the rest of the night. Cameron scored a touchdown against the Hornets backups in both of the last two periods to briefly interrupt the running clock, but Chillicothe's backup offense responded with a six-play, 54-yard drive capped by Nick Plummer's 1-yard run to re-inflate the lead to the required 35 points with 3:35 left to play. Wide Screen Ignites Final-Quarter Comeback in 29-19 Hornets Victory
C-T Photo / Butch Shaffer Stymied on the scoreboard by poor field position, an excellent, multiple-look Savannah defensive game plan, and their own mistakes through three quarters, the undefeated Chillicothe High School football Hornets gaped into the maw of looming defeat Friday night. As they did two weeks before at Maryville, they refused to yield to despair. Held to only 10 points through three quarters and having seen a partially-blocked punt and a disputed pass interception create field position Savannah converted into two touchdowns and a nine-point lead entering the final quarter, Chillicothe was reeling and in danger of absorbing a knockout blow. However, with one thunderous punch of their own, the host Hornets turned the tide of their Class 3 District 16 heavyweights clash with the visiting Savages and reversed pending defeat into a pulsating 29-19 triumph. Trailing 19-10 with just over 10 minutes remaining in the game and facing a third-and-17 play at their own 32-yard line, Hornets running back/wide receiver Bryce Young took Tyler Trammell's quick wide-receiver screen pass and, somehow making three would-be tacklers miss, turned it into a game-changing 68-yard touchdown play. Electrified by the stunning run after the catch, Chillicothe held Savannah's offense to a six-play subsequent possession and forced a punt which rolled dead at the Hornets 28 with just under seven minutes left. With plenty of time to score the go-ahead points if they made that possession count, but facing a daunting task if they failed and had to make a second try in the final minute or two, the Hornets accomplished twin goals – score a touchdown and use up a chunk of clock. The offensive line suddenly firing off the ball and Savannah's defense rocked back on its heels by the sudden turn in fortunes, Young carried the first four times for 34 total yards before having to duck out following a hard tackle which drove his face and facemask into the Jerry Litton Memorial Stadium turf. When he left, the CHS running-back-by-committee approach filled the void. Kyle Dosterschill, previously having managed only 38 yards on nine carries, ran for three yards and a first down at the SHS 35. Young's replacement, sophomore speedster Josh Rockhold, took a delayed handoff around right end for nine and Dosterschill powered off right guard behind an unbalanced line to that side to make it first-and-10 and SHS 16 with just under four minutes remaining. Clint Dysart, whose first-half fumble on a similar carry had been followed by a 14-play Savages touchdown march that started the game's scoring, waited and cut inside a block on the right edge for a pickup of five. From the 11, Chillicothe went back to the right side with Dosterschill, this time slanting the hard-charging senior fullback off tackle. He got to the second level, broke an attempted arm tackle at about the 8, and motored his way into the end zone for the go-ahead score with 2:54 left to play. Even with the conversion kick missing, Chillicothe was up by four and Savannah needed a touchdown to get the victory which had looked like its for the celebrating at the final quarter's start. Feeding off the energy of the offense and aided by Colin Parker's north-wind-aided kickoffs that reached the end zone for touchbacks and forced SHS to start again at its own 20, the Hornets defense held up its end of the bargain. Free safety Parker came across nicely to knock a deep-out pass away from top Savages receiver Lee McFadden near midfield. Speedy tackle Brenden Pagliai sniffed out a short pass in the middle to hold it to a one-yard gain on third down. Then, on fourth-and-10, senior tackle Tommy Hargrave – gutting it out despite feeling ill most of the day, according to CHS coaches – chased and pressured Savannah quarterback Travis Partridge, forcing him to unload on the run and underthrow intended target Jordan Greer. With 1:13 left and Savannah owning only one more timeout, Chillicothe could have knelt down with the ball three times and used up the remaining time. However, because it was a district game and the winning margin – up to 13 points – could be a tiebreaking factor down the road, the Hornets instead used a power run with Dosterschill. Slipping an arm tackle at the point of attack, the senior burst free and dashed 32 yards to the end zone, his third TD run of the night, to make it a 10-point victory. The CHS triumph not only started it off on the right foot in district play and kept its perfect record – now 8-0 – intact, but also moved it closer to its first Midland Empire Conference title since 1996. Chillicothe is 5-0 in the league and needs one more MEC victory to secure at least a piece of the 2008 loop title. Homecoming Hornets
Live Young, Rout SJ: Lafayette 49-7 Photo by C-T photo / Butch Shaffer
Facing an opponent featuring, in quarterback Bryston Williams, a player many in the Midland Empire Conference might consider the league’s most lethal offensive weapon, the Chillicothe Hornets unleashed their own big-play specialist Friday night. With St. Joseph:Lafayette scheming defensively to neutralize the Hornets’ inside running attack, CHS junior running back Bryce Young took most of the fight out of the Irish with touchdown end runs of 68, 47, and 67 yards in a stretch of three-straight first- and second-period toss sweeps, sending the unbeaten Hornets soaring toward an eventual 49-7 victory on Homecoming night. “Bryce has just been amazing, the cutback ability he has and the vision he has,” CHS head coach Phil Willard complimented after the Hornets’ leading ball carrier racked up 255 yards on only 10 carries and, for good measure, threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Colin Parker. “That was a big difference for us early.” The 255 rushing yards – about 50 shy of David Gabrielson’s single-game team record – not only included the three long scoring runs, but also another 41-yard trek. His 25.5-yards average gain per carry is even more startling considering he had two runs on which
Lafayette threw him for losses totaling seven yards. While Young – courtesy of his offensive linemen and lead blocking backs – got the huge statistics, he wasn’t the only Hornet who had productive performances as CHS moved to 7-0 overall and a league-leading 4-0 in the MEC. Fullback Kyle Dosterschill ran for 67 yards and a touchdown on only 11 carries, moving near the 500-yard mark for the season, and also intercepted and returned a deflected pass 54 yards. Senior quarterback Tyler Trammell only threw four times, but was on target with three of them for 91 yards, including a big 49-yarder to tight end Tommy Hargrave and a 36-yarder to Colin Parker. His only incompletion appeared deserving of being negated by a penalty as intended target Bryce Young’s uniform shirt was grabbed by a beaten defensive back as Young tracked a first-quarter pass, but no flag flew. Another senior, Clint Dysart, not only averaged more than eight yards a carry, but also caused and recovered a fumble, while junior Brett Stephens, Dosterschill’s running mate at linebacker and his understudy at fullback, also recovered a fumble and ran 27 yards for the early fourth-quarter touchdown which put the “running clock” rule into effect. When everything wrapped up, Chillicothe had amassed a season-high 494 yards of total offense, including an even 400 on only 35 runs. Meanwhile the Hornets’ defense held Lafayette and Williams to less than 200 yards of total offense. Williams managed only 67 yards on 15 carries and hit on only six of his 16 passes for 60 yards and the one pick. Now alone in first place in the MEC as a result of previously-undefeated Savannah’s 21-0 loss to Maryville Friday, the Hornets will host Savannah next Friday in the opening game of Class 3 District 16 play. Football Hornets Hold On At Maryville, Now 6-0
C-T photo / Paul Sturm MARYVILLE — A duel of unbeaten Midland Empire Conference high school football which was a shootout in the first half was settled by a big play on a normally-routine attempt to score one point Friday. Chillicothe Hornets senior lineman Tommy Hargrave wedged through a space on the left side of Maryville's line and blocked Adam Mattson's would-be game-tying extra-point kick late in the third quarter. It not only preserved the Hornets' 28-27 lead, but provided the margin of victory as a scoreless fourth period allowed CHS to win by that score and remain unbeaten. The Hornets, hopeful of earning their first MEC title since 1996 and more, improved to 6-0 overall and 3-0 in the league. Maryville, the 2007 conference champ, slipped to 5-1 with a 4-1 MEC mark. With all conference games remaining the final four weeks of the regular season, Chillicothe still has a long way to go before it can secure the league crown, but it cleared what projected as the biggest hurdle with Friday's narrow road victory. Despite the significant reduction in his team's prospects of repeating as MEC champions, the game left MHS head coach Chris Holt far from disappointed. "How can you not be happy?" he asked rhetorically afterward. "You had two good football teams one extra point away from having something really special go on here." The razor-thin final margin didn't look likely when Chillicothe twice established two-touchdown leads in the first half. However, the Spoofhounds had things square at 14-14 at the end of the first quarter and then put up another pair of touchdowns in the third stanza after CHS had scored twice in the second. "I'm very proud of our kids for hanging in there, but you have to give Maryville a lot of credit," said Hornets head coach Phil Willard. "They made some adjustments at halftime, came out in an unbalanced set, and went to the shotgun and they were tough to stop." Early, it looked like – against the odds – the battle between the highly-regarded squads would be a Chillicothe runaway. On the opening possession of the game, consecutive gallops of 44 yards by Dysart and 42 by Bryce Young put the Hornets on top 6-0 after only 69 seconds of play. Maryville then fumbled the ball away on its second offensive play, but the MHS defense denied Chillicothe, whose Cory Lowe had covered the ball at the MHS 39. Maryville opened the second half with a nine-play, 59-yard scoring drive completed with Farmer's 24-yard sweep around left end. After Chillicothe punted the ball away again after advancing it to the MHS 44, the ’Hounds went 83 yards in three plays to score again. A 66-yard hookup from Jasinski to Mitch Gallagher on the first play was something of a lucky break. Young came across with a bead on an interception, but was distracted by a teammate trying to stay with Chadwick. As the leaping Young reached for the ball while trying to avoid crashing into his fellow defender, it glanced off his hands and right into the arms of intended target Gallagher at about the MHS 45. Gallagher raced on to the CHS 17 before Josh Rockhold ran him down and tackled him. Mattson then ran for seven and 10 yards and Maryville was virtually tied, only to have Hargrave spoil things. Aside from that missed pickoff, Young had a spectacular game. The junior running back not only had the 42-yard TD run and 30-yard scoring catch in the first half, but finished the night with a game-best 149 rushing yards on 15 attempts, four receptions for 93 yards, and a 27-yard pass completion to Rockhold on the option play. That's 269 yards of multi-purpose total yardage from scrimmage. "That kid's pretty special," Maryville's coach praised. Many other players on both teams had outstanding nights, too. Mattson rushed for 123 yards, Trammell threw for 126 and two scores with no interceptions, Farmer had 91 yards in receptions, Hargrave blocked the kick, and Dysart both ran for 68 yards on only eight carries, but averaged just over 37 yards per punt with no return yardage and four of the five putting Maryville inside its own 20. Chillicothe now will turn its focus to its Homecoming game, its pre-district finale next Friday against St. Joseph: Lafayette. The 2-4 Fighting Irish stormed back from a 29-7 first-half deficit to beat Cameron 33-29 Friday night behind quarterback Bryston Williams' approximately 260 rushing yards and four TDs. Hornets Roll Benton 37-6 The Chillicothe Hornets improved to 5-0 with an impressive victory at St. Joseph Benton on Friday night. The Hornets scored on their first 3 possessions of the ballgame and held a 30-0 advantage at the half. Chillicothe also scored on their first offensive possession of the second half to open up a 37-0 lead before a late Benton score. CHS Football Hornets Blow Past Bishop LeBlond 49-14 By Butch Shaffer / C-T photo
The mismatch between an unbeaten and unchallenged Chillicothe High School Hornets football team and a St. Joseph: Bishop LeBlond Golden Eagles club representing a school with about one-third of Chillicothe’s enrollment developed pretty much as most observers anticipated Friday night. Giving every indication of being a team to be reckoned with, should they reach the Class 3 state playoffs, the Hornets reeled off a 42-0 lead in the game’s first 17 minutes before settling for a 49-14 triumph in their 2008 Midland Empire Conference opener. Chillicothe improved its record to 4-0 overall. LeBlond is 0-3 in its return to the MEC and 1-3 overall. The Hornets scored in the 40s for the fourth-straight week, their final total surpassing the previous season-high 48 points they’d produced against Marshall and Grain Valley. Chillicothe now is averaging 46.25 points per contest. The CHS defensive starters once more concluded their night having not allowed any points. LeBlond tallied its first six points on a 100-yard return of an intercepted pass late in the first half and its other six came in the late going against Hornets second- and third-stringers. Offensively, while Chillicothe’s total yardage wasn’t overwhelming at 386 yards, that had more to do with the field position with which it worked most of the night. The Hornets set that advantageous field position tone right from the opening seconds when Bryce Young returned a short opening kickoff 43 yards to the Bishop LeBlond 42. Next time, it got the ball at the St. Joseph Catholic school’s 38, followed by a start at the Hornets’ own 43, the LeBlond 11 and then the Golden Eagles’ 39. Chillicothe touchdowns resulted from each of those possessions and put the Hornets in command 35-0 after one quarter. That is believed to be the most by a Hornets team in any quarter since they rang up 46 in their ill-advised district playoffs matchup with since-closed Tarkio Academy on Oct. 23, 1998. All told, 17 of CHS’ 37 offensive plays gained twin-figure yardage as the team continued its thunderbolt assault thus far in 2008. It entered Friday’s game averaging a stunning 10.6 yards per snap and virtually matched that (10.4 yards vs. LeBlond) – despite the short fields and the use of reserves for the most part over the last two-plus quarters. In addition to Young netting 105 yards on four carries and catching two passes for another 43 with a touchdown each way, Chillicothe had senior quarterback Tyler Trammell go six of nine through the air for 105 yards. He did suffer his first interception of the season, one which LeBlond free safety Pat Lawhon picked off at his own goal line and returned the length of the field. Due to Chillicothe 36-point lead at halftime, the second half was played entirely under the “running clock” rule. Defensively, the Hornets throttled LeBlond on 29 first-half yards – 17 rushing on 11 carries and 12 through the air on 3-of-9 accuracy. As if the offensive and defense dominance wasn’t total enough, the Hornets also had big plays from special teams units. After his lengthy kickoff return to open the game set up the first score, Young zipped in to block a punt later in the first quarter. That set up Dysart’s touchdown dash from the 14. Chillicothe will head back on the road next Friday, visiting 2-2 St. Joseph: Benton. Benton squeezed by Cameron in week four Friday. Hornets Hang Another Lopsided Loss On Non-League Foe GRAIN VALLEY - Their first-string offense and defense continuing to be almost-totally dominant, the Chillicothe High School football Hornets concluded an unexpected thrashing of their three 2008 non-conference opponents Friday night, pummeling the Grain Valley Eagles 48-16. Just as they had in romping past Marshall and Odessa, two other normally-strong teams expected to give the veteran Chillicothe squad tests, but unable to, the Hornets’ starting offense scored touchdowns on every possession it had. Spearheading the CHS attack this time were junior Bryce Young, who had his third-straight 100-yards rushing game (seven carries for 174 yards and touchdowns of 25, 45, and 71 yards), and senior Clint Dysart, who had his first 100-yards game of the season with 107 on 13 carries. Chillicothe made it 21-0 after one period when senior quarterback Tyler Trammell, starting to scramble, niftily picked out end Colin Parker on the left side for a short pass which Parker converted into a 37-yard touchdown with a fine run after the catch. At the end of one period, Chillicothe already had 221 yards of total offense and 10 first downs. Taking the opening possession of the second half, Grain Valley marched 71 yards in 15 plays to get on the board as Chillicothe played a more-conservative defense as time drained off the running clock. By the time the Eagles scored, only 2:01 remained in the third stanza. Just to make sure there was no doubt as to who’d win, Chillicothe took only five plays to move 69 yards to paydirt, Kyle Dosterschill rambling 18 yards off the left side to push the score to 41-8. While running for well over 300 yards, the Hornets still showed a sharp passing game in limited exposure. Trammell hit on all three of his throws for 63 yards and one TD. He has only two incompletions and no interceptions in 14 throws this season. Now 3-0, Chillicothe will spend the rest of the regular season in Midland Empire Conference action, beginning next Friday at home against 0-3 St. Joseph: Bishop LeBlond. Hornets Bring The Sting, Whip Odessa 40-9 C-T photo/Butch Shaffer
