Quincy @ Galesburg
10/8/10
Homecoming at Galesburg High School for their week seven matchup against the Quincy Blue Devils. Quincy entered with a 5-1 record, while Galesburg comes in at 3-3. Don't let those records deceive you, as the Silver Streaks three losses came by a combined 17 points against teams that are 17-1 heading into the seventh week. Quincy's schedule is not quite as tough....but you have to play the teams on your schedule.
I arrived at C.C. Van Dyke Field a little later than usual, as I stuck around in Monmouth to watch the Monmouth-Roseville Homecoming Parade. I pulled into the GHS campus just before kickoff of the sophomore game.
As usual, I talked some area football with Kevin Hickey, who films Galesburg football games. At the end of the season, he takes the audio broadcasts from WAIK and WGIL and mixes them over the game film. He also does this with historical games, and has been doing this with vintage Notre Dame game tapes. In return, he receives a pair of tickets to one Notre Dame football game each season. The folks in South Bend must not realize how much work goes into that process!
Kevin and I, and some of the other guys in the press box were talking about the Randy Moss trade, to Minnesota. I brought up the fact that it's a boon for fantasy football owners of Moss, since he will play in 17 games this year, because Minnesota has already had their bye this season (New England has not). Kevin mentioned that he doesn't play fantasy sports, but he was very big into the old Strat-O-Matic games in the 1980's.
Another favorite in the Van Dyke press box, is the spread of food. Pizza is brought up during the game, but usually I just snack during the sophomore game, and grab a couple fun sized candy bars after the game. Normally, you wouldn't think that something called a, "Debbie Delight," would be such a hit in a testosterone-fueled press box, but wow...this tasty treat was amazing. From the outside, it looked to be a crunchy treat, but was not. This debbie delight is a soft brownie inside almond bark. That's probably a really bad explanation, but I forget what the actually recipe was.
My guest announcer for the broadcast of the football game was Register-Mail history columnist Tom Wilson. I have been a big fan of his writing, being a history buff. During the game, I mentioned my time spent authoring a bit on the website, www.illinoishsglorydays.com, and he laughed and said that he was just on the site in the morning doing some research.
Remember these names: Malique Robbins and Mikale Wilbon. These two Blue Devils are just freshman, but play varsity football in the Western Big 6. Robbins starts in the backfield, and Wilbon saw a few carries. Wilbon tore up the sophomore game, in which Quincy won.
I was talking with one of the Quincy football players before the game, and he said that Wilbon just moved to Quincy before the school year, from Chicago.
Fans listening in to the WAIK broadcast got to hear an extra long pregame show, which actually worked out to my benefit. Every other game this season, the sophomore contest has ended between 6:45 and 6:55. I noticed the clock winding down, and it was 6:45, uh...oh. My pregame open started to air with a few seconds left in the game...or did it?!
Nope...as 10:00 appeared on the scoreboard, I asked Tom..."That wasn't the end of the THIRD quarter was it?!" He also thought it was the end of the game, with how long the third quarter lasted. Oh boy...not only was I going on about 20 minutes early, it was also Homecoming. Fortunately, Tom was alongside, so we did some play-by-play and talked about the sophomore game and a little bit of history. I also had longer interviews than usual with both head coaches, along with an 8-minute interview with GHS athletic director Ralph Henning. In addition to those interviews, I talk with sophomore coach Jake Miller after his game. It all worked out, and it didn't even seem out of the norm, despite an extra 30 minutes of on-air coverage.
The first half of the varsity game was dominated by the Silver Streaks, on both sides of the football. Galesburg's defense held the Blue Devils to 21 yards on 16 carries. Meanwhile, Galesburg had 129 yards on 29 carries in the first half against the 2nd best defense in the Western Big 6. Who knew that the Streaks would escape with a 3-point win (26-23).
Galesburg jumped out to a 20-0 lead at halftime, as Andrew Steck scored on a 5-yard run, then he hooked up with Jared Carle for a 31-yard touchdown pass, and the workhorse Robert Jackson (29-219) scored on an 8-yard touchdown run.
Disaster struck at the start of the second half as Robbins ran the kick back near midfield, and a 15-yard Streaks penalty pushed the Blue Devils into Galesburg territory. On the next play, another 15-yard penalty was assessed to the Streaks. Quincy would break the goose egg on a 29-yard touchdown run by Andre Givens on a reverse.
Quincy struck again near the end of the third quarter on a 64-yard touchdown run by Robbins, to make it a 20-14 game. The Streaks struck for the final time with 0:00 in the 3rd quarter, when Steck ran it in for a 1-yard touchdown, giving the Streaks a 26-14 edge, heading into the final frame. In the fourth quarter and Galesburg pinned inside their own 10-yard line on 4th down, a punt was attempted, but the snap went over Steck's head, who fell on it for a safety. Also in the second half, the Blue Devils lined up for a 38-yard field goal by Brandon White (note: White will be kicking on Saturday afternoons in two years...he is GOOD!). It was a fake, and the pass fell incomplete.
With 0:52 left in the game, the Blue Devils scored on a 23-yard pass from Mitch Marold to Givens. The Blue Devils...and kicker White...performed a perfect onside kick and it appeared they had recovered near the Galesburg sidelines at the 45-yard line. At the bottom of the pile, Galesburg's Travon Diggins had wrestled the ball away, and Galesburg would hold on for the win. After the game, Galesburg coach Wes Olson told the Galesburg Register-Mail, "What happens at the bottom of the pile, stays at the bottom of the pile."
Great game, and it was well after 11:00 before I hit the road. Of course I had my typical post game snacks before leaving...a couple Butterfingers and a Pepsi....a broadcaster's meal of champions!
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