In high school football playoff openers from the weekend, Pontiac fell at Tolono Unity 61-42, Prairie Central lost at Rochester 42-6, Fieldcrest lost 40-0 to West Carroll but El Paso-Gridley earned an upset 29-26 win at Rockridge. EPG will host Knoxville on Saturday in the second round. Tri-Valley and GCMS were other Heart of Illinois Conference teams to advance.
The Lovie Smith Show is tonight at 7:00 on Classic Hits 98.9 as the Fighting Illini coach talks about Saturday’s 24-10 Homecoming loss to Wisconsin.
The World Series moves to Los Angeles with the Houston Astros holding a 3-2 lead after a wild Game 5. The Astros hit five home runs and ended the game with an Alex Bregman RBI single in the 10th inning for a 13-12 victory. Yuli Gurriel and Jose Altuve hit three-run homers to tie the game before George Springer, Carlos Correa and Brian McCann homered to give the Astros a 12-9 lead. Chris Taylor forced extra innings with a ninth-inning RBI after Yasiel Puig hit the 22nd home run of the Classic for a World Series record. Game 6 is Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium.
The Bears fell 20-12 at New Orleans to fall to 3-5. The Bears comeback in the final minutes fell short when Mitch Trubisky was intercepted. The Bears suffered two setbacks on one play when an apparent touchdown catch by Zach Miller was overturned after Miller was seriously injured on the play. The Bears have a bye week next weekend and host the Packers on November 12.
Also in the NFL, the Colts lost 24-23 at Cincinnati, the Vikings beat the Browns 33-16 and the Steelers won the Sunday night game at Detroit 20-15. In Monday Night Football, the Denver Broncos visit the Kansas City Chiefs.
Illinois State women’s soccer season ended with a 1-0 loss at Northern Iowa in the quarterfinals of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament.
Central Illinois Flying Aces topped the Waterloo Black Hawks, 5-1, as the Aces split their first two games at Peoria Civic Center. Jakub Lacka scored his 5th and 6th goals of the season. They Aces will be back in Peoria next weekend as well as dasher and glass upgrades continue at Grossinger Motors Arena.
Kyle Busch is the first driver in NASCAR’s championship race after winning at Martinsville Speedway.