Everywhere they turned Friday night, the visiting Odessa Bulldogs were being stung by Hornets Friday night at Chillicothe's Jerry Litton Memorial Stadium. Chillicothe High School football Hornets, that is. Producing a second-straight dominating performance against squads expected to give them strong early-season challenges, the Hornets instead made it two routs in as many games in 2008, stinging Odessa 40-9 to improve to 2-0. "I was very proud of our kids, the way they did execute," CHS head coach Phil Willard complimented. "A lot of good things happened for us." Perhaps the most vital of those good things, at least in the long term, was the gutsy performance given by senior quarterback Tyler Trammell. In the face of an Odessa sell-out defense which rocketed nine or 10 men to the line of scrimmage in an attempt to outnumber blockers and stop runs or pressure the occasional pass attempt, Trammell made fearless play-calling by CHS offensive coordinator Dave Mapel pay off. He had a 7-for-9 passing night for 174 yards and two touchdowns, hitting Bryce Young for a 63-yard score in the first quarter and Colin Parker for 26 yards and a 27-3 lead late in the opening half. "We had a lot of people who stepped up their play – Tyler Trammell for one, who had some heat on him several times and was able to get the ball off and made some good throws," Willard praised, "and, of course, we made the catches." The operative word in that last phrase is "we." In going a combined nine of 11 in the air, Trammell and junior backup Jared McCauslin made connections with eight separate teammates. That's one shy of the 1968 team record for most CHS players with receptions in a game, as researched by KCHI Radio sports director and Hornets historical stats guru Randy Dean. In 1968, nine Hornets caught throws in a game against Milan. Friday's eight involved receivers matched the total from the 1977 season finale against Kirksville. While Trammell was delivering strikes, even when under duress, it helped on the touchdown throws that there wasn't an Odessa defender anywhere in the vicinity of Young and Parker. While Trammell was having the best passing night of his career, Young was posting his second-straight 100-yards rushing game, gaining 111 on only 10 carries. The bulk of that real estate came on two scoring runs – a 54-yarder down the CHS sideline early in the second quarter which upped the Chillicothe lead to 21-3 and a 34-yard jaunt again down the Chillicothe side, although this time around the right side, late in the third to conclude the Hornets' scoring. Adding a 31-yard jump-ball catch in the second period to his long TD reception, Young had 205 yards from scrimmage, nearly surpassing the century mark in receiving yardage, too. The other Chillicothe touchdowns came on a Trammell sneak from a yard out which erased Odessa's early 3-0 lead, and sophomore back Josh Rockhold's 17-yard dart around left end in the third quarter. Odessa never took possession of the ball beyond its own 30 until late in the third quarter when the "running clock" already was in use, the Hornets' "D" yielded only two pass plays of more than 20 yards after the opening possession while sacking the quarterback six times, by C-T count. Clayton Dahlberg had two of the sacks, Cory Lowe and Brenden Pagliai each 1.5, and Tommy Hargrave one. "I've really got to credit our defensive line and linebackers for keeping the heat on their quarterback, the CHS head coach and defensive coordinator saluted, also throwing a kudo the way of defensive line coach Jeff Staton. Like most teams learning the spread for the first time, Odessa was mostly one-dimensional, getting only 29 total rushing yards in 20 carries. That includes the 25 yards lost on the quarterback sacks. Odessa's new head coach, Lee "Par" Pitts, wasn't upset after the game, owing to the realization of the steep learning curve he knows his offensive unit faces and the quality and experience of the 2008 Hornets. Having outscored their foes 85-23, the Hornets will make their first-ever trip to 2-0 Grain Valley next Friday to face the 2-0 Eagles. GVHS faced Marshall, Chillicothe's opening-week 45-14 victim, Friday and posted a 34-14 win. Chillicothe and Grain Valley, a Class 3 state semifinalist last year which now is in Class 4, have met only once before, that in Chillicothe two years ago in the state playoffs. Grain Valley won that one 21-13. Hornets Maul Marshall 48-14 in Grid Opener Friday C-T photo/Butch Shaffer
The Chillicothe High School football Hornets began their 2008 season quite impressively against the Marshall Owls Friday night. The Hornets scored touchdowns on all seven possessions their first-string offense played while the top defensive unit was holding the inexperienced Owls to less than 50 total yards and no points as Chillicothe romped to a 48-14 non-conference triumph. Chillicothe had over 350 yards of rushing yards with both senior fullback Kyle Dosterschill and junior Bryce Young surpassing the century mark while averaging around 10 yards a carry. Dosterschill gained 121 yards on 13 attempts, Young 115 on 10 rushes. Each scored two touchdowns, Dosterschill's on runs of six yards and one yard while Young had a 33-yarder on the ground and a 53-yard TD reception from Tyler Trammell for the last CHS score in the third quarter. Also finding paydirt on runs for the Hornets were Clint Dysart (11 yards), Josh Rockhold (48), and Trammell (1). Marshall trailed 41-0 at Cecil Naylor Field before getting on the board against the CHS second-string defense late in the third stanza on Matt Jacobs' 6-yard run and against the third or fourth string on a 64-yard blast up the middle by its starting fullback, Cody Hodges, in the final seven minutes. In the first half of the program's renewal of a rivalry dormant for 19 years, Chillicothe piled up 265 yards on 26 rushes while choking off the Owls on 49 yards on 20 carries. With a season-opening road win under their belts, the Hornets will make their home debut next Friday against the team which beat them out for last year's district title, Odessa. Rivalry Renewed C-T photo / Butch Shaffer
Two old rivals which haven’t met in nearly a generation, but with many a long-standing connection, renew acquaintances on the football field tomorrow (Friday) night. The Chillicothe Hornets, coming off a 6-4 season from which a large majority of their starters return, will call on the Marshall Owls, 4-6 in 2007 and returning only five starters, in the 26th meeting of the programs, but the first since 1989. Game time will be 7 p.m. at the Marshall High School’s Naylor Stadium. While the Hornets and Owls ended last season with opposite records, they head into the new campaign with similar aspirations – contend for their league’s titles, a berth in the expanded state playoffs, and recapture some of the glory of their storied programs’ past. On paper, Chillicothe seems to have the best chance of doing that – with players with extensive starting experience filling eight offensive positions and seven defensive posts, compared to the Owls having three on offense and two on defense. "We're really going to find out Friday night how good we are," assured Marshall head coach Paul Thomas in looking ahead to the opener of his ninth season as the pigskin Owls’ boss. "Physical up front,” he characterized the Hornets. “They've got great skill guys. Defensively, they fly around to the football. "There's no weak spots." However, Thomas’ MHS club will have some impressive physical specimens – two offensive linemen in excess of 300 pounds, North Central Missouri Conference 100-meter dash champion Matt Buford at wide receiver and quick, shifty tailback Matt Jacobs – it will throw at the smaller Hornets, who hope to rely on precision and execution which makes the most of its own generous supply of talent and athleticism. The probable starter at quarterback for Marshall Friday is expected to be senior Marty Kays, a converted wide receiver who figures to run the ball more often than throw it. The Owls do have a 6’6” sophomore, Lucas Hart, who may be a better thrower and might have to be used if Marshall falls behind and needs to throw more, “but I think they've made that move with Kays for a reason, to be able to run that option," Willard said. Willard came away from last week’s “jamboree” scrimmages at Smithville thankful for avoidance of injury and pleased with the way his players performed against opposition obviously not as formidable as what Marshall will be tomorrow. "I felt pretty good, the way we played, the effort we had. I felt like we were in pretty good physical shape and we're going to need to be to fight the big people we're going to fight every week." Barring injury in the final pre-game practice tonight or other illness or mishap tomorrow, Willard indicated the first string units the Hornets showed at Smithville will be the starters at Marshall. On defense, that’s Cory Lowe and Clint Dysart at ends, Tommy Hargrave and Brenden Pagliai at tackles, and Clayton Dahlberg at nose guard on the line, Kyle Dosterschill and Brett Stephens at linebacker, and All-State cornerback Bryce Young, Colin Parker, Stephen Quinn and Josh Rockhold in the secondary. Rockhold is this year’s only sophomore starter. On offense, senior Tyler Trammell will quarterback with Dosterschill, Dysart, and Young the setbacks behind him. On the line, Hargrave and Parker are the ends, while the blocking wall will consist of Lambert Eller at center, Lowe and Pagliai at guards, and Justin followwill and Dahlberg at tackles. Football Hornets Look Sharp Against Smaller Schools in Jamboree SMITHVILLE - For what it was, the Chillicothe High School football Hornets couldn’t have done much more than they did in Friday evening’s preseason scrimmage “jamboree.” Both the offense and the defense played effectively in both the varsity and junior-varsity segments and, most critically, none of the Hornets seemed to come out of the exercise the worse for wear physically. “I saw a lot of good things - the hustle was good, the hitting was good,” CHS head coach Phil Willard commented immediately after addressing his squad following the controlled scrimmages. “Naturally there were some first-time mistakes with some aspects. but overall I was satisfied.” Chillicothe’s varsity squared off for 24-snap sessions (evenly split between offensive and defensive series) against Richmond and Knob Noster, smaller schools hoping to rebuild their gridiron fortunes some in 2008 after several “down” years. The CHS junior-varsity went two dozen plays against the jayvees of fellow Midland Empire Conference member and host Smithville. When the final whistle blew, Chillicothe’s varsity offense had amassed five touchdowns - two rushing and three passing - while its defense had yielded only one. The junior-varsity Hornets were virtually equally effective in their lone action, scoring two TDs - one on a short run, followed immediately by a long pass - against the host JV Warriors while preventing any first downs and taking the ball away once defensively. “There was a lot of good hustle and good execution of the offense,” Willard praised his veteran squad. |
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BOYS
SOCCER
CHS' Boys' Soccer, Cross Country Honored Members of Chillicothe High School’s 2008 cross country and boys’ soccer programs were recognized and honored last night with the traditional postseason awards dinner and program at the school. Head coaches Tim Riekena and Bill Allison of the cross country and soccer squads, respectively, presided over the concurrent recognition ceremonies – the soccer event in the commons and cross country event in the library. All three teams – the girls’ and boys’ cross country units and soccer club – had notable success in their recently-ended seasons.
The Hornets harriers won the school’s first-ever conference championship, nosing out Smithville in the Midland Empire Conference meet, to achieve one of their major goals for the year. Each member of the varsity squad for that meet received a plaque in honor of that
unprecedented achievement. They also sent two runners – seniors Steven Taylor and Ben
Griffin – to the Class 3 state meet for the first time in four years. S. Taylor was the first CHS boy to qualify in consecutive years since Brett Dowell in 2004-05. Riekena, in his second year as coach, said earlier this week of this year’s senior-laden team, “It’s been a joy to work with all the cross country athletes.” He made special note of the hours and hours and miles and miles of summer training (weight training and running) most of the squad – especially the seniors – devoted themselves to in pursuit of their twin team goals of a conference title and team advancement to the state meet. The second goal was narrowly missed, quite likely only because ill-timed illness hampered the race of 2006 state qualifier Casey Pryor, one of their top runners, at district. Had Pryor had his “normal” time and finish, that probably would have boosted Chillicothe past Warrensburg into the second state-qualifying spot. On the pitch, the soccer Hornets came close – in only their second year of existence – to finishing with a non-losing record, standing 7-7 through 14 matches before losing their last three. Most impressively, while finishing 7-10 overall, the CHS booters posted a 4-3 record in MEC competition, tied for second-best mark in the league. According to Allison, a league tiebreaker system (for computing “conference supremacy” standings) left Chillicothe technically in fourth place. “I thought we had good results,” Allison shared with the C-T. “There were three more games in there that we could have won, but overall everything improved. Players individually showed good improvement and the team as a whole improved. “I was pretty pleased with the way things turned out.” On their way to hiking their record from 4-11 in their first season to 7-10 this fall, the soccer Hornets had a winning percentage below .500 for only one game each only three times before the final two losses moved them two and three under. As to the top area in which this year’s still-inexperienced squad made important strides, Allison reflected, “I would say their combination play up front where they knew that they had to pass (the ball) out (to the wings) and then bring it back in (to the center of the field), instead of just trying to take it down the middle.” As for what he would advise the underclassmen to work on prior to next fall, the Hornets coach stated, “They’ve got to improve their ball skills and, several of them, just a general knowledge of the game.” “The biggest problem we have is we try to pass it to someone all the time, instead of passing it to a space,” he added. “And learning how to run ‘off’ the ball instead of always ‘with’ the ball. Movement off the ball is one thing they have to start ‘seeing.’” In addition to reviewing their respective seasons, the coaches also presented a variety of individual and/or team-related awards.
