Big Plays Spark Maroons To Victory over Indians

 

    You expect D1 recruits to make big plays, and Illinois commit Nicholas Hankins certainly made some big plays to help his Belleville West Maroons pick up a 40-21 win over Mascoutah tonight at Bob Goalby Field. The Maroons picked up 3 touchdowns of longer than 70 yards, utilizing the talent they have at the skill positions.
    Belleville West struck early, as Sr. RB Isaiah Williams broke off a long touchdown run on the Maroons' first drive to give them an early 7-0 lead. Both teams would be able to move the ball but would not find any farther scoring in the 1st quarter. Mascoutah would have a long drive get stopped at the goal line to hold them scoreless. Hankins would get his first touchdown on an 80-yard screen pass from quarterback Caiden Capell to make it 13-0 Maroons. Indians WR Camren Reed would break off a long kickoff return, saved by Maroons K Noah Thomason from becoming a Mascoutah touchdown. It would not matter much in the long run, as Indians star RB Sean Murphy broke through for a 25-yard touchdown run just a couple of plays later to get Mascoutah on the board. 
    West would strike right back, as Hankins took the first play of the following drive to the end zone on a 71-yd TD run to make it 21-7 Maroons. Mascoutah would drive back down the field and score with less than a minute to go in the first half, capped by another Murphy touchdown run. The second half would be dominated by Capell, but by the QB's legs rather than his arm. His first TD run, from 10 yards out would get the lead back to two possessions, but a pass from Mascoutah Sophomore QB Jackson Hilgendorf found Marcus Nobles to cut the West lead down to six heading into the 4th quarter. Capell would wind up icing the game in the 4th quarter, as the Maroons run game wore down the Mascoutah defense, and Belleville West would wind up adding two more rushing touchdowns from Capell to end the game at 40-21.

STATS (UNOFFICIAL):

Belleville West:

Passing:
#8 Capell: 2/7, 76 Yd, TD

Rushing:
#1 Williams: 12-149, TD
#8 Capell: 15-121, 3 TD
#3 Hankins: 5-95, TD
#6 Taylor: 11-61

Receiving:
#3 Hankins: 2-76, TD

Kicking:
#80 Thomason: 2-3 XP

Defensive Leaders:
#4 Cutler-Johnson: 11 Tkls, 2 Sks
#33 Willis: 5 Tkls
#20 Hill: 4 Tkls
#11 Conley: 4 Tkls

Mascoutah:

Passing:
#6 Hilgendorf: 16/26, 217 Yd, TD

Rushing:
#22 Murphy: 34-152, 2 TD
#6 Hilgendorf: 7-0

Receiving:
#87 Epps: 2-61
#10 Paddock: 3-56
#8 Beverly: 3-33
#7 Nobles: 1-25, TD
#2 Reed: 3-20
#1 Beck: 3-16
#22 Murphy: 1-6

Defensive Leaders:
#49 Bowers: 4 Tkls, 1 Sck
#56 Wagner: 4 Tkls
#72 Casey: 4 Tkls

Kicking:
#81 Wilkinson: 3/3 XP

Kahoks Sweep Knights, Deliver First Win For Coach Dawson As Underclassmen Star

    

    If Katie Dawson was nervous before her first match as head coach of the Collinsville Girls Volleyball team, she certainly didn't show it. The Kahoks (1-0) were able to pick up a straight-set road win over Metro-East Lutheran (0-2) at Thomas Hooks Gymnasium, 25-14, 25-21. 

    The Kahoks were able to jump out to an early lead to start the match, with Jr. Outside Hitter Avery Johnson picking up a few early kills (on her way to a match-leading 8) and prompting Knights coach Jenna Ward to call a time-out down 10-4. It would not change the momentum much, as Collinsville were able to pick up a comfortable 1st set win. 

    The 2nd set would be much more even, as the first 15 points were quite even, with neither team gaining much of an advantage. The Kahoks Sr. Libero Addyson Muniz would step up to the service line and deliver 4 straight aces to stretch the lead to 14-9, prompting another Knights timeout. The message was received loud and clear, as the momentum swung the way of the home side. Avery Simaytis, the lone senior on the Knights squad, was able to pick up 2 of her 3 kills on the match to force a Kahok timeout at 15-all. 6 points later the score was still level, prompting another timeout from Metro-East Lutheran. The Kahoks were able to finish strongly following that timeout, exploiting a few late errors from the Knights to pick up a 25-21 set two victory.


STATS (UNOFFICIAL):
Collinsville:
#11 A. Johnson: 8 K, 3 A
#12 Av. Muniz: 3 K
#14 Edwards: 4 K, 1 BLK
#16 Ad. Muniz: 4 A
#17 J. Johnson: 4 K, 1 BLK
#22 L. Johnson: 1 K
#28 McMorris: 3 K

Metro-East Lutheran:
#2 Peterson: 2 K, 1 BLK
#3 Maack: 3 K
#8 Heard: 1 K
#13 Houck: 1 K
#16 Simaytis: 3 K
#18 Snyder: 1 BLK