| 5A |
Pre-Season
Poll |
AP |
| Rank |
Team |
Record |
| 1. |
Woodstock (
Marian Central Catholic)
|
(0-0) |
| 2. |
Metamora
|
(0-0) |
| 3. |
Morris
|
(0-0) |
| 4. |
Jacksonville
|
(0-0) |
| 5. |
Geneseo
|
(0-0) |
| 6. |
LaGrange Park
(Nazareth Academy)
|
(0-0) |
| 7. |
Washington
|
(0-0) |
| 8. |
Pontiac
|
(0-0) |
| 9. |
Lombard Montini
|
(0-0) |
| 10. |
Sterling
|
(0-0) |
|
OF
1971
|
Darrell Jones
Led
Panthers in defense with 62 solo tackles and 10 assists. He also led
the team with 6 interceptions and was named the Lions "Player
of the Week" four different times. Darrell was named the 1971
JCHS Panther "Back of the Year". |
|
Kelly Sitton
Kelly
was third on team defense with 47 tackles and 4 assists. He scored 2
TD's while rushing for 214 yards on 53 carries. He was named Lions
"Player of the Week" three times. |
|
Tom Goetten
Tom
was selected Lions "Player of the Week" three times
because of his solid defensive play. He was amongst the team leaders
with 47 tackles and 6 assists. |
|
Paul Allen
Paul
was a member of the MVC All-Conference team while being named to the
Lions "Player of the Week" twice. He had 34 tackles and 12
assists. Allen was named as the 1971 JCHS Panther "Lineman of
the Year". |
|
Bill Robertson
Robertson
was second on the team with 52 tackles and 11 assists. He was also
named to the Lions "Player of the Week" twice. He led the
team in total offensive yards with 595. He also led the team in
rushing yards with 289 yards on 69 carries. He was second on the
team in Interceptions with 3 and returned 15 kick-offs for 263
yards. |
|
John Davis
John
led the team in scoring with 5 touchdowns. He also had 23 tackles
and 4 assists and a Lions club "Player of the Week". He
punted for 432 yards on 14 attempts and had 13 kick-offs for 575
yards. Davis also led the team in receptions with 19 catches for 433
yards. |
|
Chuck Gast
QB
Gast was a Lions "Player of the Week" twice while
completing 27 of 74 passes for 547 yards. He also scored 2 TD's. |
|
Mark Powell
Mark
was named Lions "Player of the Week" twice primarily for
his defense. He had 19 tackles and 4 assists and 2 Interceptions. |
|
William Kuebrich
William
had 41 tackles and 11 assists |
|
Randy Parish
Randy,
who was a Junior had 25 tackles and 9 assists and was a Lions
"Player of the Week". He also picked up one fumble
recovery. He was amongst the team leaders in offensive yards with
302 total yards. He was the second leading rusher on the team
picking up 240 yards on 55 carries. |
|
| PANTHERFB.ORG
SINCLAIRS
MR.
PANTHER AWARD
This award is
presented to the Panther player who best displayed dedication,
courage and stamina for the sake of his team.
2007 Winner:
JARED PEGUE
|
|
|
1928
1928
was a struggle to find game articles, but alas pantherfb.org dug deep
into the archives of the old and now defunct Jersey County Democrat.
Although the material shows it's age and is very hard to read, most of
the game stories are more detailed than those from previous years.
Notice that the author of most of these stories was Frederick Miller a
Sophomore. Miller, joined the Varsity football team in 1929 as a Junior
and also played in 1930 while a Senior. He was a very special young man
and gets a special salute from this website for all he accomplished for
our football program.
PANTHERFB.ORG
HALL OF FAME TREE
|
|
Game
of the Past
JCHS
21 CM 20
September
- 1993
Griffith
gets tackled from behind by a CM defender in this 1993 Play-off game.
With it's offense
relentlessly pounding JCHS throughout the second half, CM had the
defending Mississippi Valley Conference champions staggered and on the
ropes.
But the Panthers
promptly served notice that they are not about to relinquish the Valley
title without a fight.
After CM battled
back from a 14-3 halftime deficit to take a 20-14 lead with eight
minutes left, JCHS sophomore Dylan Griffith answered with a
78-yard touchdown run and Kyle Breden added the PAT that vaulted the
Panthers to a 21-20 victory over CM at Jersey Community High School.
|
| |
MITCH
WATKINS PAGE
|
WATKINS
NAMED 2007 GRAPHIC EDGE BOWL OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME
Mitch posing with
his "Offensive Player of the Game" ball and his
certificate, while also showing off his Panther roots.
