Free Press Advocate

State championship game expected to be run, run, run

Published by admin on Tue, 11/21/2023 - 5:26pm

Possessions figure to be at a premium when fifth-seeded Wilmington (12-1) faces fourth-seeded Athens (11-2) in the Class 2A championship game Friday at 1 p.m. at Hancock Stadium in Normal. Both teams pride themselves on running the ball. "It's the state championship game. They are a very well-coached team and run a double-wing offense somewhat like ours but a little different," said head coach Jeff Reents. "All of their backs run very hard.

Wildcats stay in 2A, Coalers #8 in 4A football playoffs

Published by admin on Sat, 10/21/2023 - 8:10pm

For the third straight year Wilmington will play in the class 2A football playoffs while Coal City with battle in class 4A.

The Wildcats were teetering between 2A and 3A before getting help Saturday afternoon when a game between two Chicago schools with 4-4 records ended up being won by the school with the bigger enrollment. That guaranteed the ‘Cats the #5 seed in the 2A north bracket which includes four undefeated schools.

Look for this sign, give Friday

Published by admin on Wed, 10/11/2023 - 10:37am

The Wilmington High School Interact Club will continue their tradition of asking for donations to eradicate polio before and through the first half of the Wilmington vs. Manteno football game on Friday, Oct. 13th.
Since this event began, thousands of dollars have been raised and sent to Rotary International to help in the goal of eradicating polio worldwide.
Polio is a paralyzing and potentially fatal disease that still threatens children in some parts of the world. It invades the nervous system and can cause total paralysis in hours.

Coalers, 'Cats to play soccer regional championship

Published by admin on Thu, 05/11/2023 - 11:49am

Coal City and Wilmington soccer teams will get a shot on winning a regional trophy on Friday by advancing through the semi-final round.

The championship match in the Herscher regional will be between the hosting Tigers and Wilmington at 4:30 p.m. Friday. The Lady 'Cats edged Reed-Custer 5-4 on Wednesday while Herscher romped Momence 10-0 to get to the final.

At Manteno, Coal City will taken on Bishop McNamara at 4:30 p.m. Friday. The Lady Coalers beat Beecher 2-1 while Bishop Mac got by Manteno 5-1.

Winning culture lures James to North Central

Published by admin on Tue, 02/21/2023 - 5:27pm

All-State running back Colin James is leaving one winning program for another.
James, who led Wilmington in rushing with 1,480 yards and 22 touchdowns, recently signed a letter of intent to attend North Central College in Naperville, looking for spot on the defending Division III National Championship football team.
The Wildcat senior considered other schools like Monmouth, St. Francis and Roosevelt but North Central had something he felt on his first visit.

First round state bodes well for 11 of 21 area wrestlers

Published by admin on Thu, 02/16/2023 - 6:55pm

Eleven area wrestlers won during the first round of the IHSA Class 1A finals.

Coal City had eight of 14 state qualifiers win their preliminary match on Thursday, advancing to the quarterfinals on Friday. Winning were Brody Widlowski (113), Aiden Kenney (120), Jake Piatak (132), Buddy Widlowski (138), Mataeo Blessing (145), Derek Carlson (170), Braiden Young (182) and Joey Breneman (195).

Surpises were few during first week of playoffs

Published by admin on Mon, 10/31/2022 - 1:17pm

And then there were 16. That’s how many teams are left in each of the eight classes of the IHSA football playoffs as winning teams move on to the second round.
Wilmington (2A), Reed-Custer (3A) and Coal City (4A) all advance to the second round after winning on Saturday. The Wildcats (9-1) will host Tri-Valley Downs (8-2) at 6 p.m. Saturday, Reed-Custer (10-0) will play saturday at 5 p.m. against visiting Pecatonica - Du-Pec Coop (8-2) while the Coalers (7-3) have a four-hour drive to Carterville (10-0) near Marion, IL for a 1 p.m. kickoff Saturday.

Comets, Coalers and Wildcats get to host in football playoffs

Published by admin on Sun, 10/23/2022 - 1:44pm

There won’t be any Friday Night Lights turned on for three area teams entering the first round of the IHSA football playoffs as Coal City, Reed-Custer and Wilmington will play on Saturday.
All three programs get to host teams in the first round, although they are all in different brackets.
Braidwood will host the Chicago Carver Challengers (5-3) at 2 p.m. Saturday. The Comets (9-0) are the #2 seed in the Class 3A bracket. They are among three other teams who are undefeated.

Comets vs Wildcats: A clash of titans

Published by admin on Wed, 09/28/2022 - 4:20pm

Fans know all the numbers.
24. Wilmington's current win streak, tying a school record.
5-0. The records of Reed-Custer and Wilmington for the second straight year.
15. The years it's been since the Comets beat Wilmington.
There's little doubt this is R-C's best chance to beat their crosstown rivals in recent memory.
"Obviously they haven’t lost since before the pandemic hit so they'll be going for their 25th win in a row. The nice thing is it's at our place this year," said Comet coach Gavin Johnston.

The best touchdown of the night was for the opposition

Published by admin on Wed, 09/28/2022 - 4:14pm

The fresh-soph Wildcats scored eight touchdowns Friday night but the most memorable one of the game was one scored by Herscher.
It came late during a 53-12 victory for Wilmington when both sides of the field agreed to give the ball to Hayden “Buck” Buckner.
Buck is a special player, one of those kids who shows up at every practice, plays the game with more heart than most, yet rarely gets game time, said Herscher head coach Mike Mosier who had left the field to prepare his varsity team. He returned just in time to see the end of the play.