MEET WITH GJ HORIZONS TO DISCUSS LHA FACILITY
GRAND JUNCTION, IOWA—Bob and Joyce Ausberger, Jefferson, were the winning bidders for the T.R. Watts & Son Building at 201 East Main Street in Grand Junction this morning. Joyce Ausberger told Eye on Grand Junction the bid was $2,800. The auction was conducted by Dale Higgins Auction of Grand Junction.
The Ausbergers had met with the Grand Junction Horizons board of directors in a special board meeting late Thursday afternoon at the Grand Junction Public Library to outline the Ausbergers’ plans to use the building as a welcome center for the local chapter of the Lincoln Highway Association.
The board asked the Ausbergers about the input required of GJ Horizons and who would be in charge of renovating the building, utility costs and general upkeep. At that time the Ausbergers had yet to make their bid, so they did not have a definitive purchase cost or possible renovation and upkeep costs for the building. They did tell Horizons they were interested if the price was in the $2,000 to $3,000 range.
Horizons members and the Ausbergers discussed monthly costs for electric, water and sewer from Grand Junction Municipal Light and Water and heating costs from Black Hills Energy.
If the Ausbergers did get the winning bid, Horizons agreed to help staff the proposed LHA welcome center and discussed how the community could work to make the welcome center an integral component of revitalization of Grand Junction’s Main Street.
The local LHA had a center on Lincolnway in Jefferson, next to the Hy-Vee Drug Store, but the building is owned by Hy-Vee and the company had other uses planned for the building, so the center was closed a few years ago.
Joyce Ausberger told Horizons that a similar office in Grand Junction would be opened between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. during the heavy tourism months in spring and summer, fewer hours in the fall, and not opened at all during the coldest months of winter. The office would offer free travel information and sells maps, brochures, and other items of interest to travelers on the Lincoln Highway, in addition to serving as a gathering spot for local residents and area Lincoln Highway enthusiasts.
Horizons members shared with the Ausbergers the community’s deep history with the Lincoln and there were a number of members present whose fathers were businessmen during the Lincoln’s hey-dey in the 1950s, when it was U.S. Highway 30.
They discussed with the Ausbergers some of the local memorabilia related to the Lincoln that is available from Grand Junction residents.
The Ausbergers are long-time supporters of the Lincoln Highway on a national, state and local level. They helped save the historic original Lincoln Highway bridge just north of the Union Pacific railroad tracks that serves as key component to the historic bridges and Grand Junction Lion’s Club Tree Park just east of Grand Junction on the section of the Lincoln built in the 1920s, which replaced the original route on the north side of the tracks.
Copyright Eye on Grand Junction 2011
Showing posts with label Lincoln Highway. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lincoln Highway. Show all posts
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Monday, September 26, 2011
Comer Honored As GJ ‘Yard of the Month’
The yard of Sharon Comer of Sunset Drive in Grand Junction has been selected as “Yard of the Month” by the Grand Junction Horizons.
Yard of the Month is selected from a list of semifinalists each month that meet the criteria for the honor—proportionality and balance among ornamentals, shrubs, flowers and trees; perspective from various angles and frontage streets; not overly done or too “busy” looking; general upkeep and ongoing improvement; and overall aesthetic.“The Comer property helps beautify the Sunset Drive neighborhood and makes for a great entryway into Grand Junction from the south on Highway 144 and for travelers along the Lincoln Highway as it comes into Grand Junction from the west and then heads north toward Main Street,” said a Grand Junction Horizons spokesperson. “This is truly an outstanding yard.”
The Yard of the Month sign created by students at East Greene High School art classes is on display at the Comer home throughout the month of September.Going “Greene”?
NO WAY, JOSÉ, IT’S “LINCOLNWAY”!
Is there something that Tommy Birch down at the Des Moines Register knows that we don’t?
Tommy put together a nice recap of East Greene’s big Homecoming win over Charter Oak-Ute in a prep wrap-up in Sunday’s Register sports section Sept. 18 with a subhead entitled, “GOING GREENE.”