The Joliet squad in
pre-game warm-ups in the UNI Dome in Iowa.
| Trojans
fall in Graphic Edge Bowl |
|
|
| By
KIRK HARDCASTLE, kirk.hardcastle@globegazette.com |
|
CEDAR
FALLS — NIACC football coach Scott Strohmeier was spent.
The third-year coach was emotionally drained after
Sunday’s 28-21 loss to No. 12 Joliet Junior College in
the marquee Graphic Edge Bowl in the UNI-Dome.
“I don’t know if I’ll be able to talk,” said
Strohmeier, who was hoarse after the 3 1/2 hour contest.
Strohmeier had just said goodbye to a group of sophomores
— his first recruiting class — that won 14 games and
two MFC West playoff titles.
Strohmeier also saw two of his key offensive players
(running back Kevis Streeter and receiver Brad Theilen) go
down with injuries in the second half of Sunday’s
contest.
“That was a tough one,” Strohmeier said, “but they
(the Wolves) made more plays and that’s what it came
down to.
“Any time you have two talented teams that’s what it
came down to and they made more than us (Sunday).”
Streeter, a freshman from Florida, injured his ankle on
the opening kickoff of the second half and was carried off
the field and did not return.
Theilen, a sophomore who prepped at Nashua-Plainfield,
injured his back late in the fourth quarter and lay
motionless on the field for several minutes before being
carried off on a training table.
“He’s going to be all right,” Strohmeier said. “It
was more of a precaution than anything else.
“They’re two big parts of our offense. We were just
running out of kids toward the end, but the kids fought
and never gave up.”
Joliet (10-2) pushed its lead to 28-14 with 4:50 remaining
in the contest when Anthony Stewart scored on a 77-yard
touchdown run. Stewart’s long run came two plays after
Theilen was carried off the field.
“It was tough,” said NIACC sophomore linebacker Luke
Dolan, the game’s defensive MVP. “Brad’s one of my
best friends. They kind of caught us off guard with that
play they ran, but we played hard all year long and I’m
real proud to be part of a team like that.”
No. 15 NIACC trimmed the deficit to 28-21 with 3:09 left
in the contest when Lorenzo Brown tossed a 5-yard
touchdown pass to Joe Audlehelm — Brown’s third
touchdown pass of the contest.
Joliet, which topped NIACC 21-14 in September, recovered
the ensuing onside kick and picked up a couple of first
downs to complete the season sweep of NIACC.
Joliet held NIACC’s offense, which averaged 419 yards of
total offense, to 288 total yards.
“They swarm the ball a lot,” NIACC running back Travis
Liechti said. “There’s no open field.
“They’re fast. You’d see an opening and the next
thing you know, it’s closed up.”
Strohmeier now sends his coaches out on the recruiting
trail trying to replace guys like Brown, who threw for
more than 2,000 yards and 20 touchdown passes.
“They’ll be out (today),” the coach said.
Strohmeier said this year’s team accomplished a lot.
“There’s no reason to hang their heads,” he said.
“They went 7-4 and went to back-to-back bowl games. They
didn’t win the bowl games, but they were still
successful. They’re going to be extremely hard to
replace.”
Joliet JC 28, NIACC 21
Joliet 0 14 0 14
— 28
NIACC 0 6 0 15 — 21
J — Larry Dortch 17 run (Justin Zeeb
kick), 8:06.
N — Jameel Williams 70 pass from Lorenzo Brown (kick
failed), 1:11.
J — Marquis Harmon 91 kickoff return (Zeeb kick), :58.
N — Travis Liechti 9 pass from Brown (Brown run), 10:21.
J — Anthony Stewart 1 run (Zeeb kick), 6:19.
J — Stewart 77 run (Zeeb kick), 4:50.
N — Joe Audlehelm 5 pass from Brown (Ryan McMahon kick),
3:09.
TEAM TOTALS
J N
First downs 22 15
Rushes-yards 44-257 26-98
Passing yards 180 190
Comp-att-int 17-26-1
11-34-2
Total yards 437 288
Fumbles-lost 3-1 2-1
Penalties-yards 15-145 8-55
Punts-avg. 3-25.3 7-39.8
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing — Joliet, Stewart 17-134, Mitch Watkins 13-54,
Tim Huguley 12-40, Dortch 2-29. NIACC, Brown 6-51, Liechti
13-24, Kevis Streeter 5-15, Marques Parker 2-8.
Passing — Joliet, Watkins 17-26-1 — 180. NIACC, Brown
11-34-2.