In cross country, the members of the MEC boys’ championship squad got the aforementioned plaques. They were Parker Leatherman, Daniel Riekena, Casey Pryor, Thomas Cassity, Timm Derrickson, Griffin, and S. Taylor, along with manager Greg Griesbach. Of those, Griffin, Pryor, and S. Taylor were all-conference. Given the special awards for performance and team contributions were Mary Kate Taylor – Outstanding Athlete, Derrickson – Coach’s Award, and sophomore Travis Henry – Most Improved. Henry’s best time this year was over six minutes faster than his best 2007 time, the coach noted. In soccer, Allison presented an extensive variety of special awards - some statistics-based. Hornets Booters Improved Against Owls MOBERLY — The Chillicothe Hornets ended their second season Saturday, lost 10-3 to the Marshall Owls in district tournament first-round play at Moberly. Having lost to Marshall 10-0 earlier in the season, the Hornets knew they had a tough task ahead of them to upset third-seeded Marshall, but were determined to show the Owls that they came to play. The Hornets held their own for 22 minutes in the first half before Marshall found the net for its first goal. Then came a torrent. Undermanned some, due to illness and other conflicts, the Hornets seemed to get a little run down, in the view of head coach Bill Allison, and made a couple mistakes on the defensive side to open the floodgates. Marshall went on to score four more times in the first half while only allowing the Hornets to get two shots on goal – by Brady Sensenich and Colton Allen. Even so, the Hornets were able to pressure the ball on offense enough that they kept the Owls on their heels a good bit of the time. The Hornets started off strong in the second half, stunning the MHS defense when they scored in the first 40 seconds of the half. Laine Saunders brought the ball down the left side and made a beautiful cross pass to the feet of top scorer Jacob Rockhold, who buried it in the back of the net. The goal and assist marked another few milestones in the Hornets’ very brief history. It was their first goal and first assist in district competition and also put senior Rockhold at the 25-goal mark for the season. Savannah Brings Curtin Down On Soccer Hornets In one of those games you hate to see either team lose, the Chillicothe High School soccer Hornets were the ones left trudging off the muddy, slipper Daryl Danner Memorial Park field early last evening, having dropped their 2008 home finale 2-1 to Savannah in two overtimes. The visiting Savages’ Quaid Curtin rang down the curtain on the game when he turned a seemingly-innocuous rush into the game-winning goal with a perfectly-placed shot along the ground which just eluded CHS goalkeeper Caleb Buckmaster and sneaked just inside the left goalpost in the game’s 92nd minute. The loss denied Chillicothe’s second-year program a .500 final record for its regular season. It now stands 7-9 overall heading into district tournament play a week from tomorrow at Moberly. The Hornets will face a monumental challenge there, taking on Marshall – a team which clobbered them 10-0 last Saturday – in the first round. Yesterday’s contest was the second time in the Hornets’ brief history – both of them this season – they’ve played through regulation and into overtime to decide the winner. Both times they’ve ended on the short end of the final score, their previous OT game going into a sudden-death penalty-kick shootout. CHS head coach Bill Allison said he felt yesterday’s game was in the hands of the Hornets from the start, but “we could not take advantage of our opportunities on a very wet and slick field.” The Hornets controlled much of the play and came within inches of scoring the first goal of the game several times, but did not. That distinction went to the Savages’ Cameron Vulgamott off a Curlin setup 16 minutes into the contest. Spoofhounds Nip CHS Booters C-T Photo
Chillicothe nearly had a golden opportunity to tie the game in the final couple of minutes when Rogers collided with CHS top scorer Jacob Rockhold in the penalty area in front of the MHS goal. Unfortunately, while the Hornets’ fans, coaches, and players anticipated a penalty kick being awarded to Rockhold, the official’s ruling was that the Hornet – who scored both CHS goals – had been guilty of the foul. Despite their dismay over that decision, the Hornets kept pressuring and had another chance to even it up, but their shot sailed just over the crossbar. Moments later, the final whistle blew and the Chillicothe record had dipped to 7-8 overall and 4-2 in the conference. “The Hornets, as always, played hard from the starting whistle to the last whistle,” Allison summarized. CHS Soccor Loses to Marshall MARSHALL — It seemed as if the Chillicothe High School soccer Hornets were playing the Smithville Warriors again on Saturday afternoon. Instead it was a very stout Marshall Owls team with much of the same skill and talent as the Hornets’ 10-0 conqueror two days before. Just as Smithville did, the Owls struck early and often as the Hornets found themselves behind in only the second minute and never were able to bounce back as they again lost 10-0. “This game seemed to wear on all the players after seeing the same thing happen to them against Fulton and Smithville all in seven days,” CHS head coach Bill Allison reflected. “The only bright spot in there was beating Maur Hill on Tuesday." Marshall, like the other two programs, has been around (in soccer competition) for several years and it showed. All of its players were very soccer-savvy and had good ball skills. “Like Smithville, (Marshall) too had very good off-the-ball runs, which open up space to allow passing lanes to be created,” the coach continued. “This is one part of the game the Hornets have struggled with a little all season, but are starting to see why a team needs constant movement, even when the ball is not at their feet. "All of these are growing pains of a young program. The most-successful high school programs experienced many of these problems in their early years, so it is nothing new as the program grows.” Hornets Soccor Shut Out Maur Hill on Road ATCHISON, Kan. — With efficient team defense in front of him, senior goalkeeper Caleb Buckmaster of the Chillicothe High School soccer Hornets needed to make only four saves yesterday as the Hornets went on the road and shut out Atchison, Kan.’s Maur Hill-Mount Accademy Ravens 4-0. “The team felt good from having a good practice on Monday and came out ready to play with something to prove against a team which had beaten them three times in as many previous meetings over the two years of our existence,” CHS head coach Bill Allison related. Prove something the Hornets did, not only shutting the Ravens out, but generally controlling the action. Maur Hill was limited to only four shots on goal – all stopped by the Chillicothe goalkeeper – while firing 14 at Ravens’ ’keeper Michael Minnis, three of which by senior Jacob Rockhold beat him. The other goal came from Colton Whiteside. “We were extremely proud of the way the whole team played, and everyone played a role in the game whether they started or came off the bench,” Allison stated on behalf of himself and assistant Lance Harvey. After some early pressure by the Hornets failed to get a ball into the net, Allison made a couple of tactical adjustments were made and saw quick results. Chillicothe’s first goal came in the ninth minute as Levi Barton sent a pass to Connor Ruoff, who turned and split two defenders with a good pass that found Rockhold for his 17th goal of the year. A couple of minutes later, Chris Kleinschmidt’s steal led to a quick transition that ended with Rockhold’s second goal in two minutes. With the Hornets defense, led by Mahonri Reyes, Brady Sensenich, Clayton Allen and Chris Kleinschmidt, keeping the clamps on the MH-MA attackers while playing all 80-plus minutes, the early 2-0 lead would have stood up. The CHS defense worked well with the midfielders in thwarting Maur Hill’s attempts at generating offensive pressure and Buckmaster made a good save late in each half – in the final half, he was tracking the ball going one direction and had to twist back to stop a shot fired back the other way to preserve the shutout, CHS’ second of the year. CHS Booters Keep MEC Mark Perfect Playing their second game in as many nights and appearing to their head coach a little sluggish and heavy-legged, the Chillicothe High School soccer Hornets nevertheless posted their third Midland Empire Conference triumph in as many chances yesterday, shading the St. Joseph: Lafayette Fighting Irish 2-1 in a hard-fought game at Daryl Danner Memorial Park. The scoring came off three major mistakes between the two teams, according to Hornets coach Bill Allison. The last of those was a foul against Chillicothe’s top scorer, Jacob Rockhold, in the penalty area midway through the second half with the score knotted 1-1. The infraction gave Rockhold a 1-on-1 chance against Irish goalkeeper Micah Carr and the CHS scoring ace capitalized, blasting a shot which Carr got a piece of, but couldn’t keep from sailing into the back of the net at the 61-minute mark. Lafayette didn’t manage another serious scoring chance as Chillicothe managed to blank a second-straight foe in the second half. It had kept St. Joseph: Bishop LeBlond off the board after intermission Monday to score a 5-4 comeback win. Soccer Hornets Lose to Hannibal When the more-experienced Hannibal Pirates traveled to Chillicothe Monday, the Hornets had more offensive success than when the teams met last fall in a first-round district tournament game. However, the outcome and margin of victory in the teams’ second-ever meeting nevertheless was the same as Hannibal prevailed 6-3. “We stressed to each of the players at halftime not to get their heads down and the need to battle for each and every ball, both offensively and defensively,” Chillicothe head coach Bill Allison related. “We said we did not want to see the melt down that occurred in the second half of the Maur Hill game.” Behind 4-1 at the break, the Hornets did maintain their effort in the second half, playing the visiting Pirates to a 2-2 standoff for a three-goal defeat. Benton Lives "Rocky Horror" Show Battling for every ball and, behind their most-potent force, capitalizing on many of their scoring chances, the Chillicothe soccer Hornets yesterday afternoon were successful at several things they have been working on in practice, according to head coach Bill Allison. As a result, they earned their second Midland Empire Conference victory in as many tries, whipping the visiting St. Joseph: Benton Cardinals 5-1. Behind four Jacob Rockhold goals and senior goalkeeper Caleb Buckmaster’s 12 saves, Chillicothe improved to 2-1 overall on the season. “As with any sport, there are the ones that make the headlines and the ones that help make these headlines,” Allison commented, “and that is exactly the kind of players this Hornets team is made of,” reeling off the names of Clayton Allen, Brady Sensenich, defender Chris Kleinschmidt and Mahonri Reyes, midfielders Colton Allen, Chase Bonderer, Laine Saunders, and Levi Barton, and Colton Whiteside and Connor Ruoff (who split time between forward and midfielder) as having strong games which helped make Rockhold’s and Buckmaster’s more-notable statistical performances possible. Chillicothe wasted no time getting going in the match, Ruoff’s corner kick in the second minute finding its way to Rockhold, who buried it for a 1-0 lead. Rockhold’s second goal was scored in the 10th minute as he received a great ball from Clayton Allen, Allison reported. Although Chillicothe beat Cardinals ’keeper Blake Davis twice early, Benton didn’t back down. On its way to peppering Buckmaster with eight shots he’d have to try to save in the opening half, Benton got one past him in the 14th minute. Anthony Ortega slipped one past the CHS defense and Buckmaster and Alejandro Castillo chased it down and put it in the vacated net. Making some adjustments on the defensive side, the Hornets shut down a lot of the BHS threat the rest of the way. Meanwhile, the Cardinals couldn’t silence Rockhold. In the 31st minute, as the first half started to wind down, a cross from Saunders barely found the head of Rockhold before it was his third goal of the game, his first “hat trick” of ’08. Although up 3-1 at the half, coaches Allison and Lance Harvey warned their Hornets not to let down, stressing that, if not for the great job of minding the net by Buckmaster, the Hornets could have found them themselves down 3-1 instead, Allison related. “Caleb had an excellent night,” stressed Allison. “He kept the Cardinals offense at bay with 12 saves, several of them clutch saves.” “This was a perfect example of what has been coached all season,” praised Allision. “That is for the players to be able to see the whole field while they are playing.” While Rockhold’s goal scoring for the day was over, his offense was not as, having drawn Davis and defenders’ attention, he passed back to Colton Whiteside, who ripped the shot home in the 76th minute to wrap up the scoring. Maur Hill Ravens Mar Soccer Hornets’ ’08 Debut
C-T Photo/Butch Shaffer Beaten 6-3 and 6-2 by Atchison, Kan.’s Maur Hill-Mount Academy Ravens last year, the 2008 Chillicothe High School soccer Hornets hoped the opening game of the second year of their existence would offer some quantitative evidence of their improvement against a repeat foe. Instead, continuation of the expansion of the Ravens’ measurable edge over the Hornets was in evidence Tuesday afternoon as Maur Hill rang up a 7-2 victory in a weather-abbreviated match in Chillicothe’s Daryl Danner Memorial Park. Trailing only 3-2 at halftime after an early flurry of three Ravens goals, the Hornets once again were victimized by more Maur Hill intensity and focus when play resumed in the final half. Two quick goals returned the margin to its original spread before two more MHMA tallies expanded it before lightning and a resumption of rain forced a permanent halt to play. Having dropped its season opener, Chillicothe will get a bit of extra time to prepare for its next action, at St. Joseph: Lafayette, at 5 p.m. next Monday. Because of a student’s death there, Hannibal asked for a postponement of its scheduled game here Thursday. According to CHS athletics director Matt Brownsberger, that game has been switched to Monday, Sept. 22. Naturally, with the rainout, the scheduled invaluable, experience-gaining junior-varsity game was not played. CHS Soccer Hornets Commence Second Season CT Photo, Paul Sturm, Sports Editor 2008
At season’s start, Allison has moved only one of the returning players to a new position, although additional changes may occur along the way. “We are looking to switch Levi Barton to the defensive side as opposed to midfield where he put in considerable time last season,” the coach reports. Rockhold scored a team-high 15 goals a year ago and had four assists. Buckmaster had one shutout and 123 saves in 14 games, according to Allison. Colton Allen was a stable figure in the central part of the midfield and earned first-team all-district honors at the end of last season, the coach points out, while Sensenich logged the most minutes in 2007 and once again will be a big part on the defense and wherever else he is needed, the coach points out. Whiteside will be up front alongside Rockhold to provide the main scoring threats. Barton’s midfield experience should help push the ball up from the back line, enabling quicker transitions from defense to offense. His position change also should allow him to log more minutes, Allison notes. Among newcomers, the CHS coach has three he thinks could make a noticeable impact on the ’08 club. What does Allision feel are the keys to this year's team progressing from the level of last year's? “Just a year under a lot of their belts and gaining that (2007) game time will be a major plus,” he anticipates. “The coaching staff will also come into the season knowing what to expect from the first season.” Injuries already have impacted the 2008 Hornets kickers even before the season opener. Zach Colvin, a would-be returning starter, sustained an injury while pole vaulting in last spring’s track and field season and is not available, the coach disclosed. Also, Luke Mendenhall, who will be playing mainly on the junior-varsity level, recently was diagnosed with a stress fracture to his leg, so he will be out for awhile. Due to various factors, the Hornets coach says he doesn’t know what to expect from the other MEC teams. “That is a hard one to call, as I know three schools will not be able to field a JV team, so that says a little about numbers,” reported Allison. “I am sure that Smithville will be a team to really have to adjust to. “(St. Joseph:) Bishop LeBlond is a newcomer to the conference and a bit of an unknown. It had a good season last year, but I believe lost a good portion of their starters. As far as the other teams, I am unsure what they lost as seniors last season.” Allison has a new assistant coach this year, Lance Harvey. |
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SOFTBALL
CHS' Baldwin Captures All State Honors Four C-T-area softball players – Chillicothe freshman pitcher Sarah
Baldwin, Tina-Avalon junior shortstop Darcy Jenkins, Hamilton junior shortstop Eileen Greenwood, and Trenton junior pitcher Aubrey Utley – have been voted to the Missouri High School Fastpitch Coaches Association’s 2008 All-State teams. Baldwin, expected to make a big impact as a freshman after several years of summer-ball success across the midwest as part of Kansas City-area traveling teams, didn’t disappoint in throwing all except four innings of Chillicothe’s 21-4 year. She threw four no-hitters – at home against Cameron, Polo, and Hamilton and at Savannah – and just missed a couple of others in the last inning. Perhaps most impressively, in the crucible of postseason play, the ninth grader held St. Joseph: Benton and Maryville to one run each in district tournament action – with Benton’s run unearned and eventual state champion Platte County to three hits and three runs – none of them earned – in the state tournament sectional contest. Once past Baldwin and Chillicothe, Platte County put up 12 runs against Harrisonville in the quarterfinals, two (both earned) against Republic in the semifinals, and seven in the championship game against Cape Girardeau: Notre Dame. She also shut out probably the second-best Class 4 team in the state – Webb City – for seven innings in the semifinals of the Sports World Classic tournament at Carthage before the Lady Cardinals squeaked out a 1-0 win in eight innings under the international tiebreaker procedure which puts a runner at second base to begin every extra inning. Not only was the talented and tested righthander – the daughter of CHS head coach Stan Baldwin – tough to score or or hit safely against, she was flat hard to make contact on. In her workhorse 168 innings over 25 games, she struck out exactly 300 batters while issuing only 26 walks. She yielded only 56 hits – exactly one each three innings on average – and threw 14 shutouts. Postseason Awards Banquet for CHS Lady softball Hornets Held