Earlier that weekend, some swag bags were handed out at the East Greene Homecoming Parade in GJ emblazoned with that awful beak-nosed bird they used for the [current] school logo and the words, “GO GREENE.” Hmmm? Twice in the same weekend with this mono-syllabic “GREENE” shows up. No longer “EAST,” cuz we’re headed west? Coincidence? I wonder. If this is someone’s idea for a new name for a possible reorganized East Greene and Jefferson-Scranton school district in the near future--something like Greene United or Greene County—I vote No . Without Paton-Churdan in a “reorg” it is only two-thirds to three-fourths or so of Greene County.
I suggest something that truly unites us across the board and helps this area stand out from the crowd: Lincolnway Community School District. Yes, the Lincoln (highway and president), with the statue of honest Abe on the courthouse square—on the county-owned side!—as our rallying point for all of Greene County, or at least all the towns and townships that would be inclusive of a reorg of the current J-S and EG districts.
Lincolnway cleanly ties together the three largest towns of the [proposed] district which are also the three largest towns of the county—Scranton, Jefferson and Grand Junction. The school district and the Lincoln served by the three towns also embrace these townships: Scranton and Kendrick Townships and the city of Scranton; Bristol, Jackson, Hardin and Grant Townships surrounding the city of Jefferson; and the super-size Junction Township and the city of Grand Junction, the second largest town in Greene County with Scranton being third, both trailing Jefferson, the county seat and proposed site of the high school.
Well, that will be then and this is now, so let’s give some applause to the EG Hawks for their showing in GJ at Homecoming on Sept. 16. Tommy Birch wrote:
“GOING GREENE: East Greene had a pair of strong performances in 66-28 victory over Charter Oak-Ute. Reed Ostrander hauled in five passes for 99 yards and three touchdowns. He also had two carries for 50 yards, including a 48-yard touchdown. He had a 51-yard punt return for a touchdown. Quarterback Tory Beger completed 20-of-29 passes for 289 yards and four touchdowns. Beger also rushed for two more scores.”
The following Monday, Sept. 21, the “Little Hawks” of the EG Junior High School in GJ posted a big 44-6 win over Adair-Casey in a game suspended in the middle of the third quarter as AC ran out of players. They started with 10 but injuries whittled that down to 7 which is one less needed to play 8-man football.
EYE ON GJ SAYS: Take it or leave it Paton-Churdan, or be on your “way.” If you don’t want to be a part of a county-wide school system, then don’t. But don’t expect any panting, open door “we’ll give it a name you can use too” reality going forward. And since you rebuffed the outreach from EG for any sports sharing, don’t expect us to hold some gild-edged invitation for sports sharing along the likes of Lincolnway/Paton-Churdan. It will be Lincolnway and Lincolnway only. Period. You had your chance(s). You took a pass.
Come on, folks! We need to market that Lincolnway. Make it educational….President Lincoln, early day highway transportation, Floyd Mahany and his legacy with the tower, and our beautiful historic courthouse…. emblematic of our pioneer forebears. Hey! There’s a great team nickname….the Pioneers….Lincolnway Pioneers! Green and Black school colors….green of East Greene and the black of Scranton’s black and gold and Jefferson’s black and red. Honor the heritage….
Is there something that Tommy Birch down at the Des Moines Register knows that we don’t?
Tommy put together a nice recap of East Greene’s big Homecoming win over Charter Oak-Ute in a prep wrap-up in Sunday’s Register sports section Sept. 18 with a subhead entitled, “GOING GREENE.”
Earlier that weekend, some swag bags were handed out at the East Greene Homecoming Parade in GJ emblazoned with that awful beak-nosed bird they used for the [current] school logo and the words, “GO GREENE.” Hmmm? Twice in the same weekend with this mono-syllabic “GREENE” shows up. No longer “EAST,” cuz we’re headed west? Coincidence? I wonder. If this is someone’s idea for a new name for a possible reorganized East Greene and Jefferson-Scranton school district in the near future--something like Greene United or Greene County—I vote No . Without Paton-Churdan in a “reorg” it is only two-thirds to three-fourths or so of Greene County.