Receiving — Joliet, Stewart 5-66, Christian Graham 5-34,
A’veon Jones 2-42. NIACC, Williams 1-70, Parker 4-54,
Liechti 3-44, Streeter 2-16, Audlehelm 1-5.
|
Joliet, Iowa Central
triumph in Graphic Edge Bowls
By ROD PAYNE, Courier Sports Writer
CEDAR FALLS --- Sunday's Graphic
Edge Bowl's featured matchup, between No. 15-ranked North Iowa
Area Community College and No. 12 Joliet, had been promoted as
two prolific offenses pitted in a rematch of a junior-college
thriller at the UNI Dome.
What unfolded, however, was a
defensive struggle for more than three periods before Joliet
erupted for two scores late in the fourth quarter to defeat
NIACC, 28-21.
The Wolves had defeated the Trojans,
21-14, in a game played at Mason City on Sept. 22. It spurred an
eight-game winning streak for Joliet.
"I'll tell you what, these kids
have fought through a lot of adversity this year and never gave
up," Joliet coach Tom Minnick said. "We started out
the season at 1-2 and have won nine straight. These kids deserve
this. It is what they fought for, and it is what they have
earned."
The Wolves' biggest opponent in the
early going turned out to be themselves as they committed a
plethora of errors.
A block-in-the-back penalty
nullified a huge opening kick return, then a bad snap on a punt
attempt sailed over punter Ben Rouse's head. Rouse recovered the
ball and was able to scratch out a 10-yard kick. To make things
worse for the Wolves, they were penalized five times for 40
yards in the first quarter alone.
"This is exactly the type of
situations we have had to overcome all year," Minnick said.
"We just get into bad situations and have to overcome. Our
kids never give up, and they believe in each other and never
stay down. We knew coming in here that it would be a
fight."
The Wolves finally began to run as a
pack, with their defense doing most of the howling. NIACC
quarterback Lorenzo Brown had been harassed for the better part
of the game by the Joliet and made a mistake early in the second
quarter.
Brown lined up in shotgun formation
and had the ball sail over his head. He regained control at the
5-yard line but launched a pass into the middle of the field,
which was picked off by safety Gary Lawson Jr. at the 37. Two
plays later, Larry Dortch took a Mitch Watkins pitch to the left
side and scampered 17 yards to the end zone. Dortch reached
paydirt with two defenders hanging on.
NIACC came back on its following
possession and struck quickly as Brown found a wide-open Jameel
Williams streaking down the middle. The play covered 70 yards,
but a missed extra point left the game, 7-6.
Freshman Marquis Harmon took
momentum away from NIACC as he bobbled the ensuing kickoff but
scooped it up and ran untouched 91 yards for the quick score.
"That was definitely a big play
for them, taking momentum away from us," NIACC coach Scott
Strohmeier said. "It was a little deflating, but we felt we
could overcome it. We had some opportunities early that we
didn't take advantage of, and they capitalized on theirs. We
expected this caliber of a game, and we knew they wouldn't keep
shooting themselves in the foot and giving us chances. But our
guys never quit."
The Trojans mounted an impressive
drive early in the fourth to tie it at 14, but the Wolves opened
up their offense from there. A'veon Jones made a highlight-reel
catch at the 1 before Anthony Stewart bulled in from there.
Stewart struck again on their next series, breaking through the
NIACC defense to race 77 yards for another score.
"We kept going at them all
night and finally got to break a long one," Stewart said.
"That run surely helped us, but it was the O-line that made
it happen. We work as a team not as individuals."
The Trojans were able to mount one
more drive to make it close but could not get their hands back
on the ball.
"We have fought hard all
season, and today's game was no different," Minnick said.
"This is only the third time in school history we have won
10 or more games. This is a very elite program, and these kids
are part of something special."
2007
Wolves Football
Graphic
Edge Printing Bowl Champions
Region
IV Champions
Midwest
Football Conference Eastern Division Champions
11/18/07
Joliet
wins at Graphic Edge Printing Bowl Game
The
JJC football team defeated North Iowa Area Community College by a
score of 28-21 in the Graphic Edge Printing Bowl held at the
University of Northern Iowa.
Anthony
Stewart led the Wolves with a 77 yard rushing touchdown and a
1-yard scoring run. Larry Dortch scored on a 17-yard drive.
Marquis Harmon picked up the Wolves with a 91 yard kickoff return
touchdown. Kicker Justin Zeeb was good on all PAT's. Quarterback
Mitch Watkins received offensive player of the game honors.
"These
kids have fought through a lot of adversity this year and never
gave up," Head Coach Tom Minnick said. "We started out
1-2 and have won nine straight. These kids deserve this, it is
what they have fought for and it is what they have earned."