The most-successful season (in terms of winning percentage) in 13 years of Chillicothe High School girls’ softball was celebrated and the players who made it happen honored last night at the annual postseason awards banquet. The 2008 Lady Hornets posted a 21-4 won-lost record this fall, matching the program’s previous standard for most wins in a season, reached both in 2003 and 2006, and had the highest winning percentage ever at .840. Both the ’03 club and the ’06 state quarterfinalists lost six times for a winning percentage of .778. Given that the 2006 Lady Hornets not only won the district title and advanced to state play, as this year’s did, but also was the only CHS club to reach the state quarterfinals and also was the Midland Empire Conference champion, it probably still qualifies for the more-imprecise designation of “most successful” Lady Hornets diamond club ever. This year’s team was right there with it, however, and – but for having to face the eventual state champions in the first round of the state tournament – might have claimed the distinction for itself. "We had a great season, probably better than most people thought at the beginning of the year,” CHS head coach Stan Baldwin summarized for the C-T at last night’s event. "We faced a buzzsaw in (Class 3 state champion) Platte County (in the sectional round of state play) and they're just a tough team. They pretty handily handled everybody else all the way through state.” "We'd have had to be at the top of our game to beat Platte County," acknowledged the CHS coach. After downing the Lady Hornets 3-0 here, Platte County’s Lady Pirates went on to whip Harrisonville 12-3 in the quarterfinals, hold off Republic 2-0 in the semifinals, and finally Cape Girardeau: Notre Dame 7-1 in the state title game. "We've done that five times in the last seven years,” noted Baldwin of the roadblocks Chillicothe has run up against in northwest or western Missouri before they had a chance to play at the state’s highest postseason levels. “We’ve lost to three state champions and one runnerup and one third or fourth place. “We're close. It's just getting over that hurdle." To get to state, Chillicothe had to survive a tough district tournament, claiming the district crown for a fourth-successive year and fifth time overall in Baldwin’s seven years at the helm. Under the current coach’s guidance, the softball Lady Hornets have won 137 of 180 games. This year’s team not only had to battle the extremely-tough Platte County squad during postseason, but also faced and defeated the fourth-place finisher in the Class 3 state tournament (Kirksville) and lost 1-0 in extra innings to the No. 3 team in Class 4, Webb City. After presenting this year’s team’s letter-earners with those, the Chillicothe coach announced the winners of the four special awards he presents. Named most valuable player, as expected, was Lady Hornets freshman pitching phenom Sarah Baldwin, the coach’s daughter. She started every game as pitcher and threw all except four of the season’s 172 innings. Her 21-4 record mirrored the team’s mark. On her way to fashioning that record, she threw four no-hitters, struck out an average of 12 1⁄2 batters while walking one per game, and yielded an average of exactly one hit every three innings. Her earned run average was a microscopic 0.29 per seven innings. All of those numbers or their corresponding season totals (300 strikeouts, 26 bases on balls) represent team records. In addition to her pitching exploits, Sarah Baldwin batted cleanup all season, hitting a team-leading .438 with a slugging percentage of .700. Her 35 hits, 13 extra-base hits, and 35 runs batted in far and away topped the club. Her three home runs tied classmate Annie Turbyfill for not only most on this year’s team, but the program’s single-season record. The Coaches' Award went to senior catcher Chelsea Sturguess, whose two home runs, combined with the six Turbyfill and Sarah Baldwin split, obliterate the previous team record for roundtrippers in a season. The eight home runs probably were close to the entire total of home runs Chillicothe had hit in its first 12 seasons put together. Receiving the Most Improved award was junior outfielder Rochelle Gillilan, whose .342 batting average ended up being third on the team. Hustle Award recipient Leanne Mathew, another junior, was second on this year’s team with a .365 batting average. This year’s four senior players – Heather Doss, Lindy Scott, Whitney Hoyt, and Sturguess – also were recognized and honored. CHS Softball Team Wins District Crown ST. JOSEPH - The Chillicothe High School softball Lady Hornets have a heritage of winning at Heritage Park in northwest St. Joseph, a stone's throw from the banks of the Missouri River. They hope to be back there in just under two weeks to try to continue it. Using the tried and true formula of great pitching, solid defense, and timely hitting, the Lady Hornets won a fourth-successive Class 3 District 16 tournament title there Saturday morning, caging the Maryville Lady Spoofhounds 8-1. "The girls were ready to play," CHS head coach summarized succinctly after his club won for the 21st time in 24 games this season, including handing Maryville its only two setbacks. The triumph moves the Lady Hornets into state tournament play once again, beginning at home at Daryl Danner Memorial Park against Platte County (26-3) Wednesday at 6 p.m. That will be a rematch of last year's state sectional-round game, won by Platte County 10-8 on its field. "I do believe we could go all the way (and win the state championship) or we could lose the next one," the Chillicothe coach assessed. "I'm totally 100 percent convinced that we're as good as anybody in the state if we put everything together." Saturday's district title game with Maryville was a rematch of a mid-September contest which was scoreless for 10 innings before Maryville scored once in the 11th, only to make two bad throws on one Chillicothe steal attempt in the bottom of the 11th to give CHS a 2-1 win. Lady Irish Blank Hornets Next week’s Class 3 District 16 softball tournament became a lot more intriguing yesterday and could get even more so before it arrives. The Chillicothe High School Lady Hornets, the top seed for that tournament, sustained only their second loss of the 2008 season Thursday when they were shut out by the visiting St. Joseph: Lafayette Lady Irish 2-0 in a game postponed due to rain and a wet field exactly a month earlier. “We did not hit,” CHS head coach Stan Baldwin summarized, referring to only a four-hit attack spread through four separate players across four separate innings. “Lafayette hit pretty well (six hits) or, at least, at the right time.” Lafayette has been seeded third for the district tourney, so it will have to play a first- (quarterfinal-) round game, while second-seeded Maryville and Chillicothe have byes. Chillicothe (16-2) needed 11 innings to edge Maryville 2-1, so, despite the outstanding season the Lady Hornets have had, they figure to have a challenge winning another district title. However, with Maryville and Lafayette (16-3) on the same side of the bracket and opposite CHS, the Lady Hornets will have to beat only one of them, not both, should it reach the finals. Should Chillicothe and Lafayette make the district finals, it may well be the third time they’ve squared off in 10 days. Having made up the Sept. 2 rainout yesterday, the teams are slated to meet again on Tuesday, this time at St. Joseph. Errors, Lack of
Big Hit Lead to First CHS Softball Loss of 2008 SMITHVILLE - They didn’t have chances galore, but the Chillicothe High School softball Lady Hornets did have several scoring opportunities yesterday. When they didn’t cash them in, an uncharacteristically difficult day defensively dove-tailed with facing a strong Smithville team into the Lady Hornets’ first loss of the season after 15 victories, a 3-0 road defeat. The loss gives the Lady Warriors an advantage in the Midland Empire Conference race, but it will face additional hurdles over the next couple of weeks which could get the Lady Hornets back on even terms in the title chase if they take care of their own business. “Our hits did not come at the right time and errors hurt us,” CHS head coach Stan Baldwin summarized the defeat. Chillicothe out-hit Smithville 7-2, but did not getting any runs out of those hits. That made three Chillicothe errors and other defensive shortcomings which factored heavily into all three SHS runs decisive. Softball Hornets Back on Track
MACON - Chillicothe High School’s softball Lady Hornets responded authoritatively Thursday to their first loss of the 2008 season two days before. Freshman pitcher Sarah Baldwin throttled the host Macon Tiger-ettes on one hit and she and her teammates roped 11 hits around the yard as Chillicothe put together a decisive 8-0 road victory. “We hit the ball a lot better,” CHS head coach Stan Baldwin remarked, comparing yesterday’s performance in which CHS scored in six of the seven innings to Tuesday’s 2-0 defeat at Smithville in which the Lady Hornets couldn’t get the clutch hit with runners on base. Senior second baseman Lindy Scott continued her offensive flowering with two more hits, an RBI, a run scored, and a walk, all out of the No. 9 spot in the batting order. In the heart of the lineup, senior catcher Chelsea Sturguess went three for four with an RBI, cleanup hitter Sarah Baldwin was two for three with a ribbie, and, near the top, junior Rochelle Gillilan also continued to blossom with the bat, going two for four with a run batted in. In addition to limiting Macon on one hit, Sarah Baldwin walked only one and struck out 13 Tigerettes. In junior-varsity action Thursday, Chillicothe’s four-run second was good enough for a 4-2 four-inning victory. Baldwin's Fourth No-Hitter Bests Hamilton The spectacular is becoming the routine for the Chillicothe High School softball
Lady Hornets in 2008. For the second time in those 15 games – at least two of which have been one-hitters, including one in which the only hit came with two outs in the last inning, the Chillicothe phenom was one baserunner away from a perfect game. Having missed by a walk previously, in Monday’s game at Daryl Danner Memorial Park, Baldwin would have had a perfecto yesterday except for a one-out error in the top of the seventh and final frame. “We had a pretty solid game all around,” Chillicothe head coach Stan Baldwin said of his daughter/pitcher and the rest of the unbeaten Lady Hornets, now 15-0. In throwing her second no-hitter in three days, Sarah Baldwin got 15 of the 21 outs on strikes without walking anyone. A fine Hamilton team’s only baserunner was Emily Schieber, who stayed at first base. CT Photo, Paul Sturm, Sports Editor 2008 Lady Hornets Win Extra-Long Thriller CT Photo, Paul Sturm, Sports Editor 2008
Having topped South Harrison 5-3 in 12 innings with two runs in the 12th in their season opener, this time Chillicothe found itself locked in a 0-0 struggle through 10 innings as CHS freshman phenom Sarah Baldwin and MHS senior Megan Walker battled pitch for pitch, strikeout for strikeout, escape for escape. After Maryville finally got on the board in the top of the 11th on a throwing error, Chillicothe got the victory the same way. When Is Now CT Photo, Paul Sturm, Sports Editor 2008
Yesterday’s victory in their conference opener boosted Chillicothe’s overall 2008 record to 6-0. Chillicothe’s hitting was led by Turbyfill’s 2-for-3, three-RBI day. The frosh also scored twice. Sturguess also drove in three with her lone hit – the circuit clout. Baldwin also was two for three with two runs knocked in. Chillicothe’s junior-varsity team also rolled to victory Wednesday, 8-3 in four innings, behind the one-hit pitching of Turbyfill. Another Strong Season Target of Promising CHS Softball Squad,
Shiny Diamond CT Photo, Paul Sturm, Sports Editor 2008
A solid nucleus of returning starters, the elevation of some promising reserves from the 2007 district-championship team, and the addition of several freshmen who could be among the finest Lady Hornets softball players ever may have Chillicothe softball on the verge of stepping up to the very elite level on the state scene. The returning nucleus features three-year starter Heather Doss at shortstop for her senior year, power-hitting Chelsea Sturguess (currently injured) at catcher, junior third baseman Leanne Mathew, and junior outfielder Samantha Fender. A player used extensively for her defense last year, but not getting many chances to bat, is now-senior Lindy Scott at second base. Depending on how things work out at a couple of other positions, she may get to hit more often this season. Sophomores Bailey Keith and Kelsey Hicks should step into front-line, full-time roles with this year’s Lady Hornets. Also back and slated to play right field is junior Rochelle Gillilan, who was used almost-exclusive as a runner in ’07. The big impetus for Chillicothe softball to step up to the level of true state-title contenders is where it virtually always is
- in the pitcher’s circle. That’s where coach Baldwin’s freshman daughter Sarah will be as she begins the high school portion of an already-extensive career of high-level pitching. The challenge may be finding a catcher to handle her deliveries, which her father reports he has growing difficulty doing. The hope is opponents' rallies won't often consist of batters reaching on dropped third strikes and then advancing around the bases as pitches get away.
While Sturguess has good catching experience, handling the swift, moving pitches Baldwin can baffle batters with will be a new challenge.
Keith doesn't have a lot of catching experience, but has the athleticism which might be needed.
A third option may be one of Baldwin's talented freshman classmates, Elizabeth
Osbon, an accomplished summer team player herself. Two other freshmen with talent - Addie Stottlemyre and Brooke Doss - are waiting in the wings if needed, although coach Baldwin hopes to break them in at the junior-varsity level first. "We have really good speed out there," he says. "It's probably the fastest outfield we've had and they get going to the ball in a blink." As for the Lady Hornets' competition this season, with Platte County no longer in their conference, they should have a chance to move up from their third-place finish behind the Lady Pirates and St. Joseph: Lafayette last year. CT Photo, Paul Sturm, Sports Editor 2008 |
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CROSS
COUNTRY
CHS' Boys' Soccer, Cross Country Honored
Cross Country Jump JEFFERSON CITY — Although still well short of even challenging for state-medal contention, Chillicothe High School’s brother-sister cross country act of Steven and Mary Kate Taylor made impressive improvements in their finishes in the Class 3 state cross country meet from last year to this. Cutting 44 seconds off his clocking at the Oak Park
Golf Center course in 2007 despite very cold, windy conditions, senior Steven climbed from 114th place last year to 58th this year by finishing in 17:54. In his first appearance at state, Griffin bettered both the first-opportunity time and place finish of S. Taylor last year. He ran an 18:31, seven seconds faster than his teammate’s time in ’07. By only a couple of seconds, Griffin missed finishing among the top 100, placing 101st. “Ben ran very well as a first-timer,” Riekena remarked. Except for Thursday’s 6 p.m. awards banquet at the school, the state meet concludes the season, the most-successful in CHS boys’ history. “It’s been a joy to work with all the cross country athletes,” Riekena stated. Two Refills, One New Order MOBERLY — While the dream of a hard-core group of Chillicothe High School senior boys died a frustratingly-close, illness-influenced death at Saturday’s Class 3 District 5 cross country meet at Moberly, the 2008 season will at least continue at the state level for two of them as well as the one Lady Hornet harrier. Having dedicated themselves to mile after mile of summer and fall training in the hope of earning Chillicothe’s first-ever team berth in the state meet, the CHS Hornets – one of their two top runners hampered by sickness – finished in third place in the boys’ team standings with 83 points Saturday. As expected, Jefferson City: Helias dominated the division with four of the top five finishers and totaled 33 team points to claim one of the two available team spots for this Saturday’s state meet. The second went to Warrensburg, which registered 70 team points, based on the place finishes of its five fastest runners over the Moberly Country Club golf course. While the Hornets didn’t make it to state as a team with a group which has been the core of the program the past three years, two of their numbers – seniors Steven Taylor and Ben Griffin – will have the chance to go as individual competitors. Taylor, who has been battling a lingering illness for nearly two months, placed seventh in 17:48 over the 3.1-mile route. Griffin took 12th in 17:57. Unfortunately, by less than a second and one place, CHS junior Daniel Riekena missed out on a trip to state. He finished 16th – the top 15 advance to state – in 18:00.84, 1.17 seconds behind the 15th-place finisher. “Steven probably ran his best race since getting sick,” CHS coach Tim Riekena commented. “Ben definitely had his best race of the year.” Joining those two seniors at state will be Taylor’s sophomore sister Mary Kate. Like her brother, she qualified for the second year in a row. After being something of a surprise and novelty when she went last year barely a month after completing participation in the CHS girls’ tennis season, Mary Kate Taylor has spent this season all as a top-level cross country runner and that continued Saturday. She ran a 21:17 over the hilly course, which placed third. “She ran the hills very strong and ran a relaxed race,” coach Riekena commented. Cross Country Hornets Jog Through Richmond RICHMOND — Just to keep their hand in, most of Chillicothe High School’s cross country runners participated in last Thursday’s Richmond Invitational meet, but, two days after winning the Midland Empire Conference championship for the first time ever, a big effort to win it wasn’t made. While one top Hornet who’s been ailing in recent weeks sat it out, Casey Pryor and Daniel Riekena earned medals in the boys’ race with top-20 finishes and Mary Kate Taylor coasted to a medal-winning 13th place finish in the girls’ race. Pryor took eighth in 18:04 and Riekena was 15th in 18:30, while M.K. Taylor completed the course in 21:20. None of the other Hornets finished better than 40th place and the CHS boys’ team was sixth in the 10-team standings. Marshall was the boys’ team champion. Held out of the race by coach Tim Riekena was 2007 state meet qualifier Steven Taylor, who – along with Pryor – has been the Hornets’ co-team leader in performance this fall. “Even though it hurt our chances of placing high (as a team), we didn’t want to take the risk of having him not being able to run well at district,” due to renewed illness in the cold weather or injury from the soggy, soft course, the CHS coach said of his decision. “Overall, I’m sure the effort the team put out (to win conference) was a factor in how they ran at Richmond. While many runners improved their time from last year’s meet, we know we could have done better.” While M.K. Taylor took only 13th (out of about 100 runners) after being in the top five or seven in most other meets, coach Riekena noted that her time was more than 11⁄2 minutes faster than last year at Richmond’s meet. The meet produced something of an amusing sidelight involving free-spirited Hornets senior Timm Derrickson, coach Riekena related. “Timm probably went out (started the race) too fast and was leading at the one-mile mark,” the coach said. “An ATV was guiding the lead runners around the course and the driver usually stays 20-30 yards ahead of the lead runner. Timm was running so fast he actually caught the ATV before the surprised driver sped up. “That’s something you don’t see every day at a cross country meet.” Hornets Harriers History C-T Photos
“Everyone on the varsity did what they had to do in order to win the conference title,”
CHS head coach Tim Riekena praised after the Hornets nipped Smithville 33-35. “We were fortunate to get by Smithville. "Finishing strong is something we’ve worked on all season and today it paid off. We won by just two points in a small meet where there weren’t a lot of points to pass around.
