NIC-10 Newswire: Jefferson accomplishes weird first in football

ROCKFORD - The Jefferson J-Hawwks started slow but pulled away late to beat Auburn, 30-0, Thursday night, ensuring the first winning season for the school since 1993. Wide receiver Mike Townsend scored three touchdowns, two on touchdown passes from quarterback Jaden Williams, and an 85-yard punt return to put the game out of reach in the fourth quarter. Williams added a touchdown run for the final score. De'Anglos Roby had 109 yards rushing. Jefferson's defense forced four turnovers and recorded its second shutout of the season. Jefferson's win Thursday marked an interesting first. Joe Blume was Jefferson's coach from 1975 to 1993 and he coached the J-Hawks to the playoffs to the playoffs eight times back when it took at least six wins to qualify. From 1994 until last night, Jefferson only reached as many as four wins in a season four times under 11 different coaches. Counting the three losing seasons before Blume took over, Jefferson had never had a winning record without Blume as head coach. Jefferson will find out if it made the playoffs and who it will play on Sunday.

2020 Football (played in the spring of 2021)

NIC-10 Football Standings
Team	Conf.	Overall	PF	PA
Machesney Park Harlem	5-0	6-0	245	135
Rockford Boylan	4-0	4-0	105	14
Rockford East	4-2	4-2	228	109
Rockton Hononegah	3-2	3-2	195	61
Rockford Guilford	2-1	2-1	50	66
Freeport	2-3	2-3	96	168
Belvidere North	1-3	1-3	97	146
Rockford Auburn	1-3	1-3	77	101
Belvidere	1-5	1-5	65	209
Rockford Jefferson	0-4	0-4	34	182

Rushing Leaders
Player	G	Att.	Yards	Avg.	TD
CJ Berry, East	6	91	953	10.5	12
Javius Catlin, East	6	39	423	10.8	4
Dylan Collins, Hononegah	5	77	414	5.4	4
Ky'Ree Shirley, Freeport	5	35	352	10.1	1
Benito Jass, Boylan	3	40	320	8.0	6
Tyron Brakes, North	4	51	314	6.2	6
Jake Tapia, North	4	45	298	6.6	3
Adrian Palos, Harlem	6	54	282	5.2	4
Tarrone Jackson, Freeport	5	59	268	4.5	4
Almarion Bell, Jefferson	4	58	258	4.4	0
Javarrie Reynolds, Guilford	3	53	234	4.4	1

Passing Leaders
Player	G	Comp.	Att.	Pct.	Yards	TD	Int.
James Cooper Jr., Harlem	6	123	214	57.5%	1,833	23	4
Isaac Whisenand, Hono.	5	50	77	64.9%	641	7	5
Benito Jass, Boylan	3	18	30	60.0%	333	3	0
Xzaveon Segner, Freeport	5	22	51	43.1%	235	4	4
Jaquan Brady, Auburn	3	29	64	45.3%	244	4	2
Nick James, Jefferson	4	30	64	46.9%	234	2	3
Stuart Hale, Hononegah	5	10	21	47.6%	133	1	0
Mason Weckler, Belv. North	4	4	5	80.0%	129	2	0

Receiving Leaders
Player	G	Rec.	Yards	Avg.	TD
Dominic McCarren, Harlem	6	43	647	15.0	10
Lezzerick Ishmon, Harlem	6	34	285	8.4	1
Dezzion Jordan, Harlem	6	28	642	22.9	9
Braden Sayles, Hononegah	5	13	311	23.9	2
Xavier Bryant, Boylan	3	4	143	35.8	2
Ky'Ree Shirley, Freeport	5	13	134	10.3	2
Bryce Goodwine, Hononegah	5	14	126	9.0	4
Aaron Winters, Belv. North	4	3	109	36.3	2
De-Arious Maxey, Auburn	3	10	117	11.7	3
Jarrett Strate-Lutzow, Hono.	5	8	102	12.8	1