I suggest something that truly unites us across the board and helps this area stand out from the crowd: Lincolnway Community School District. Yes, the Lincoln (highway and president), with the statue of honest Abe on the courthouse square—on the county-owned side!—as our rallying point for all of Greene County, or at least all the towns and townships that would be inclusive of a reorg of the current J-S and EG districts.
Lincolnway cleanly ties together the three largest towns of the [proposed] district which are also the three largest towns of the county—Scranton, Jefferson and Grand Junction. The school district and the Lincoln served by the three towns also embrace these townships: Scranton and Kendrick Townships and the city of Scranton; Bristol, Jackson, Hardin and Grant Townships surrounding the city of Jefferson; and the super-size Junction Township and the city of Grand Junction, the second largest town in Greene County with Scranton being third, both trailing Jefferson, the county seat and proposed site of the high school.
Well, that will be then and this is now, so let’s give some applause to the EG Hawks for their showing in GJ at Homecoming on Sept. 16. Tommy Birch wrote:
“GOING GREENE: East Greene had a pair of strong performances in 66-28 victory over Charter Oak-Ute. Reed Ostrander hauled in five passes for 99 yards and three touchdowns. He also had two carries for 50 yards, including a 48-yard touchdown. He had a 51-yard punt return for a touchdown. Quarterback Tory Beger completed 20-of-29 passes for 289 yards and four touchdowns. Beger also rushed for two more scores.”
The following Monday, Sept. 21, the “Little Hawks” of the EG Junior High School in GJ posted a big 44-6 win over Adair-Casey in a game suspended in the middle of the third quarter as AC ran out of players. They started with 10 but injuries whittled that down to 7 which is one less needed to play 8-man football.
EYE ON GJ SAYS: Take it or leave it Paton-Churdan, or be on your “way.” If you don’t want to be a part of a county-wide school system, then don’t. But don’t expect any panting, open door “we’ll give it a name you can use too” reality going forward. And since you rebuffed the outreach from EG for any sports sharing, don’t expect us to hold some gild-edged invitation for sports sharing along the likes of Lincolnway/Paton-Churdan. It will be Lincolnway and Lincolnway only. Period. You had your chance(s). You took a pass.
Come on, folks! We need to market that Lincolnway. Make it educational….President Lincoln, early day highway transportation, Floyd Mahany and his legacy with the tower, and our beautiful historic courthouse…. emblematic of our pioneer forebears. Hey! There’s a great team nickname….the Pioneers….Lincolnway Pioneers! Green and Black school colors….green of East Greene and the black of Scranton’s black and gold and Jefferson’s black and red. Honor the heritage….
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
EG Wins Home Opener, 36-34
BEAT TWIN CEDARS IN GAME THAT SPANS TWO DAYS
East Greene slipped past Twin Cedars (Bussey), 36-34, in a game that stretched over two days—Friday and Saturday, Sept. 2 and 3—to pick up its first win of the season.
The game got underway as scheduled Friday night with a bit of sprinkles and light rain. The two teams traded touchdowns with the Hawks holding the upper hand at the halftime break, 26-20. Twin Cedars came back in the third quarter to take the lead on a touchdown and a two-point conversion, 28-26. The Sabers had the momentum as the Hawks looked to be tiring and were whistled for some key penalties.
The rain had stopped by halftime but with 3:45 left in the third quarter, the officials suspended the game due to lighting to the north. What was hoped to be a mandatory 30-minute delay with the expectations that the lighting would stop, turned into a one-hour delay and still no letup from the lightning. At that point—9:45 p.m.—it was determined to suspend play and resume the game the next day at 2 p.m.
The delay worked to the Hawks’ advantage as the Twin Cedars players and fans would need to drive all the way back to southern Marion County Friday night, and then back up to Grand Junction on Saturday.
Some electrical problems had made the sound system inoperative at Karber Field on Friday but the system was working on Saturday, so the resumed game got underway with the playing of the national anthem. But a light rain began just as play started, so conditions were similar to the night before—just brighter and with no lightning.
Twin Cedars got out of the blocks fast as Jared Stephens scored on a 25-yard run on the first play of the resumed game, extending the Sabers’ lead to 34-26. The EG defense came to the fore, however, and stopped the two point conversion.