While Smithville had the boys’ individual champion in Ben Barrows and the runnerup, Chillicothe put Casey Pryor, Steven Taylor, Daniel Riekena, and Ben Griffin in the top eight and got an 11th-place finish from Timm Derrickson to overcome that. Pryor was third in 17:41, Taylor fifth in 17:57, and D. Riekena sixth in 18:00 flat. Griffin claimed eighth in 18:09 and Derrickson ran an 18:21. Despite running in a steady downpour as the race went on after it began in a sprinkle, “all of our varsity boys improved their times from the same course three weeks ago,” coach Riekena noted. “The weather was very challenging. …A lot of mud and loose footing.” By finishing among the top seven individually, Pryor, S. Taylor, and D. Riekena all garner first-team all-MEC status, the same earned by Taylor’s younger sister Mary Kate, who placed third in the girls’ division race. CHS Cross Country Settles for Third at Kearney KEARNEY - On a course obviously favorable for posting good time, nine Chillicothe High School cross country runners set new personal records Saturday in the Kearney Invitational. As a result of the many strong showings, Chillicothe’s varsity boys took third place among the 16 teams entered, a scant three points back of runnerup Warrensburg and 13 behind champion Kansas City: St. Pius X. Had it not been for a touch of illness that Steven Taylor, one of Chillicothe’s top-two runners, had, the Hornets might well have picked up their fifth meet title of 2008. “Six of our seven varsity runners ran their fastest-ever races,” CHS coach Tim Riekena reported. “Steve was feeling a little sick, but we decided he should try to run.” The senior did run, but placed only 27th. Considering that Taylor and teammate Casey Pryor, who was 14th, often finish near each other in the standings, had Taylor been healthy and finished around 15th or higher, the Hornets probably would have won their division. Doing their best to pick up the slack for the teammate’s reduced capacity, Pryor ran a 17:32, while Daniel Riekena and Ben Griffin took 22nd and 23rd, respectively, in identical times of 17:46, and Timm Derrickson was 28th in 17:59. That probably was the first time Chillicothe has ever had five runners all break 18 minutes in the same meet. “Casey continues to improve, as does most everyone,” coach Riekena saluted. “Ben had his best race of the year.” Cross Country Hornets Continue Winning Ways ST. JOSEPH - Make it four for four for the senior-powered Chillicothe High School cross country Hornets. With Casey Pryor running a 17:58 to finish second individually and teammate Steven Taylor third in 18:07, Chillicothe had five top-10 finishers to easily out-point team runnerup Kansas City: Winnetonka 28-94. “It was great to see Casey run so well on such a challenging course,” Hornets coach Tim Riekena commented. “This is not a PR course (less-challenging course on which a runner might expect or hope to establish a personal record for the 3.1-mile distance),” the coach said, “but Casey broke 18 minutes on it.” Also running great was CHS sophomore Mary Kate Taylor. Chillicothe’s only distaff runner won the girls’ race in 21:05. “She continues to be a competitive runner, especially on the hills,” Riekena stated. “It was a great race for her.” Rounding out the Chillicothe boys’ quintet of top-10 runners were junior Daniel Riekena in sixth (18:17) and seniors Ben Griffin seventh (18:20) and Timm Derrickson 10th (18:28). Griffin and Derrickson both had their best races of the season, the CHS coach assessed. Cross Country Hornets Run Away
ST. JOSEPH - With three of the top five individual finishers and four of the top seven, Chillicothe High School’s cross country Hornets earned their third team title in as many 2008 meets yesterday, easily outdistancing runnerup St. Joseph: Benton in Benton’s own meet. CHS’ Steven Taylor finished third and Casey Pryor fourth – both in under 18 minutes, Daniel Riekena fifth, and Ben Griffin seventh as the Hornets’ five best finishers produced a team score of 30. Benton had 61. “The boys ran well,” Chillicothe coach Tim Riekena saluted. “Steven ran a strong race and as did Casey and Daniel.” With an 18:01, D. Riekena improved his time over the Benton meet course by almost two minutes from 2007. S. Taylor’s time was 17:40 with Pryor posting a 17:57. Two other Hornets finished among the top 20 to earn individual medals in addition to the team champion medals. Timm
Derrickson placed 11th and Parker Leatherman, in his varsity debut for 2008, was 19th. "Griffin and Derrickson continue to provide strong finishes for us,” coach
Riekena noted. Chillicothe’s lone female runner, sophomore Mary Kate Taylor, also continued to excel, placing second in 20:43. Benton’s Taylor Woodruff won in 20:36. “Mary Kate once again went out with the lead group and stayed there,” the coach stated. "She’s learning with each race.” Chillicothe’s winning wasn’t just confined to the varsity level. Cutting more than three minutes off his 2007 time there, Thomas Cassity of CHS won the boys’ junior-varsity division individually with a clocking of 19:21. That matched Leatherman’s time and would have been good enough to medal in the varsity division. CT Photo, Paul Sturm, Sports Editor 2008 Cross Country Hornets Win CT Photo, Paul Sturm, Sports Editor 2008
Meanwhile, Mary Kate Taylor followed up her win in the small-scale Chillicothe Invitational last week with a fourth-place run in Thursday’s 20-school meet at Platte City. She ran a 21:04 for the 3.1 miles (five kilometers). Pacing the varsity Hornets to their second victory in as many races in 2008, S. Taylor took 10th place in 18:33, an even two minutes behind winner Zac Storm of Kansas City: O’Hara, who set a new course record. Not far behind Taylor were three other Chillicothe runners. Casey Pryor placed 13th in 18:44 with Daniel Riekena a second and a place behind. Ben Griffin of the Hornets was seven ticks behind Riekena in 17th place. Rounding out Chillicothe’s scoring runners (five fastest) was Timm Derrickson, who had a 19:09. "This was a great win for us,” CHS coach Tim Riekena reacted." |
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Lady
Hornet GOLF TEAM
CHS Girls' Golfers Had Another Productive Season
Another fine season of Chillicothe High School girls’ golf was celebrated and the emotional presentation of the program’s postseason special award which has been renamed for a late long-time supporter made during the golf Lady Hornets’ annual postseason awards gathering last evening at El Toro restaurant. The 2008 Lady Hornets, featuring an ever-fluid lineup as an extensive group of evenly-matched players rotated in and out of the varsity fivesome as averages shifted back and forth, posted a sterling 10-1 record in dual matches, losing only to eventual Class 1 state runnerup Savannah. They also finished second in the Midland Empire Conference and Class 1 district tournaments and, for a second year in a row, qualified three players for the Class 1 state tournament. The CHS squad also had three individuals earn all-district status with top-15 finishes in that tourney and two be all-conference by being in the top 10 in that event. Long-time coach Vickie Garrett introduced all of her ’08 players and briefly touching on highlights of each one’s season. While doing so, she took note of the state qualifying, for the second-successive year, by senior Vanessa Jones and junior Chloie Allen and, for the first time, by freshman Elizabeth Sivill. At state, all three CHS players came on strong in the second round – Allen climbing into a tie for 24th place (out of 121 players) with a 184, Sivill finishing 43rd with a 200, and Jones shooting a 216 which tied her for 90th place. Those three were the CHS all-district players. Honored for being all-Midland Empire Conference were Allen (third time), who tied for third, and sophomore Maycee Hoover, who tied for fifth. Also recognized as letter-winners were senior Melissa Cooper (third year), juniors Lauren Crawford and Amber Kieffer, and sophomores Lauren Dietzschold, Samantha Walsh, and Anna Luetticke. To conclude the awards event, Garrett announced that the traditional Outstanding Golfer Award, given to the player with the best scoring average for the season, has been renamed the Roger Cranmer Outstanding Golfer Award and will be sponsored, as a memorial to the recently-deceased long-time supporter of the program and its players, by his family. “Roger was an avid golfer and for many years he supplied our girls with golf balls and, more importantly, with support and encouragement,” Garrett stated. On hand to make the inaugural presentation on behalf of his mother Marilyn, who was also present, and his family was Cranmer’s son Roman. Choking back tears several times, he announced the award winner was Allen, whose 2008 scoring average (relative to par on each course the Lady
Hornets played this year) was 9.6 over. That’s a two-stroke improvement from 2007, Garrett reported. It’s the third year in a row junior Allen has earned the Outstanding Golfer Award, but her father Frank told the C-T afterward this one was extra special to him and his daughter because it was the first time it bears Cranmer’s name. “To me, this is more meaningful than even if she’d come back from the state tournament as champion,” he confided. Roman Cranmer had mentioned during his presentation remarks that his father had played many, many rounds of golf with the two Allens. “To have Chloie receive the first Roger Cranmer Outstanding Golfer Award is truly special.” Having expressed thanks to a variety of persons and groups – especially school officials, Green Hills Golf Course personnel and management, and Mel Brown of Chillicothe-based Gear for Sports apparel company, which donated two uniform shirts and some cold-weather apparel for each team member – in her opening comments, Garrett concluded by encouraging the numerous underclassmen on this year’s team to get out on the course as often as possible between now and next August. C-T Photo/Paul Sturm Lady Hornets Golfers Climb at State NIXA — Chillicothe High School’s three-girl contingent of Chloie Allen, Elizabeth Sivill, and Vanessa Jones bucked the trend in yesterday’s colder second round in the Class 1 girls’ golf state tournament, each cutting six strokes off their opening-day score and improving their final standings by anywhere from six to nine places. Junior Allen trimmed her score to 89, allowing her to climb from a tie for 33rd place after 18 holes Monday to a tie for 24th with a 184 at the conclusion of the 36-hole event at the Fremont Hills Country Club course. Freshman Sivill’s score also moved down a half-dozen shots to 97, giving her an even 200 final score. That left her all alone in 43rd place after being tied for 51st after Monday’s play. CHS senior Vanessa Jones climbed from a tie for 96th Monday to a final tie for 90th with her 110 yesterday. "They finished where they should have,” Lady Hornets coach Vickie Garrett commented this morning. “I was real proud of Chloie getting in that top 25. If she'd played the first day like she did the second and just a little better, she'd have had a good chance of medaling. She improved a lot over last year" when she tied for 60th with a 200 at Island Green Golf Course at Republic. Had Allen shot an 89 each day yesterday and Monday, her 178 total would have been three strokes shy of the 15th-best score. Players with the best 15 scores in the state tournament medal. "Chloie really played well,” the CHS coach stated. “…First day, I think nerves kind of came into play. Then the weather, the second day – it started getting cold and windy, but she improved." Allen’s, Sivill’s, and Jones’ lowering of their scores from the first day to the second went counter to the trend in scoring Tuesday as the weather turned somewhat less agreeable. Of the top 41 scorers, nearly half (18) scored higher in round two than on Monday. That included individual champion Sky Seo of St. Louis: Mary Institute/Country Day School, who went from a 3-under-par 68 to a 76, and 2007 champion and this year’s runnerup, Kate Gallagher of Savannah, who followed an opening 73 with an 80 to fade to nine strokes off Seo’s pace. Speaking specifically of Sivill’s play in her state debut as a ninth grader, Garrett said, "For a freshman, in her first time (at state), she improved the second day. She broke 100 and scored a 200, so she did real well." "To be in 43rd – that's in the top 35 percent" of the 121-player field. Golf Lady Hornets
Second in League ST JOSEPH - Led by junior Chloie Allen medaling for the third-consecutive year and sophomore Maycee Hoover doing so for the first time, Chillicothe High School's Lady Hornets finished second to Savannah, as anticipated, in a drama-less 2008 Midland Empire Conference tournament Monday. Playing the Fairview Golf Course in northeast St. Joseph, Chillicothe posted a low-four score of 382, 39 shots behind the champion Lady Savages and 45 strokes better than third-place finisher Maryville. With the top 10 finishers earning both medals and recognition as all-MEC players for 2008, Allen tied Savannah's Erica Burkert fro third place individually with an 18-hole score of 87. That was one shot behind the runnerup score of Alex Steinkamp of Savannah and 10 shots in arrears to defending conference and Class 1 state champion Kate Gallagher, also of Savannah. For Hoover, yesterday's 93 not only put her in a three-way tie for fifth place with Kelsi Klindt of Cameron and Anna Hurst of Savannah, but it was a whopping 23-stroke improvement from the 116 she shot at Platte City. Hoover catapulted herself into the medal-winner ranks with steady play. She shot a 46 going out and came in with a 47. A third CHS Lady Hornet just missed a top-10 finish and all conference status. Lauren Dietzschold got better as the day went along, improving from a 52 front nine to a 47 on the back side for a 99. Completing Chillicothe's lineup for the conference tournament were freshman Elizabeth Sivill and senior Vanessa Jones, like Allen qualifiers for next week's Class 1 state tournament at Nixa. Yesterday's play ended the season for all of the Lady Hornets except the state-bound trio. Golfers Sivill, Allen, Jones Earn Trip to State
Jones had a smidgen of room to spare. With the 10-lowest scores from players not on the district championship team – Marceline won the team title with a 356, 15 strokes ahead of runnerup Chillicothe – advancing to the Oct 20-21 state tournament on the Fremont Hills Golf Course at Nixa, the Lady Hornet and two others actually had the seventh-lowest score of non-Marceline golfers. Had one of those three needed one more shot, they’d still have finished tied for the 10th-best non-Marceline score and would have made it to state anyway. As a freshman, Sivill of course will be making her state debut, although she’ll have several ready sources of experience to tap about what to expect. Not only have older teammates Jones and Allen been there once before, but Sivill’s older sister Sarah was a three-time state qualifier (2003-05) who medaled (tie for 13th) in her senior year. Allen, Chillicothe’s best player, average-wise, her freshman and sophomore seasons, will try to build on her 2007 state performance. She carded an even 200 for the 36-hole event at Republic last year, tying her for 60th place among 121 entrants. Jones wasn’t far behind Allen in her first state appearance last October, shooting a 206 which tied her for 72nd place. Both she and Jones had better second-day scores last year. Lauren Dietzschold’s 103 was added to Sivill’s 85, Allen’s 86, and Jones’ 97 yesterday to compile CHS’ runnerup team score, which was a hefty 21 strokes better than third-place Trenton’s. Chillicothe’s fifth player was Maycee Hoover, who carded a 53-53–106 at the Kirksville course. The Lady Hornets’ district quintet was a model of consistency from start to finish during the 18-hole tourney. Golf Lady Hornets Take Road Double-Dual CAMERON — Coming off romping to the title of their first-ever own tournament last Thursday, Chillicothe High School’s golf Lady Hornets got evenly-matched scores from four players yesterday to win a double-dual from host Cameron and Maryville and remain undefeated in dual play so far in 2008. Lauren Dietzschold, newly-installed in the varsity lineup, made her varsity debut a good one, carding a personal season-best 45 to equal that of teammate Chloie Allen for the Lady Hornets’ best of the day. Golf Lady Hornets Win
Despite Top Player's Absence SMITHVILLE - Although most of Chillicothe High School’s girls’ golfers continue to struggle to find scoring consistency, even the absence of their top player from their lineup for a second-consecutive match couldn’t keep them from maintaining a perfect dual-matches record thus far for 2008 Monday. Facing the Smithville Lady Warriors at the Paradise Pointe Golf Course near Smithville Lake, Chillicothe scored a 221-228 victory, mostly on the strength of the play of Elizabeth Sivill. Golf Hornets' Timing Perfect in Tourney Win C-T Photos
In four dual, double-dual, or triple-dual matches thus far, their low-four team scores have ranged from 194 to 221, yet they’ve beaten every opponent. When a foe had a 204, the Lady Hornets had that 194. When the best the opposition could do was 213, they won with a 202, and so forth. Yesterday, they demonstrated that knack for answering the challenge once again. This time, the occasion was the first-ever Chillicothe Invitational tournament for girls’ teams. CHS’ boys’ program has hosted a tourney each spring for more than a decade. What would be better for the host school than for it to have both the individual medalist and the team champion? Well, how about having the two best individual 18-hole rounds and both the first- and third-place teams with the victorious varsity squad posting a score 35 shots better than CHS had previously this season? That’s just what happened on a gorgeous day at Green Hills Golf Course in north Chillicothe. Lady Hornets freshman Elizabeth Sivill, having rapidly ascended the team roster to probably co-No. 1 status with junior state veteran Chloie Allen, toured the links-style layout in only 9-over-par 81 to be tourney medalist and Chillicothe posted a runaway winning score of 353.