All-NIC-10 Team
Offense
Pos.	Player	School	Class
WR	Ky'ree Shirley	Freeport	Sr.
WR	Dezzion Jordan	Harlem	Sr.
RB	Tyron Brakes	Belvidere North	Sr.
RB	CJ Berry	Rockford East	Sr.
QB	James Cooper Jr.	Harlem	Sr.
C	Abe Hall	Boylan	Sr.
OL	Hunter Olejnik	Belvidere North	Sr.
OL	Mat Logan	Boylan	Jr.
OL	Caden Geiser	Freeport	Sr.
OL	Jason Stroberg	East	Sr.
TE	Dominic McCarren	Harlem	Sr.
K	Zack Hollister	Boylan	Sr.
At large
WR	Xavier Bryant	Boylan	Sr.
OL	Nate Smith	Harlem	Jr.
WR	Braden Sayles	Hononegah	Sr.
QB	Benny Jass	Boylan	Sr.
Offensive MVP - James Cooper Jr., Harlem

All-NIC-10 Team
Defense
Pos.	Player	School	Class
DB	Joey Appino	Boylan	Jr.
DB	Daquavian Oaks	Auburn	Jr.
DB	Bryce Goodwine	Hononegah	Jr.
DB	Shamar Holt	East	Jr.
DL	Max Caltagerone	Boylan	Sr.
DL	Keshawn Harrington-McKinney	Harlem	So.
DL	Aidan Peters	Hononegah	Jr.
DL	Nick Fehrle	Boylan	Sr.
DL	Nathan Tracy	Belvidere	Sr.
LB	Dan Contreras	Boylan	Sr.
LB	Adrian Palos	Harlem	Jr.
LB	Dylan Sayles	Hononegah	Jr.
P	Joe Namio	Freeport	Sr.
At large
LB	Aaron Winters	Belvidere North	Jr.
DB	A'tiq Muhammad	Guilford	Sr.
DL	Alex Escamilla	Hononegah	Jr.
DL	Tyress Cunningham-Smart	East	Jr.
Defensive MVP - Adrian Palos, Harlem
Coach of the Year - Gary Griffin, East

All-NIC-10 Team
Honorable Mention
Pos.	Player	School	Class
RB	Tristen Gille	Boylan	Sr.
DB	Brady Dolan	Boylan	Sr.
DB	Ethan Taylor	Harlem	Jr.
OL	Brennan McCoy	Harlem	Jr.
OL	Ethan LaRue	Auburn	Sr.
WR	De-Arious Maxey	Auburn	Sr.
RB	Javius Catline	East	Fr.
DB	Jaden Davis	East	Jr.
QB	Jake Tapia	Belvidere North	Sr.
DL	Justino Benitez	Belvidere North	Jr.
OL	Clayton Walls	Hononegah	Jr.
OL	Jacob Klink	Hononegah	So.
QB	Nick James	Jefferson	So.
OL	Calvin Cardenas	Jefferson	Jr.
LB	Aiden Kerr	Freeport	Sr.
LB	Trent Strohecker	Freeport	Sr.
OL	Bryan Sandoval	Guilford	Sr.
OL	Nate Johnson	Guilford	Sr.
LB	Jonathan Urbieta	Belvidere	Sr.
DB	Jonathan Fettes	Belvidere	Sr.

NIC-10 Newswire: East great, former Harlem coach Jerry Stalcup dies at 86

Jerry Stalcup, the former East lineman and linebacker who went on to play in the 1960 Rose Bowl for Wisconsin and then in the NFL and AFL for three seasons, died Sunday at the age of 86.

Stalcup had been out of the public eye for several years because he suffered from CTE - chronic traumatic encephalopathy - a chronic brain condition from his years in football.

Despite that, in 2018, when he was inducted into the Rockford Public Schools Athletics Hall of Fame, Stalcup said he wouldn't change a thing.

"Football is the greatest team sport. How many times do you have 11 guys lined up and all come together?"

After his playing days were over, Stalcup spent decades in Rockford and Machesney Park teaching and training the oncoming generations of players. He was talked out of an insurance career to become a teacher and assistant coach at East, where he was the defensive coordinator for the famed 1973 and 1974 E-Rabs teams that went 22-0 over two seasons, including winning the 4A IHSA state title in the first year the state held playoffs.

He then was hired away by Harlem in 1975 where he coached the school to its first conference title in 1977. He couldn't sustain the success at Harlem. The Huskies would win as many as three games in a season only one more time before stepping down after the 1986 season.

His effectiveness as a coach could be judged by what happened after. In 1987, under Ed Gavigan, Harlem went 3-6. From 1988 through 1993, under four different coaches, Harlem went 1-41.

The program began to turn around when Brian Benning took over in 1993. In 1997, when Benning was in need of a defensive coordinator, he was encouraged to ask Stalcup, who was still at Harlem as a teacher. Jerry agreed and the Huskies went 9-2, winning the first conference title since his 1977 squad.