JJC
finishes out their season with a 10-2 overall record.
|
|
| Mississippi
Valley Conference products--Jeff Gustafson (Triad) and Mitch Watkins
(Jersey)
Once they were rivals; now they are
teammates
Read about Mitch vs Central State this past
weekend!
Chicago
Sun Times
Meanwhile, two weeks ago Joliet Junior College
defeated Rock Valley 51-7. Watkins had 3 touchdown passes in leading the
way.
Here are some thumbnail photo's of Mitch in
that game.
|
|
MITCH WATKINS SHINES
IN GRAPHIC EDGE BOWL GAME
Former Panther QB
selected as Offensive Player of the Game
HeraldNewsOnline.com
JJC comeback bid falls short
November 20, 2006
Reserve QB Watkins leads Wolves
special to the herald news
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- With apologies to Sheryl Crow,
a change did Joliet Junior College's football team good Sunday, but not
quite good enough.
Reserve quarterback Mitch Watkins directed the
Wolves to three second-half touchdowns, cutting a 24-0 lead by Iowa
Central to 24-19, but that was as close as JJC got in a 30-19 loss in
the Graphic Edge Bowl.
Iowa Central struck first on a long touchdown run
by Steven Harper to make the score 7-0. The two teams battled back and
forth for the remainder of the first quarter, with Iowa Central sticking
to the running game and Joliet running its spread offense. The game was
dominated by both defenses early on as both offenses had trouble
converting on 3rd down. Iowa Central intercepted a Joliet pass to start
the second quarter but gave the ball right back to the Wolves on the
ensuing play. After another Joliet punt, the Tritons turned to the
passing attack and has some success. They completed a long pass to Donte
Shackelford and a 25-yard touchdown pass from Zach Edwards to Joel
Hanson. The Brandon Burden extra point made the score 14-0 with 8:42
left in the half. The Joliet defense was able to hold the Tritons at the
end of the half to a 42 yard field goal by Burden to make the halftime
score 17-0.
JJC started the second half with the ball and was
able to march the ball downfield thanks to good passing by quarterback
Jason Schlueter. Joliet was faced with a fourth-and-1 with 10:43 left in
the third quarter, but an illegal motion penalty was called. The Wolves
were unable to covert, and Iowa Central took over on downs. After an
Iowa Central punt, Joliet took over at its own 30.
Turnovers proved costly for Joliet the entire game
as the Wolves threw their fourth interception to Cutis Meyer of Iowa
Central, who returned it to the Joliet 15. Three consecutive Steven
Harper runs later, the Tritons were on the board with another touchdown
to make the score 24-0.
JJC switched to Watkins, and he orchestrated a
drive that took the Wolves to the Iowa Central 32. Watkins then pulled
the ball down and ran for 24 yards to the Iowa Central 8, the first time
the Wolves had been in the red zone. On second and-goal from the 12,
Watkins put Joliet on the board with a touchdown pass to Steve Benjamin.
The Wolves tried a 2-point conversion, but failed.
Meyer returned the ensuing kickoff 78 yards to the
Joliet 14 yard line, but the Tritons were unable to capitalize as Burden
missed a 37-yard field goal. The Wolves took over and marched the ball
80 yards, scoring on a 25 yard pass play to Sean Alexander. Joliet had
the extra point blocked and the score was 24-12.
After a failed fourth down attempt by JJC, Iowa
Central took over on downs on its own 45. The Tritons attempted a long
pass on first down, but the pass was intercepted by Marcus Minor on the
Joliet 7. The Wolves drove 93 yards in 2½ minutes and scored on yet
another Watkins touchdown pass.
Iowa Central received the kickoff and after running
one play, they took a chance downfield and Edwards completed a 75-yard
touchdown pass to Joel Hansen for Hansen's 2nd touchdown of the game.
After a failed 2-point conversion the score was 30-19.
Joliet's final drive stalled at about the 30 yard
line, and a field goal attempt by Steve Ivanesivic from Joliet was no
good.
Watkins was named Offensive Player of the Game.
|
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MORE
MITCH!
MORE
GRAPHIC EDGE BOWL ACTION SHOTS OF QB AND OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE
GAME MITCH WATKINS!
 
 
|
|
| JOLIET
COLLEGE QB MITCH WATKINS IN ACTION!
More
exciting action shots of former JCHS QB.
|
 |
BY LOUIE KORAC |
"Goal
of reaching D-I motivates Watkins, who signs football letter with
Joliet Junior College"
Mitch Watkins knows now that he can rest comfortably.
Why? Because the stress and anguish of picking the
right school can be pressing at times and time-consuming at others.
But rest assured, the smile that pierced from one ear
to the next fully shows that the senior quarterback feels like he made the
right decision.