Great indeed as Chillicothe, which had struggled to get two people under 90 in its two previous 18-hole tournaments this fall, put eight there, admittedly this time on its home course. However, the “home field advantage” doesn’t explain everything since the Lady Hornets players rarely get out on GHGC’s back nine where they had to perform half of the time Thursday. Garrett says getting Allen, the team’s top scorer each of the past two seasons who had missed CHS’ last two outings, back from a recent health episode was an emotional spark in addition to her playing skill. “Today, we had a healthy team for the first time in a few matches,” the Chillicothe coach mused. Chillicothe Golf Girls Take 10th at Richmond RICHMOND - Two Chillicothe Lady Hornets golfers broke 100 in the annual 18-hole Richmond Invitational tournament, but the other three members of the lineup struggled a good bit, leading to a 10th-place team finish. Junior Chloie Allen stayed under 50 on both sides of the Shirkey Golf Course, carding a 97. However, her 48-49 day still left her 12 strokes away from the medal-winning ranks. The tourney’s 10th-best score was an 85. CHS freshman Elizabeth Sivill got under triple digits by coming back to shoot 45 on her second nine holes of the day. She’d stumbled a bit from the gate, opening with a 53. Chillicothe’s third-best score came from Vanessa Jones, who shot 57-53–110, three strokes better than No. 3 player Maddie Anderson (57-36) and No. 5 Maycee Hoover (60-53), reports CHS coach Vickie Garrett. Golf Lady Hornets Put Two Under 50 in ’08 Debut Win C-T Photo / Paul Sturm
Hosting Trenton and Putnam County in a double-dual match at Chillicothe’s Green Hills Golf Course, Vickie Garrett’s Lady Hornets posted a sub-200 team score to gain a pair of victories. Led by junior Chloie Allen’s co-medalist 42 and getting a 48 from Maddie Anderson, who was in and out of the varsity lineup a season ago, Chillicothe’s 194 outdistanced Trenton’s 204 and Putnam County’s 223 total. Also opening solidly for CHS with a 50 was two-year starter Melissa Cooper, like Anderson a senior this season. Rounding out the Lady Hornets’ low-four team-scoring total was senior and returning state qualifier Vanessa Jones’ 54. If Allen, Cooper, and Anderson can continue at about those scores and Jones can find her 2007 late-season form, the Lady Hornets could get their team score below 190 consistently, a level they reached only three times in a dozen tries last year. Allen, CHS’ top scorer over the course of the season each of her first two years, matched the 42 produced by Hadley Jennings of Trenton to share medalist status in the opener. Putnam County’s best round was Shaleigh DeVore’s 53. Elizabeth Sivill’s and Maycee Hoover’s matching 52s paced the CHS junior varsity to an easy low-three team win over Trenton. |
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VOLLEYBALL
CHS Spikers Flame Out EXCELSIOR SPRINGS — That the 2008 season for the Chillicothe High School volleyball Lady Hornets arrived last night in the Class 3 district tournament at Excelsior Springs High School was not unexpected. Coach Karen Jackson would have liked to see her young squad leave a better taste in its mouth, however. Seeded last in the seven-team field and facing second-seeded Odessa in the opening round, Chillicothe predictably lost. The way they lost by a 17-25, 5-25 margin was disheartening. The Lady Hornets gave the Lady Bulldogs a good tussle for an extended portion of the first game of the best-of-three match. However, when crunch time came, it was Odessa which had another gear it shifted into. Winning most of the late points of the opener, Odessa wound up with the eight-point margin of victory. Given a chance to start fresh, Chillicothe instead was steamrolled by an Odessa club which clearly had found some rhythm. “We started out the match great,” Jackson commented. “Then we let Odessa get the momentum at the end of the first game and, in the second game, we could not do anything right. “It just went from bad to worse,” she concluded. With last night’s defeat, Chillicothe – its roster including five seniors, only two of which played extensive minutes regularly, and its lineup having a couple of sophomore starters – finished with a 7-17-3 record. The Lady Hornets won one of their six Midland Empire Conference matches. Chillicothe Spikers Drop Home Finale C-T Photo Chillicothe High School’s volleyball Lady Hornets lost in two close games when they visited St. Joseph: Benton a month ago during what eventually would become a 1-10-1 start to their 2008 season. Having shown improvement and having experienced some success and needed confidence in their ability to win in the interim, the Lady Hornets hoped to reverse that outcome when Benton paid a return visit to the CHS gym last night. Unfortunately for those hopes, the Lady Cardinals also had made some advancements between then and how, enough that they could once more win a hard-fought tussle with Chillicothe. In the Lady Hornets’ last home match of the season, Benton scored identical 25-22, 25-22 triumphs which gave it the Midland Empire Conference match. With the defeat, Chillicothe’s overall record skidded to 7-16-3 and its MEC mark to 1-5 heading into district tournament play next week at Excelsior Springs. CHS Volleyball Lady Hornets Narrowly Miss on Championship CARROLLTON - Continuing an upsurge after a rocky start to the 2008 season, the Chillicothe High School volleyball Lady Hornets came within a couple of points of winning the championship in Saturday’s Carrollton Invitational tournament. Facing the host school in the championship match after going 2-1 in pool-play matches, Chillicothe couldn’t quite pull off a second victory of the day over the Lady Trojans, succumbing in three games, 24-26, 25-23, 19-25. "We started off (the day) playing great,” Chillicothe head coach Karen Jackson reflected after her squad moved its season record to 6-14-3 with a split of four matches in this tourney. “I think we just ran out of steam at the end of the day.” The tournament saw some Chillicothe individuals post some phenomenal statistics. In a straight-games victory over Braymer during round-robin play in Chillicothe’s qualifying pool, Lady Hornets sophomore Katie Jo Ross served an amazing 22 winning points. That likely is the most any Lady Hornet has ever had in any match. Chillicothe won that particular match 25-19, 25-19. Another sophomore, Bradee Gabel, put together a big number in assists in the tournament finale, being credited with 25 assists in the narrow loss. She also was in double digits and led the Lady Hornets’ passing in each of their other three matches. Chillicothe not only finished the tournament by facing the host team, but commenced it that way, too. Chillicothe’s first pool-play match produced a 25-11, 25-15 triumph over Carrollton. Gabel had a dozen assists while teammate and classmate Ashley Myers had five blocks, five kills, and three digs. Then came the Ross-led triumph over Braymer in which her 22 service points were supplemented by 14 Gabel helpers and nine kills and four blocks by Myers. Richmond then nipped the Lady Hornets 25-19, 20-25, 19-25 in the final pool match. Fortunately for Chillicothe, that was good enough to give them the spot opposite the host school in the championship match. In the loss to Richmond, Gabel had 15 assists, while Myers had 10 digs, six kills, and three blocks and Kelsie Sewell contributed five digs and two kills. In the title clash, in addition to Gabel’s 25 assists, also a possible team single-game record, Myers ripped 14 kill shots, netted 12 digs, and made three blocks. Sewell rang up seven kills with four digs and Beck had nine blocks. Volleyball Lady Hornets Earn Second-Straight Win Chillicothe High School’s volleyball Lady Hornets have had their share of difficulty winning games and matches this season, but they have at least had one winning streak. The Lady Hornets handled visiting Trenton 25-13, 25-18 last night for their second-consecutive triumph. Coming on the heels of a win over North Platte in the Northland Volleyball Classic at Smithville Saturday, the win advanced Chillicothe’s season record to 3-11-3. Bradee Gabel led Monday’s home triumph, serving a team-high nine winning points while assisting on 10 winners. Senior Kelsie Sewell also had a fine night, serving eight winning points and sharing the team lead in digs with Shannon Baker with three apiece. Ashley Myers led the net attack with nine kills. Chillicothe also captured the junior-varsity match in straight games, 25-14, 25-10. For CHS, Konner Ferguson had 11 service points won, nine by ace. Kaley Hayward had four assists and two digs and Jordan Campbell two kills and two digs. There was no freshman match last night. Volleyball Lady Hornets Battle Cameron Tough Chillicothe High School’s volleyball Lady Hornets continue to be very competitive, strong foe or not, but remain flummoxed on how to make that step from competitive to victorious. Meeting a veteran, strong Cameron club at home last night, the Lady Hornets once more contended on a mostly-even basis, but couldn’t quite manage to close out even a game victory. In Midland Empire Conference action, Cameron went home a 25-17, 25-21 winner. “I felt we played much better against a very good Cameron team,” Chillicothe head coach Karen Jackson said. “Cameron is loaded with seniors and has a very good middle hitter, so I was pleased with our young kids and how they responded to that big hitter.” Cynda Gear had a fine defensive game, leading the Lady Hornets with seven digs of attempted Cameron kills. Kelsie Sewell and Ashley Myers also chipped in on the floor defense with three digs apiece. CHS Spikers Still
Lack Killer Instinct What seems to have become a crisis of confidence more than a matter of ability continues to stand between the young Chillicothe High School volleyball Lady Hornets and victory. The developing situation, which has seen the CHS squad in contention to win numerous games and at least force their matches to a decisive third game, reached a new point of critical mass at home last night when the Lady Hornets lost to the Marshall Lady Owls 25-23, 25-23 in non-conference play. In the first game, Chillicothe held a 16-7 lead midway through and was still up by three points as late as at 20-17. However, the visitors kept firing away and, with a kill shot on their first game-point, claimed the win. The second game saw the early play on much more-even terms before Chillicothe inched ahead and then effectively traded points to get to a 23-20 advantage. Only two points away from sending the match to three games, disaster struck CHS again. Marshall won a couple of points, then got a penalty point for Chillicothe not being aligned in proper rotation at the start of the next point. Now tied, Marshall hit a winner and then, on game and match point, watched as Chillicothe hit an easy shot into the net to end it. “Until we can close out teams and believe in ourselves, what happened tonight will continue to happen,” CHS coach Karen Jackson commented. “I am not sure what the answer is.” Statistically, Chillicothe had 15 assists from Bradee Gabel, 10 kills by Ashley Myers, and six digs by Shannon Baker. Baker is a junior, the others sophomores. Chillicothe’s varsity record dropped to 1-9-1 heading into Thursday home action against conference foe Cameron. Marshall also took last night’s junior-varsity and freshman matches in straight games. Visiting Marshall rallies in both games to sweep volleyball Lady Hornets. Lady Hornets Better, But Beaten CT Photo, Paul Sturm, Sports Editor 2008
After being pushed pretty hard by Chillicothe’s mostly-underclassmen team in a 25-19 game one victory, Benton found itself one point away from being forced into overtime in game two before winning the final point for a 26-24 victory which clinched the non-Midland Empire Conference match. “We played a very good match,” Jackson said of her 1-6-1 varsity team. “We are continually improving and becoming more consistent.” Statistically, sophomores Katie Jo Ross and Ashley Myers led Chillicothe last night. Ross served a team-best eight winning points and shared the team lead – with Devon Crowe and Myers – in blocks at the net with three apiece. Myers knocked home five “kill” shots on offense and, defensively, shared the team lead with Shannon Baker with four. Another 10th grader, setter Bradee Gabel, paced CHS with eight assists. At the junior-varsity and freshman levels, Chillicothe’s teams dipped to 1-4 with competitive straight-games losses. Benton’s jayvees won 25-13. Volleyball Lady Hornets Net Win No. 1 CT Photo, Paul Sturm, Sports Editor 2008
The varsity win completed a three-match sweep by Chillicothe. The CHS junior-varsity and freshman teams also earned their first 2008 “Ws” with straight-games decisions. The jayvees prevailed 25-5, 25-7 and the ninth graders 25-8, 25-23. “This is Kirksville’s first year for volleyball, so its kids are still learning,” CHS head coach Karen Jackson commented. The coach was pleased her varsity squad didn’t let itself get lulled into complacency and sloppiness by the prospect of a probable win over a fledgling foe. “We did a great job of passing and serving tonight,” Jackson remarked. “We played a very smart match and made very good decisions.” Lulls Doom CHS in Opening-Match Volleyball Defeat Chillicothe High School’s varsity volleyball Lady Hornets showed the inconsistency of youth and inexperience of which head coach Karen Jackson was wary entering Tuesday night’s 2008 season opener, but they also showed pluck and perseverance. Facing a Savannah Lady Savages squad traditionally a Midland Empire Conference power, but retrenching a bit after some graduation losses, the Lady Hornets lost in straight games, 18-25 and 20-25, in a non-conference match at the CHS gym. Chillicothe played even with or better than Savannah for significant stretches of both games, but was done in by one bad spell each game. “Our team played pretty well overall,” Jackson saluted her squad. “We had, in both games, spots where Savannah went on a five- or six-point run which just killed us. “We dug ourselves too big a hole to get out of. The girls didn’t quit, however, and with more experience hopefully we won’t let the other teams make those runs.” Statistically, sophomores Ashley Myers and Bradee Gabel led Chillicothe. Myers smacked a team-high seven kills with four blocks, while Gabel had 12 assists to go with four digs. Savannah also claimed the junior-varsity match in straight games, 25-15, 25-6. For CHS, sophomore Konner Ferguson had four digs, three kills, and a block. Dani Mullen served four winning points and had three digs, the same number as Jordan Campbell. Chillicothe took the freshman action in come-from-behind manner, 21-25, 25-19, 25-22. Shawnie Jones served 12 winning points and led in kills with six. She also had two assists. Shannon Calivere served 10 winning points, Cecily Donoho had eight assists, and Katie Kitchen seven service points and five kills. |
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Lady
Hornets TENNIS
Out On A High Note SPRINGFIELD — It wasn’t quite a total storybook ending, but the Chillicothe High School tennis Lady Hornets and long-time head coach Amy Baker aren’t about to quibble. In a weekend to remember, senior Lady Hornets standouts Jaimie Baker, Ellyn Turner, and Lily Pyrtle each received Class 1 state medals Friday with fourth-place finishes in individuals competitions two days after they and their teammates earned fourth-place team state tourney medals. "We couldn't have written a better ending to our season,” a weary, but exultant CHS coach Amy Baker commented Sunday after getting back home. “I know (Turner, Pyrtle, and daughter Jaimie) all well enough to know they're disappointed – everybody wants to finish first – but realistically, they beat the people they could have beaten. "We weren't disappointed at all. They were all very pleased and very proud to be up on that medal stand." Doubles partners Baker and Pyrtle won their first two matches before dropping the last two, just as Turner did in singles. In Friday’s opening round, Pyrtle/Baker defeated Marni Thomas and Arielle Sabio of St. Louis’ Visitation Academy in a tense, hard-fought thriller 5-7, 7-5, and 10-8 in the super-tiebreaker used instead of a third set. "That's probably the best they've played (in their careers),” coach Baker said of the CHS doubles team. “That match was probably their best match – maybe other than when they beat (St. Joseph: Bishop LeBlond state qualifiers Loree and Conner Hazelrigg) 8-0 (in the championship match of the Chillicothe Quad). “That took everything they had.” Shortly after that, Turner got her first-ever state win by fending off University City’s Ann Kaczkowski 6-2, 7-5. "I know she was relieved" to have state win No. 1, coach Baker acknowledged, quickly reiterating that being without a win in her first three trips to state was no mark against Turner. "It's not that she went down there other years and didn't play well,” the Lady Hornets coach asserted. “So much has to do with the draw you get." One victory each tucked away, the Chillicothe seniors now needed only one win to clinch a medal. While the opponents they faced in those quarterfinals might not have been from the St. Louis or Kansas City private schools which routinely dominate state tournament tennis, they were no pushovers either. Having to move outside for their next match after being on an indoor court in the first round, Baker and Pyrtle used the momentum and positive vibes from their opening match as a boost, rather than feel drained by the earlier tussle. They outlasted Springfield Catholic’s Laura Faulkner and Rebecca Mays in a very close first set 7-5, then closed out the match and sewed up their state medal with a solid 6-3 win in the second set. "Their next match, they were outdoors and it was freezing cold,” coach Baker recalled. “We knew we had to have that one or else we'd be in the consolation side and the competition was just as stiff down there. "That quarterfinal match, you're looking at either going home assured of at least a medal or getting knocked into the consolation side and your chances of getting a medal (from there) are really, really small." With one medal in the bank, could Turner follow suit against another Springfield player, Elle Prewitt of Greenwood, and make it a perfect day for the Chillicothe contingent? It looked a bit doubtful as the first set went to a 13-point tiebreaker and the Springfield freshman won it from the CHS senior 7-5. However, showing her maturity and tough-minded resolve, Turner calmly stayed about her business, getting the upper hand early in the second set and not letting Prewitt off the canvas. With solid shot after solid shot, Turner produced a 6-2 victory in set No. 2, tying the match and – like Baker and Pyrtle earlier – putting herself in a winner-take-all super-tiebreaker. Where the Chillicothe doubles team had to scratch tooth and nail to nip the St. Louisans in theirs, Turner continued the trend of the second set. She established an early lead and kept the pressure on her younger foe. The lead grew and grew until it was 9-4 and Turner had a match point. Making no mistakes with the medal now within reach, Turner took the 14th point, too, closing out Prewitt 10-4. "They did what they had to do to get to the semifinals. Friday, we couldn't have asked for any more,” praised the CHS coach. A New Day For Net Lady
Hornets SPRINGFIELD — Chillicothe High School seniors Ellyn Turner, Jaimie Baker, and Lily Pyrtle – anchors at the top of the CHS lineup all four years of their careers – will close their prep careers on a very high note with individual state medals as top-four finishers in the 2008 state tournament. Shrugging off any indication of disappointment with the outcomes of their individual performances or the team’s showings (5-0 losses) in Thursday’s state tournament semifinal and final team matches, Chillicothe High School tennis players Ellyn Turner, Jaimie Baker, and Lily Pyrtle had good beginnings to their individual state tournament play today. One day after they and all of their teammates completed the most-successful team performance in the school's tennis history with a fourth-place finish in the teams state tournament, Turner in singles and Pyrtle and Baker in doubles won their first two matches in individuals state tournament play Friday. After Baker/Pyrtle outlasted Marni Thomas/Arielle Sabio of St. Louis: Visitation Academy 5-7, 7-5, (10-8) in a supertiebreaker in their first-round match, Turner defeated Ann Kaczkowski of University City in straight sets, 6-2, 7-5. It was Turner's first-ever state-match win. Baker/Pyrtle had won one consolation-bracket match in 2006. Early Friday afternoon, the Pyrtle-Baker combo moved on to Saturday morning's semifinals with a 7-5, 6-3 straight-sets decision over Laura Faulkner/Rebecca Mayus, Springfield Catholic, Turner then earned herself a medal and no worse than a fourth-place finish by outdueling Elle Prewitt of Springfield: Greenwood, prevailing 7-5, 2-6, (10-4) on another supertiebreaker. Both Chillicothe entries will compete in the semifinals Saturday morning, Pyrtle-Baker against Maddie Keller/Ali Patterson of Kansas City: Notre Dame de Sion, the Class 1 team champion, and Turner against Alex Lehman of St. Louis: John Burroughs, the team runnerup. CHS Girls Blanked in State Semi SPRINGFIELD — Chillicothe High School’s debut at the semifinal level of the Class 1 girls’ tennis teams state tournament went about as projected this morning as the Lady Hornets were shut out by Kansas City private school Notre Dame de Sion 5-0. Chillicothe was to play St. Louis’ Mary Institute/Country Day School (MICDS) for third place this afternoon. The Lady Hornets’ most-competitive performance in this morning’s semifinal loss came from junior Meredith Brick in No. 6 singles. After losing the first set 0-6, she was tied 5-5 in the second when Notre Dame de Sion got its team-win-clinching fifth victory at the Cooper Tennis Complex. Next best for CHS was Ellyn Turner’s 3-6, 1-6 defeat by Ali Patterson in No. 1 singles. After today’s team play, Chillicothe’s Jaimie Baker and Lily Pyrtle will play in the individuals state doubles and Turner in the singles Friday and Saturday. CHS Celebration