Stalcup stepped down after the 1998 season and retired from teaching in 1999.

There will be a visitation Friday night from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Zion Lutheran Church and funeral services at Zion at 11 a.m. on Saturday.

NIC-10 Newswire: Sanders nears rushing-receiving record at Auburn

Auburn  has just one win this season, but running back Gavin Sanders has had one of the best-dual threat seasons in school history.

Heading into Thursday night's game against Jefferson, Sanders has 629 yards rushing and eight touchdowns and 632 yards receiving with another five touchdown catches.

If you include his 725 yards on punt and kick returns, he has 1,986 all-purpose yards this season for Auburn.

It is impossible to calculate an all-purpose record that includes receiving yards back more than a few years because the Rockford Register Star did not include that statistic in its yearly leaders lists.

Looking just at rushing and receiving and Sanders is likely about to set a school record.

The Knights have had just a handful of 1,000-yard rushers and none of those were featured receivers.

* In 1990, Craig Rideout led the NIC-9 with 1,334 yards rushing, but he had less than 202 yards receiving. That was the lowest published total on the conference receivers leaders list.
* In 1997, Terrell Goldsmith led the NIC-9 with 1,228 yards rushing, but he had less than 150 yards receiving.
* In 2016, Daquawn Bell had 1,213 yards rushing but less than 213 receiving.

Sanders is at 1,261 combined rushing and receiving yards.

NIC-10 Newswire: Guilford close to first volleyball title since 2016

The Guilford Vikings are one win away from the school's first girls volleyball NIC-10 title since 2016.

The Vikings knocked off Hononegah Tuesday night, 27-25, 15-25, 25-19, in Rockton to improve to 16-1 in the conference and 22-9 overall. The Vikings still have to beat Harlem on Thursday night, but they've already at least clinched a share of the conference title.

It's a rare title for Guilford in general and for Rockford Public Schools in particular. Hononegah has dominated the conference for much of the past 30 years and Belvidere North over the past 15 years has risen to be the other major contender. Before 2016, the last time a Rockford Public Schools team had won the NIC-10 volleyball title was Guilford in 1996.

In fact, in 2016, Guilford shared the conference title with Belvidere North, which was that school's first NIC-10 title. Since then, either North or Hononegah has won every conference title from 2017 to 2024.

Hononegah dropped to 15-2 in the NIC-10 and 21-13 overall. Belvidere North is 13-4.

Going back to 1977, here are the conference girls volleyball champions

1977 - Freeport (1)
1978 - Belvidere (1)
1979 - Rockford East (1), Harlem (1)
1980 - Rockford East (2)
1981 - Belvidere (2)
1982 - Rockford East (3)
1983 - Hononegah (1)
1984 - Belvidere (3), Harlem (2)
1985 - Rockford East (4), Hononegah (2)
1986 - Belvidere (4), Hononegah (3)
1987 - Belvidere (5)
1988 - Hononegah (4)
1989 - Hononegah (5)
1990 - Hononegah (6)
1991 - Hononegah (7)
1992 - Belvidere (6), Hononegah (8)
1993 - Hononegah (9)
1994 - Hononegah (10)
1995 - Belvidere (7), Hononegah (11)
1996 - Rockford Guilford (1)
1997 - Hononegah (12)
1998 - Belvidere (8), Harlem (3)
1999 - Harlem (4)
2000 - Hononegah (13)
2001 - Hononegah (14)
2002 - Hononegah (15)
2003 - Belvidere (9)
2004 - Belvidere (10)
2005 - Hononegah (16)
2006 - Hononegah (17)
2007 - Hononegah (18)
2008 - Freeport (2)
2009 - Hononegah (19)
2010 - Rockford Boylan (1), Hononegah (20)
2011 - Rockford Boylan (2)
2012 - Rockford Boylan (3)
2013 - Rockford Boylan (4)
2014 - Hononegah (21)
2015 - Hononegah (22)
2016 - Belvidere North (1), Rockford Guilford (2)
2017 - Belvidere North (2)
2018 - Belvidere North (3)
2019 - Belvidere North (4)
2020 - Belvidere North (5)
2021 - Belvidere North (6)
2022 - Hononegah (23)
2023 - Belvidere North (7)
2024 - Hononegah (24)