After deliberation between a pair of schools, Watkins
recently signed a letter of intent to play football at Joliet Junior
College, the NJCAA national champions in 2001 and 2002.
Watkins also entertained an offer from St. Francis
University, an NAIA school also located in Joliet that’s located
approximately an hour south of Chicago.
ALL SMILES -
Jersey’s Mitch Watkins (front, left) is all smiles after
signing his letter of intent to play football next fall at Joliet Junior
College. With Watkins are Jersey coach Chris Skinner (front, right) and
his
mother Vicki (back). (Photo by Mike Davenport)
"It’s a lot of stress off of me and my
family," said Watkins, who set JCHS records in 2003 for most passing
yards in a season (2,191), a single game (406) and touchdown passes (20).
"I can go through the rest of the school year and the summer with a
clear mind and knowing where my surroundings are going to be next August.
It’s a good fit and I feel really good about it."
Someone may question why select a junior college over a
four-year university, but to Watkins, the answer was simple.
"They’re contenders," Watkins said.
"They’re JUCO, but they were national champions a couple years back
and they play some of the best teams in the nation, JUCO-wise. The coach
(first-year head coach Tom Minnick) is real nice. They’re a real help
academic-wise and athletic-wise. They let me know I can get in here and
get re-noticed and start the whole recruitment process all over again so I
can make my goal to where I want to be, which is Division I."
"It was a tough decision between the University of
St. Francis. It was a four-year school and I figured I could go there and
build myself into the program and try to make it into a winning program.
But then I talked to the coaches at JJC and they let me know the big names
that came from junior colleges and what opportunities you can get from
going to a JUCO school better than a four-year school."
So despite the risk of going the JUCO route, the
initiative to get to Division I football is well worth the risk – as
long as one can get there.
"That’s very important," Watkins said.
"Once I get there, I’m going to have a one-track mind, focus on one
spot, which is school and then football. I just got to do it until I reach
my goal."
His coach said it’s a good fit to get started.
"(Former Panther) Luke Kallal went up there and
won a national title," said JCHS coach Chris Skinner. "It’s a
good program, good academics. Mitch and I have talked. He knows his
academics come first and that’s what he’s there for, to get an
education, but if athletics can help him, that’s great.
"Everything is set in line now. He knows what
he’s got to do to be successful in college and I think he’ll work hard
and do that."
The decision between JJC and St. Francis wasn’t the
only option Watkins was weighing. There was also the choice of football
and basketball, something he said weighed heavily on his mind.
"It did during football season, but then when I
hurt my knee, it (thoughts of basketball) just kind of floated away
because I couldn’t do (basketball-wise) the things I used to be able to
do," Watkins said. "Towards the end of the (basketball) season,
I got a little stronger with it. I did some things I didn’t think I
could do. I played a little longer, a little harder than I used to be able
to. It boggled a little bit in my head, but football is there for me and
it just seems like that it’s the one thing I can get myself
somewhere."
Watkins is already thinking of ways to motivate himself
while at JJC.
"I’m going to have to make little messages to
myself in my apartment where I’m going to be staying," he said.
"As soon as I wake up, I got to see things that I write down, tell
myself my goals I have to do for each year. Basically, it’s to make my
parents proud, make myself proud and make my friends and family proud of
me; make something of myself and try to reach that goal."
"We’re excited for Mitch," Skinner said.
"We wish him all the best. I think he’s going to find some success
up there and hopefully use that as a springboard to move onto the next
level. Joliet is a very respectable program. Other kids go up there."
Watkins’ biggest adjustment at the quarterback
position will be the speed of the game, which is so much different than
playing in prep games.
"It’s a different speed," Skinner said.
"That’s the biggest thing I talk to our kids about when they go
onto the college level. No matter what division they go onto, the speed of
the game is much faster, you’re playing against older kids. That’s the
biggest thing. Mitch definitely has the athletic talent. The (defensive
backs) are going to be faster, they’re going t o be quicker, more
experienced. He’s going to have to work on reading his keys and working
on reading secondaries. He’ll do a good job. What will also help is
he’ll have more position coaches that will spend more time with him than
we have at the high school level."
If he has to sit and learn for a year, that’s fine
with him, but Watkins is intent on competing for a starting job
immediately.
"The coaches basically have told me that I can
come in and compete for a chance to start," he said. "They said
I have a real good chance of going in right away. But I’m not going in
with the mindset that I’ve got the job already. I’m going to go in and
work harder than anybody and prove to them that I’m supposed to be
there, and if I get that starting job, I’m not going to lose it.
"I’m going to try and go in there and keep their
reputation up."
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