C-T Photo / Paul Sturm Getting the desired, full-fledged rematch with Bishop LeBlond at the Noyes Tennis Center, Chillicothe used a split of the singles and wins in the Nos. 2 and 3 double matches to post a 5-3 quarterfinal victory which sent a jubilant CHS squad into near hysteria and, this coming Thursday, on to the team state tournament semifinals. The joy was heightened because this year's varsity lineup has five seniors - Lily Pyrtle, Montana Vinson, Mollie Marcolla, Jaimie Baker, and Turner - among its seven who fill out the varsity lineup. Of those, Turner, Baker, and Pyrtle are four-year starters at the top of the lineup. With only junior twin sisters Meredith and Madeline Brick eligible to return next year, the unspoken, but understood, subplot to the CHS quest was that, if it didn't happen this year, it might be quite a while before as good a chance presented itself to the Lady Hornets again. The afternoon state-quarterfinal match probably moved from Bishop LeBlond being a very slight favorite to a toss-up after Chillicothe breezed through Kansas City: St. Pius X 5-0, all in straight sets, in Saturday morning's sectional match while LeBlond surprisingly was forced to have all three doubles matches begin before disposing of sectional foe Marshall 5-2. LeBlond played more than an hour longer than the Lady Hornets during the sectional round, expending additional energy before having to fetch a relatively hurried mid-day meal and then return to play right afterward. Considering that the longer each of the individual matches between CHS and LeBlond went onto late into the afternoon hours, the better Chillicothe players fared, the fatigue factor certainly seemed plausible. In the nine best-of-three-sets singles and doubles matches of Saturday's Chillicothe-LeBlond clash, the Lady Golden Eagles were victorious in the first set in six. However, in the second sets, that pendulum swung Chillicothe's way, 7-2. Of the three matches in which a decisive third set was played - the No. 1 doubles match was tied 1-1 and awaiting the start of the final set when play was halted by Chillicothe's clinching fifth win, CHS had a 2-1 advantage and won a decisive 15 of 22 games. When the dust settled, position by position, Chillicothe had gained wins by Ellyn Turner in No. 1 singles, Mollie Marcolla in No. 5 singles, Meredith Brick in No. 6 singles, the Brick twins Madeline and Meredith in No. 3 doubles (snapping the 3-3 post-singles deadlock), and from Montana Vinson and Turner in No. 5 doubles that closed out the action. Back in a full dual-match format Saturday, the time was at hand for the rematch and the two standouts didn't disappoint. The LeBlond player got the early edge, only to have Turner claw her way back even at 5-5. However, with the serve, the CHS senior couldn't hold and L. Hazelrigg did for the first set. With several other singles matches wrapping up with two to each side, the spotlight fell squarely on the Nos. 1 and 2 singles matches as they neared the end of their second sets on adjoining courts. Having dropped the first set to Hegarty 2-6, Chillicothe senior Jaimie Baker sounded the clarion call of Chillicothe's intent to take LeBlond to the limit by getting ahead in the middle of the second set and closing out a 7-5 win. Meanwhile, Turner was rallying from down 3-4 in her second set, winning consecutive games to put herself one game away from the second-set win. However, L. Hazelrigg would come up tough in the clutch. too, forcing the match to a 13-point tiebreaker which could give the Bishop LeBlond standout the set and the match. Turner had the tiebreaker 7-5 and the momentum, having evened the match one set a piece. With both Chillicothe players having rallied to force a third set as everyone waited and watched, the prospects of a 3-3 split of singles increased and the decision was made to start the No. 3 doubles match - the only one possible to begin because players who'd be in the Nos. 1 and 2 doubles matches were still involved in singles. The No. 3 doubles set opened with the Chillicotheans getting out to a lead. However, the Lady Golden Eagles due battled back and, with a strong finish, gained a 6-4 first-set win. In No. 1 singles, after Turner and L. Hazelrigg had been nip and tuck throughout the two sets, it was the senior was "on" in the final set. Turner bolted to the lead and never let her foe get in the flow, stunningly running off to a 3-2 Chillicothe lead. Chillicothe's lead was short-lived, however, as Hegarty had gathered herself during the break and was able to shake off Baker 6-3. With the last two doubles matches just starting, LeBlond's Sanders and Bridges had moved into a 5-4 lead and had the serve with a 40-30 lead in the 10th game. With the no-ad format, the Bricks had to win one of the next two points or their match would be over and Chillicothe would need to sweep both remaining doubles matches to pull out the team victory. Instead, the Lady Hornets juniors delivered in the clutch, fending off both match points to even the second set at 5-5. From there, they took off, securing the next two games - the last of those a no-ad point which meant the difference between winning the set and going to a tiebreaker - to win and even the match. Meanwhile, the Hazelriggs had moved into quick command of the No. 1 doubles match and won it, 6-4 over Baker/Pyrtle, but LeBlond found that offset by a 6-1 opening-set triumph by Chillicothe's Vinson/Turner duo. That ratcheted up the focus on the No. 3 match since a split of the top two singles seemed in the offing. Whichever team won No. 3 doubles likely would win the match and go on to state. Having stared down defeat in the second set, the Bricks were hardened in their resolve not to cut it close. They won the first game of the final set, then another, then a third. Those chances even got a bigger upgrade when Pyrtle and Baker found their rhythm and charged back to win their second set of No. 1 doubles 6-4. At that moment, Chillicothe was ahead in two doubles matches and dead-even in the third. Just as the No. 1 doubles match paused for a rest period, in addition to the start of a tape-up job on J. Baker's shoe, which had suffered a blowout, and while Turner/Vinson were inching deeper and closer to possible victory in their match, the Bricks wrapped up their back-from-the-brink triumph, having shut out LeBlond's No. 3 duo in the decisive third set. At that point, Vinson and Turner were just beginning the 10th game of their second set, tenuously leading Hegarty and Laura Looney 5-4, but with Turner serving. It was set and match point and also team-match point. A Turner serve was returned just beyond the baseline. Out! Game, set, match, state, Chillicothe Lady Hornets open the teams state tournament against Kansas City: Notre Dame de Sion Thursday morning at 9 o'clock at Springfield's Cooper Tennis Complex. The winner of the standard-format dual match between those two will play for the state crown that same afternoon at 1 p.m. or later. Forming the other half of the semifinal round will be St. Louis' Mary Institute/Country Day School (MICDS) and John Burroughs.
Chillicothe Tennis Girls Advance to State Sectional Round With expected ease, the District 7 champion Chillicothe High School tennis Lady Hornets advanced in the Class 1 state tennis tournament for teams yesterday, crushing the visiting Higginsville Lady Huskers 5-0 in a regional-round match at the Daryl Danner Memorial Park courts. Having caught a break when the rain front moved through early enough for the courts to be swept dry and even a bit of warming to occur by late afternoon, Chillicothe improved its 2008 dual-matches record to 16-1-1 (including abbreviated-format matches in tournaments) and earned a spot in the sectional round of the state tournament. Coach Amy Baker’s veteran crew will go to St. Joseph Saturday to play one or two matches to see if they get to make their first-ever state semifinals appearance. The winners of Saturday morning’s sectional matches – Chillicothe vs. Kansas City: St. Pius X and St. Joseph: Bishop LeBlond vs. Marshall – will meet Saturday afternoon in the tournament’s quarterfinal-round match. All of Saturday’s play will take place at the Noyes Tennis Center in St. Joseph, beginning just after 9 a.m. Yesterday, Chillicothe had nearly zero difficulty in defeating Higginsville, which had finished fourth behind CHS in last Saturday’s District 7 tournament. With play to be terminated as soon as one team had won five position matches, the Lady Hornets accomplished the triumph in the minimum number of matches and without needing to go to doubles play. Of the five matches played to completion, the only one remotely close was No. 4 singles in which Chillicothe senior Lily Pyrtle – hampered by shin splints most of the season and now playing with her lower legs wrapped and taped – needed an extra couple of games to defeat Lisa Chen 7-5, 6-4. That boosted Pyrtle’s season record in singles to 11-1. Ellyn Turner swept to the No. 1 singles win 6-0, 6-2, and Jaimie Baker won No. 2 6-1, 6-1. Montana Vinson got rolling after a while and took No. 3 position 6-3, 6-1 and Mollie Marcolla took her No. 5 singles match 6-1, 6-1. When Marcolla wrapped hers up to clinch the victory, Meredith Brick of Chillicothe was leading in No. 6 singles, having won the first set 6-4. State singles-bound Turner moved her season’s record to 25-3 and Marcolla posted her 21st win. When Chillicothe faces St. Pius X Saturday, the format will be the same, standard, nine-position dual match, with each position match the best-of-three sets. Again, whenever a team gets its match-clinching fifth position win, play will cease. One difference from some regular-season play and the district tournament is that “no-ad” scoring will be used for deuce games. At deuce (40-40), the winner of the next point wins the game, rather than having to win by two points. District 8 and Midland Empire Conference champion LeBlond, the host team, will be the favorite, but Chillicothe split with the Lady Golden Eagles during the regular season. LeBlond’s win came in a full-fledged conference dual while the Lady Hornets’ came in an abbreviated-format tournament dual. Both Chillicothe and Bishop LeBlond will send both their No. 1 singles player and No. 1 doubles team to state. To get another chance to play LeBlond, Chillicothe will have to beat what is likely to be a strong St. Pius X team first. CHS Netter State Dominance at Districts MARSHALL - Senior Ellyn Turner handily earned her fourth-straight trip to the Class 1 state tournament in singles and classmates Lily Pyrtle and Jaimie Baker advanced there for a second time in the past three years as the Chillicothe High School tennis Lady Hornets stormed to the District 7 tournament team championship Saturday. “I am so proud of our team!” CHS coach Amy Baker exulted, referring to seniors Montana Vinson and Mollie Marcolla and junior Meredith Brick, in addition to four-year starters Pyrtle, Baker, and Turner. “As always, at the end of the day – and it’s a very long day, Chillicothe had more players still on the courts than any other school. “It is this dept and perseverance that has been the deciding factor in us being able to win the district championship these past four years.” Before Turner and the Baker/Pyrtle combination go to Springfield for the Oct. 24-25 individuals state tournament, Chillicothe will pursue its first-ever appearance in the team state semifinals. The Lady Hornets will continue that quest at home Wednesday when it hosts District 7’s fourth-place team, Higginsville, in a regional-round dual match at the Daryl Danner Memorial Park courts. The action will begin at 4 p.m. If Chillicothe takes that dual, as expected, it will earn the right to play in the sectional round, probably on Saturday and most likely at St. Joseph. As the District 8 champion in an even-numbered year, St. Joseph: Bishop LeBlond projects to win its regional dual over fourth-place Kearney. If it does, it should serve as host for Saturday’s sectional and state quarterfinal matches. The winners of District 7’s two regional matches will advance to sectional to be cross-paired with the two surviving District 8 teams (higher district finisher from each against the lower finisher from the other district in the sectional round, then the two sectional winners will meet in the quarterfinals on Saturday, too. The quarterfinal-winning team gets to go to state team play Oct. 23, also at Springfield. Turner, Baker, and Pyrtle have been to Springfield before and are assured of going back for the individuals state play after dominating performances at Marshall. Turner sewed up her last trip to state by losing only one game in her first three matches on the Marshall High School courts Saturday. Then, in the singles title match with Katelyn Barr of Grain Valley, Turner helped her chances at state by charging back from a 2-6 loss in the first set to beat Barr 6-1, 6-0. District champions open state play against another district’s runnerup qualifier. Turner Turnabout ST. JOSEPH - Perhaps the coaches in the Midland
Empire Conference should have known better. Beating a different opponent in the title match each year, Turner joined the elite and surely-limited ranks of players who won the league singles crown all four years of their careers. She did it with her most impressive performance of the season, not only reversing the outcome of a relatively-close match with LeBlond’s Hegarty the day before in the Chillicothe Quad finals, but dominating the BLHS sophomore from start to finish. Given that the state’s assignments for this weekend’s district tournaments have sent Chillicothe and 2008 MEC team champion LeBlond separate ways, Turner’s quest for a third district title won’t involve a rematch with Hegarty or Hegarty’s teammate, Loree Hazelrigg (who beat Turner 8-0 in the teams’ conference dual), but Chillicothe and LeBlond conceivably could meet in sectional or quarterfinal state team play next weekend. Another possible meeting could come in individuals state tournament singles in a couple of weeks. While the day turned out perfect for Turner, it wasn’t quite for classmates Jaimie Baker and Lily Pyrtle – with Turner the cornerstones of the CHS squad the past four years. MEC champions as sophomores and runnersup as juniors, they were the top seeds yesterday after having shut out LeBlond’s Loree and Connor Hazelrigg in Tuesday’s CHS Quad. However, the Lady Golden Eagles pair were in better form yesterday, capturing the doubles title in LeBlond’s first year back in the conference in straight games, 6-2, 6-2. The LeBlond sisters’ dominance continued an odd trend in the season’s play between the two duos. The Hazelriggs had won 8-1 in the teams’ conference dual in Chillicothe Sept. 22, only to have Pyrtle and Baker completely turn the tables Tuesday. As with Turner, there is a real possibility Baker/Pyrtle could meet the Hazelriggs at least once more and possibly twice more, should the LeBlond pair be entered in doubles at district, as their use there in the conference tournament seems to suggest. In addition to Turner, Baker, and Pyrtle playing for MEC medals yesterday, Chillicothe’s other doubles team – senior Montana Vinson and junior Meredith Brick – also had the opportunity. However, after battling their way to the championship semifinals before the Hazelriggs sidetracked them, Vinson/Brick lost a hard-fought third-place match against Karyn Heim and Whitney Hollars of St. Joseph: Benton. After the Benton duo took the opening set 6-2, Vinson and Brick hung tough and secured a 6-4 second-set win. As a timesaver, rather than a full third set to decide the match, they played only a 20-point tiebreaker. That proved to be equally-competitive as Heim/Hollars eked out an 11-9 margin to claim third place. Chillicothe’s fourth conference tournament entry was senior Mollie Marcolla in singles. She won her first-round match in straight sets of 6-1, 6-2, before Hegarty dispatched her love, love. Moving into the consolation bracket, the Lady Hornet got back on the winning side with an 8-1 decision, but a 1-8 loss to Emily Funk of Cameron ended her day with a 2-2 mark, the same as Vinson/Brick had. On her way to the singles championship, Turner had a first-round bye, followed by a couple of straight-sets wins. Pyrtle/Baker also had one-sided, straight-set wins in the quarterfinals and semifinals after having a first-round bye. Entering their final regular-season match at home against Savannah today, Turner and Baker/Pyrtle each have 19-3 records. That should make them high seeds for Saturday’s Class 1 District 7 tournament at Marshall. Tennis Lady Hornets Win Fifth Straight Although not as individually dominant across the board as in the prior four, Chillicothe High School’s tennis Lady Hornets nevertheless visited the doughnut shop again yesterday, blanking the visiting St. Joseph: Benton Lady Cardinals 9-0. The Midland Empire Conference victory on the Daryl Danner Memorial Park courts lifts CHS’ league record to 4-1 with two matches left. Overall, Chillicothe’s 2008 mark improved to 11-1-1, including three truncated matches in a tournament. Chillicothe overwhelmed the Lady Cardinals at the top of the lineup, winning the Nos. 1 and 2 sets in singles and doubles by a combined game count of 32-1. However, two sets went to tiebreakers before CHS players prevailed. Montana Vinson outlasted Kerstyn Bolton 7-5 in the No. 3 singles tiebreaker and Meredith Brick prevailed 7-1 over Lindsay Green after they’d split their regulation 16 games. Also relatively competitive were the No. 3 doubles set in which Lady Hornets juniors Madeline and Meredith Brick stayed unbeaten (6-0) with an 8-4 decision and No. 5 singles set Mollie Marcolla won by an identical margin. Lily Pyrtle and Jaimie Baker won No. 1 singles 8-1 and Ellyn Turner and Vinson No. 2 8-0. In singles, top CHS player Turner blanked Karyn Heim 8-0 while No. 2 Baker was doing the same to Whitney Hollons. Tennis Lady Hornets Post Fourth-Straight Shutout MARYVILLE — The dual-match victories continue to come easy for the Chillicothe High School tennis Lady Hornets. Coach Amy Baker’s senior-dominated team registered its fourth whitewash in a row yesterday, blanking the host Maryville Lady Spoofhounds 9-0 in a Midland Empire Conference match. The Lady Hornets now stand 10-1-1 in all dual matches, 8-1 in full-length duals (they won two four-position matches and tied one in the Columbia: Rock Bridge Tournament Sept. 10). In MEC competition, they are 3-1. As one-sided as the final team score was, the individual set scores were tilted Chillicothe’s way almost as much. Eight of the nine sets were won by the Lady Hornets either 8-0 or 8-1. The only one which wasn’t was No. 6 singles, in which CHS’ Meredith Brick beat Lauren Suchan 8-5. Chillicothe Nets Tennis Rout CAMERON - Any lingering disappointment over their Midland Empire Conference to St. Joseph: Bishop LeBlond the previous day had no detrimental impact on the Chillicothe High School tennis Lady Hornets at Cameron Tuesday. Losing only six games out of 78 played in the varsity match, the Lady Hornets clobbered the Lady Dragons 9-0. The victory improved Chillicothe to 5-1 in full-fledged duals, 7-1-1 in all dual matches, and 2-1 in the MEC. Round One To LeBlond CT Photo, Paul Sturm, Sports Editor 2008
While there figure to be additional individual opportunities to change outcomes, the Chillicothe High School tennis Lady Hornets probably had their chance to repeat as Midland Empire Conference champion in 2008 hit the wall yesterday. Hosting MEC newcomer St. Joseph: Bishop LeBlond, long a keen district rival but now a team with which MEC members will have to battle for the league tennis crown most years, the Lady Hornets couldn’t come up with the clutch victories in several close matches and lost to the Lady Golden Eagles 7-2 at the Daryl Danner Memorial Park courts Monday. Three CHS singles players and its top doubles team which previously had been undefeated during the first half of the 2008 season saw that distinction end. Posting Chillicothe’s victories in the varsity competition were No. 5 singles player Mollie Marcolla, who defeated Summer Sanders 8-5 in the only closely-contested set in which the Lady Hornets were able to come out on top, and the No. 3 doubles team of twin sisters Madeline and Meredith Brick. Paired for the first time in competition, the Bricks were impressive 8-0 victors over LeBlond’s Summer Bridges and Sanders. The Lady Golden Eagles' top players in each format were dominating winners. In No. 1 doubles, sisters Loree and Conner Hazelrigg downed CHS' Jaimie Baker and Lily Pyrtle 8-1. That was the Chillicothe duo's first defeat after seven victories this season. Sophomore L. Hazelrigg and now-graduated Melanie Pankiewicz went to state in doubles last year after winning the district title. In No. 1 singles, L. Hazelrigg shockingly shot out CHS three-time state qualifier Ellyn Turner 8-0. In singles, Baker took her first '08 loss, although she gave 2007 state qualifier Lane Hegarty, a sophomore, a good battle in the No. 2 set before lost 5-8. At No. 3 singles, CHS' Montana Vinson was given her first defeat this season by C. Hazelrigg, 1-8, while No. 4 CHS singles player Pyrtle was shaded by Lauren Looney 6-8 for Pyrtle's first 2008 singles setback. With LeBlond's Bridges also besting Ma. Brick 8-6 in No. 6 singles, LeBlond had the match win sewn up after singles play. Tennis Lady Hornets Prevail in Tough One CT Photo, Paul Sturm, Sports Editor 2008
When Madeline Brick outlasted Maureen Freeland 7-5 in their tiebreaker to claim their No. 6 singles set 11-10, Chillicothe had an insurmountable lead. Not long thereafter, CHS’ undefeated No. 1 doubles team of Jaimie Baker and Lily Pyrtle wrapped up a 10-1 waltz over Britni Norfolk and Natalie Updyke to provide the Lady Hornets with their last win. With the triumph, Chillicothe’s tennis girls moved to 5-0-1 in dual matches this season, two of the wins and the tie coming in abridged-format matches in last week’s Columbia: Rock Bridge tournament. Tennis Lady Hornets Win Two COLUMBIA - Chillicothe High School’s girls’ tennis team made the long journey to Columbia for the Rock Bridge Invitational tournament Wednesday worth its while. Riding unbeaten efforts from its top three veterans, Chillicothe won two of its three matches and tied the other, coach Amy Baker reports. In a format in which each match consisted of best 2-of-3 individual matches in two singles and two doubles positions, the Lady Hornets bested the Rock Bridge junior-varsity squad 3-1 and Camdenton’s varsity 4-0. Chillicothe and Wildwood: Lafayette from the St. Louis metropolitan area tied 2-2. With yesterday’s results, Chillicothe now has a 4-0-1 team record in 2008 duals thus far, heading into its next action. That’s scheduled for Saturday in the Trenton Quad, although the weather forecast isn’t promising for getting that in. Individually Wednesday, Chillicothe had senior No. 1 singles player Ellyn Turner win all three of her matches without loss of a set. The No. 1 doubles team of seniors Lily Pyrtle and Jaimie Baker did the same. Opening Net Result Positive C-T Photo / Paul Sturm
Things went as expected for the veteran-laden Chillicothe High School tennis Lady Hornets Tuesday as they easily won their 2008 opener. Dropping only seven of 53 singles games and four of 28 in doubles, Amy Baker’s senior-dominated Lady Hornets steamrolled Trenton 9-0. Beginning their 2009 season with singles doughnuts were seniors Lily Pyrtle and Mollie Marcolla in Nos. 4 and 5 positions. Doubles doughnuts were wolfed down by the No. 2 doubles team of senior Ellyn Turner and junior Meredith Brick and No. 3 duo of Montana Vinson and Marcolla. Turner, the three-time state qualifier in singles, strolled by THS’ Aylssa Dougan 8-2 in No. 1 singles, while Chillicothe’s senior Jaimie Baker and Pyrtle, 2006 state qualifiers in doubles, rallied from a 4-3 deficit to claim an 8-4 triumph over Callie Bacon/Dougan in No. 1 doubles. Next to that No. 1 doubles set, Trenton’s next-best showing was in No. 6 singles in which CHS junior Madeline Brick defeated Chelsi Miller 8-3. Chillicothe’s junior-varsity players – all 12 of them – participated only in doubles competition, winning six of the eight sets played. Playing and prevailing twice for the JV Lady Hornets were the combos of Morgan Lewis/Juleah Littrell and Kelsey Jones/Carrie Boon. |
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anticipating another Chillicothe running play, Hornets senior tight end Colin Parker pulls in a 16-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Trammell to boost CHS to a 16-7 second-quarter lead at Pleasant Hill Saturday. Chillicothe went on to post a 29-13 victory in the Class 3 state playoffs quarterfinals, hiking its record to 13-0.
