By Greg Halbleib
It’s the next-to-last week of the high school football regular season with some big games, including one for a league title.
The highlight match-up on 98.9 WJEZ and WJEZ.com is U-High at Pontiac in their final football meeting. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Williamson Field.
Mahomet-Seymour visits Central Catholic for the final Corn Belt Conference championship.
Other area games in Week 8 include Prairie Central at St. Thomas More in Champaign, Salt Fork at Dwight, GCMS vs. Flanagan-Cornell-Woodland at Woodland High School, El Paso-Gridley at Ridgeview-Lexington in Colfax and Fieldcrest at Tri-Valley.
The U-High girls and Mahomet-Seymour boys won the final Corn Belt Conference cross country meets yesterday at Fairview Park in Normal. On the girls side, Olympia was third, Central Catholic fifth and Prairie Central sixth. U-High boys finished second with Central Catholic fourth, Olympia fifth, Pontiac sixth and Prairie Central seventh.
Girls volleyball play found Central Catholic over Pontiac 25-6, 25-7.
Illinois State volleyball is home this weekend, hosting Missouri State tonight at 7:00.
Bloomington Thunder hockey returns home tonight to face the Chicago Steel at 7:00.
College football Saturday includes an 11 a.m. kickoff for the Fighting Illini at Rutgers. It’s live on WJEZ-FM 98.9. Illinois State hosts Southern Illinois under the lights in a 6 p.m. kickoff at Hancock Stadium.
State high school golf titles will be decided this weekend. The boys visit Bloomington-Normal with 1A at Prairie Vista, 2A at Weibring and 3A at The Den at Fox Creek. The girls are in Decatur with 1A at Red Tail Run and 2A at Hickory Point.
Central Catholic High School has promoted Jeff Schade to head softball coach. He was an assistant coach on last year’s Corn Belt Conference and regional championship team. Dan Highland retired after six years in the post. Schade has coached at various levels for over 20 years, including at St. Mary’s Grade School in Pontiac where he won an Illinois Elementary School Association state title two years ago.
The Cubs will face the Dodgers in the National League Championship Series opening tomorrow night at Wrigley Field. The Dodgers held off the Nationals 4-3 in the deciding game of their National League Division Series. Jon Lester starts for the Cubs in Game 1 tomorrow night. The Dodgers have not named their starter. Game 2 is Sunday night also at Wrigley Field.
The American League Championship Series opens tonight in Cleveland as the Indians host the Blue Jays. Marco Estrada starts for the Jays against the Tribe’s Corey Kluber.