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Outdoor temperatures were cold but a large delegation of Chillicotheans were running a high Hornet fever as they traveled to Pleasant Hill to support the undefeated Chillicothe Hornet football team as they played for in the state Class 3A quarterfinal game. The Hornets will head to Cassville Saturday to play in the state semifinal game, the first time to the semifinals since 1997.
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Amid strong winds and heavy rains, the Chillicothe Hornets battle Kansas City Pembroke Hill in the regional playoff game Wednesday at Jerry Litton Memorial Stadium. But it was lightning which came at the start of the third quarter which ultimately postponed the game until tonight (Thursday). The two teams will pick up at 7 p.m. where they left off with 7:37 remaining in the third quarter and Chillicothe ahead with a score of 28-0.
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Chillicothe football Hornets junior Connor Lindley booted field goals of 32 and 29 yards and was four of four on extra-point kicks Thursday night as the Hornets whipped Smithville 34-3.
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Having scored on an 11-yard run to put his team ahead 23-19 less than two minutes earlier, Chillicothe Hornets senior fullback Kyle Dosterschill uses the lead block of running back Clint Dysart (33), the cutoff block of back Bryce Young (3), and the downfield block of senior center Lambert Eller (upper right) to find an alley for a 32-yard touchdown run with just over a minute left to clinch Friday's hard-earned 29-19 Midland Empire Conference and Class 3 District 16 home victory over Savannah.
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The football flies free as Chillicothe's Josh Rockhold tackles St. Joseph: Lafayette's Tyrai Skeen on a kickoff return in the second quarter of Friday night's 49-7 Chillicothe Homecoming victory. Brett Stephens recovered the ball for the host Hornets, who improved to
7-0.
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End Colin Parker of the Chillicothe Hornets gathers in a Tyler Trammell pass at the 5-yard line as part of a 33-yard touchdown play in the first quarter of Friday's 28-27 Hornets victory at Maryville.
CAPTION: Chillicothe Hornets junior reserve fullback Brett Stephens cuts behind the downfield block of teammate Bryce Young on his
way to a 31-yard touchdown run in the second quarter of Friday's 49-14 rout of St. Joseph: Bishop
LeBlond.
CAPTION: Chillicothe High School Hornets junior running back Bryce Young heads for the left flank as fullback and lead blocker Kyle Dosterschill (7) gets ready to take on and take out an Odessa Bulldogs defender Friday night. Young would get around the corner and down the sideline for a 54-yard scoring scamper which gave the Hornets a 21-3 lead early in the second quarter of Friday's 40-9 CHS victory.
Young rushed for 111 yards and two scores and caught two passes for another
94 yards and another TD.
CAPTION: Three abreast, Chillicothe football Hornets senior fullback Kyle Dosterschill, flanked by blockers Clint Dysart to his left and Justin Followwill to his right, heads for the Marshall end zone and the first touchdown of the 2008 season Friday night at Marshall. Dosterschill scored from six yards away on this first-quarter run and from a yard out in the third quarter and rushed for a game-high 121 yards on only 13 carries in CHS' 48-14 season-opening romp.
CAPTION: Chillicothe Hornets senior linebacker Kyle Dosterschill, left, and junior defensive tackle Brenden Pagliai have the forward progress of a Knob Noster ballcarrier stopped as senior strong safety Stephen Quinn (34) moves in to help with bringing him down during last Friday’s jamboree scrimmages at Smithville. The Hornets, a very veteran team – although some veterans are in new positions now, will call on the Marshall
Owls for the 2008 season opener Friday night. Marshall is trying to rebound from a 4-6 2007 campaign. Chillicothe was 6-4 last season.
The Chillicothe High School soccer Hornets played a good game last night, according to their head coach, but came up a little short of victory. The visiting Maryville Spoofhounds rode Jon Rogers’ two post-intermission goals and a second-half blanking of the Hornets to a 3-2 Midland
Empire Conference victory at the Daryl Danner Memorial Park field.
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Chillicothe soccer senior forward Jacob Rockhold makes a run with the ball as a Maur Hill-Mount Academy Raven tries to chase him down during yesterday’s action in Chillicothe. Rockhold scored two goals, but that was all the Hornets managed as they lost 7-2.
Chillicothe High School’s soccer Hornets booted up their second season Tuesday as they hosted Maur Hill-Mount Academy of Atchison,
Kan. Returning CHS head coach Bill Allison has 10 returning lettermen, including seven regular starters, back from the 2007 team which debuted the sport at CHS to the tune of a 4-11 overall record. The ’07 Hornets were 3-4 in the Midland Empire Conference.
The starters returning include goalkeeper Caleb Buckmaster, leading scorer Jacob Rockhold, Levi Barton, Colton Allen, Mahonri Reyes, Chase Bonderer and Brady Sensenich. Part-time starters back include Colton Whiteside, Jarek Schmidt and Chris Kleinschmidt, who is returning from a broken leg suffered in the Platte County JV game. Bringing additional experience will be Clayton Allen and Jarek Schmidt. Cl. Allen came on strong at the end of last year, Allison reports, while Schmidt should give the Hornets needed experience in the central midfield.
Living up to the predicted possibilities for her, freshman
pitcher Sarah Baldwin authored her fourth no-hitter in her first 15 high school games yesterday, collaring the visiting Hamilton Lady
Hornets in a 7-0 CHS victory.
One thing is for sure when the Chillicothe High School softball
Lady Hornets head into district play and, should they make it, state tournament play this fall: They’ll be battle-tested and proven under fire. For a second time this season, the Lady
Hornets not only went multiple extra innings, but came out on top despite being in a do-or-die predicament, as they shaded the visiting Maryville Lady
Spoofhounds 2-1 in 11 innings at Daryl Danner Memorial Park yesterday afternoon.
Given her extensive and highly-successful experience in high-level, non-school softball competition across the
Midwest, it was projected that it was only a question of when, not if, Chillicothe High School Lady Hornets freshman pitcher Sarah Baldwin would pitch a no-hitter. When came yesterday.
Baldwin overmatched visiting Cameron to the tune of facing the minimum 15 batters and issuing only one base on balls in an 11-0 Chillicothe home victory at Daryl Danner Memorial Park Wednesday afternoon.
The six-year run of great success on the diamond by the Chillicothe High School softball Lady
Hornets under head coach Stan Baldwin - at least 17 wins per year with four 20-win seasons, multiple district and Midland
Empire Conference titles, and four trips to the Class 3 state tournament, including advancing to the quarterfinals two years ago
- has been exciting and fulfilling for players, coaches, families, and fans alike. Now, even though they lost a core group of 2007-08 seniors who’d played a major role in that outstanding run, there’s a chance they may really be getting serious.
ST. JOSEPH — The history making in Chillicothe High School athletics continued yesterday. The senior-led CHS cross country Hornets overcame very cold, very wet conditions and the Smithville Warriors to claim what is thought to be Chillicothe’s first-ever conference team championship in the sport, winning the Midland Empire Conference meet crown at St. Joseph’s Krug Park.
Some of those points were earned in the last 300 meters.”
Griffin was running in difficult emotional circumstances, his coach pointed out, having learned yesterday morning of the death of his grandfather.
PLATTE CITY - Another strong outing by the
Chillicothe High School cross country runners yesterday saw the boys’ varsity team earn its second-straight team championship and the lone
CHS girl harrier post a top-5 finish in the Platte County Invitational meet.
The Hornets had a top-10 finisher in Steven Taylor and four other medalists (top-25 finishers) to slip past fellow Midland Empire Conference member Smithville 73-77 in the 14-team varsity boys’ division.
As part of the Cranmer family’s new sponsorship of the award, in addition to the plaque Chloie Allen received, another larger trophy will be placed at the high school with the name of each year’s winner to be engraved upon it,
Garrett said.
KIRKSVILLE — With a freshman leading the way, Chillicothe High School’s golf Lady
Hornets had three players qualify for the state tournament play in yesterday’s Class 1 District 11 girls’ golf tournament at the Kirksville Country Club. CHS ninth grader Elizabeth Sivill tied for the second-best round of the tourney, an 85, and junior teammate Chloie Allen was right behind in fourth place with an 86. By the skin of her teeth, CHS senior Vanessa Jones joined Allen in becoming a two-time state qualifier, her 97 tying her for the final state berth from 11-school District 11. Chillicothe will have three players at state for a second-consecutive year. Then-senior Katelin Gann was the third player last year.
Someone once made the observation, “Timing is everything in life.” That is certainly true in sports. Almost all fans have seen the quarterback who can’t seem to make connections with his receivers for a half or three quarters suddenly putting every throw right on the numbers in the last two minutes to pull out the victory. The baseball team which somehow has the knack of pitching well when its hitters have a tough night to pull out a 2-1 win and then, a game or two later, ringing up eight or nine runs in a game in which its starting pitcher falters and gives up six or seven. The 2008 Chillicothe High School golf Lady Hornets may or may not end up producing a conference or district championship in a few weeks, but, to this point, they have demonstrated exquisite timing.
“Everything went great,”
CHS coach Vickie Garrett reflected on the performance of her team and the execution of the tournament management by a host of people.
CAPTION: With two returning state-tournament participants and two others with a year or two of varsity experience in their lineup, the Chillicothe High School golf Lady
Hornets got 2008 to a promising start Tuesday.
ST. JOSEPH - Even though it isn’t being reflected in their won-lost record, progress is being seen by coach
Karen Jackson as the young Chillicothe High School volleyball Lady Hornets work through the early part of their 2008 schedule.
Monday night, the Lady Hornets again lost in straight games, but were within a whisker of taking what Jackson termed “a very strong” St. Joseph:
Benton Lady Cardinals squad into a third and deciding game on the road.
KIRKSVILLE - A young Chillicothe High School volleyball Lady
Hornets team on Tuesday night found itself in a position it won’t often be in in 2008
- facing a less-experienced opponent. The Lady Hornets wisely seized the opportunity to get their first victory of the season.
Visiting Kirksville, which just started a volleyball program this season, the Lady Hornets dominated the Lady
Tigers for a 25-8, 25-8 triumph.
CAPTION: Chillicothe High School Lady Hornets tennis team members hug each amid shouts of joy at St. Joseph's Noyes Tennis Center early Saturday evening after clinching the first-ever advancement by a CHS tennis team to the teams state tournament. The Lady Hornets battled their way against St. Joseph: Bishop LeBlond 5-3 to advance to the Class 1 state semifinals at Springfield this Thursday.
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Montana Vinson of the Chillicothe High School tennis Lady Hornets makes a
backhand volley from the alley Monday as No. 2 doubles partner Ellyn Turner
waits at the net during Monday's match against visiting St. Joseph: Bishop
LeBlond. LeBlond's Lane Hegarty amd L:auren Looney won this set 8-4 and the
Lady Golden Eagles the match over the previously-unbeaten Lady Hornets 7-2.
As expected, the Chillicothe
High School tennis Lady Hornets and visiting Kirksville Lady Tigers staged a tight battle yesterday on the Daryl
Danner Memorial Park courts. In the end, the host Lady Hornets’ senior depth carried the day, 6-3.
Even with a duel between 2007 state tournament singles qualifiers Ellyn Turner of CHS and Jean Ochs of KHS going Ochs’ way, the Lady
Hornets had the match victory in the bag by the time the last singles set concluded when the only non-senior in the singles lineup prevailed in a close tiebreaker.
CAPTION: Senior Lily Pyrtle of the Chillicothe tennis Lady Hornets strokes a forehand return as No. 1 doubles partner Jaimie Baker watches and gets ready to approach the net for a possible volley during Tuesday’s 2008 season-opening home victory over Trenton. The Pyrtle-Baker duo, intact throughout their high school careers and 2006 state-tournament qualifiers, came back from a slow start to prevail 8-4 during CHS’ 9-0 team victory.