The defensive momentum carried forward into the fourth quarter as the Hawks punted down to the 1-yard-line and then stopped TC for a loss in the end zone to score a two-point safety, cutting the lead to 34-28.
Neither team mounted much of a threat rest of the fourth quarter, but in the late stages the Sabers were threatening in Hawk territory when EG intercepted the ball with enough time on the clock to mount one last drive.
EG moved downfield on a key Tory Beger-to-Reed Ostrander pass play with Beger running the ball in a few plays later to tie the game at 34-34. Beger connected with Harrison Johnston on a two-point conversion pass play to put EG in the lead, 36-34, with 40 seconds left in the game.
The Hawks kicked off with Twin Cedars running the ball back to midfield. The Sabers put together an all-out passing assault but the Hawks held them in check in four downs and took over with 17 seconds left on the clock. The Hawks downed the ball on the first snap and then just ran out the clock to pick up their first win of the season, evening their non-district record at 1-1. Twin Cedars fell to 1-1 in non-district play.
Beger passed was 22-38 in passing for a total of 253 yards with no interceptions. He connected for three touchdown passes—one a 56-yard strike to Ostrander. On the receiving end, Ostrander caught 10 passes for 179 total yards. T. J. Lint caught seven passes for 50 yards, Gathercoal caught two for 18 yards, and Broc Timm
Beger ran the ball 16 times for 32 yards and Ostrander gained 106 yards on six carries, most of that on a 63-yard touchdown run. Beger scored on an 8-yard jaunt. Lint had 1 carry for a -1 yard, giving the Hawks 390 total yards—137 on the ground and 253 in the air. Twin Cedars had 356 total yards—213 rushing and 143 passing.
Lint lead the defense with 15 total tackles (two solo and 13 assisted) with Beger right behind with 12 total tackles (2 solo and 10 assisted). Ostrander, Beger and Cody Hidelbaugh each had a sack.
Gathercoal has a big night on defense as he added a fumble recovery to his game-changing interception. Beger also recovered a fumble. The Hawks kicking game was in good form with Zach Hiller kicking off five times for 165 yards and Alex Gordon punting four times for 150 yards.
EG travels to Dunlap on Friday to face 2-1 Boyer Valley in the District 7 opener. This kicks off another season of the 8-Man Football “Lincoln League” as 5 of 7 teams in District 7 are located on the historic Lincoln Highway. The “Lincoln League” (8-Man District 7) is down to seven teams this season as Walnut has dropped its football program and is sharing football with Atlantic, a 3A school. Teams on the Lincoln are: East Greene, Glidden-Ralston, Ar-We-Va, Boyer Valley and Woodbine. The only non-Lincoln teams are within a dozen miles of the highway—Coon Rapids-Bayard and Charter Oak-Ute.
Towns that are on the Lincoln in the five school districts, heading westward, are Grand Junction, Ralston, Glidden, Arcadia, Westside, Vale, Arion, Dow City, Dunlap and Woodbine—a “Big 10” roster of Lincoln Highway/U.S. 30 towns.
Boyer Valley has had easy wins over Whiting and River Valley (Correctionville) and lost by one point on Friday in overtime to No. 6-ranked Kingsley-Pierson, 21-20. EG beat Boyer Valley last year in Grand Junction, 26-20. Both teams qualified for the playoffs last year with EG finishing third in District 7 and BV finishing fourth. Twin Cedars hosts Tri-County (Thornburgh) in a District 5 opener for both teams.
Season (Non-Districts) Records of Lincoln League Teams
Boyer Valley (Dunlap) 2-1
Coon Rapids-Bayard 1-1
East Greene 1-1
Glidden-Ralston 1-1
Woodbine 1-1
Charter Oak-Ute 0-2
Ar-We-Va (Westside) 0-3
District 7 Scores, Week 2 (Sept. 1):
EG 36, Twin Cedars (Bussey) 34
Woodbine 48, Whiting 8
Kingsley-Pierson 21, Boyer Valley 20 (OT), *KP ranked No. 6
CRB 42, Grandview Park Baptist 9
Newell-Fonda 45, GR 8
River Valley 64, Ar-We- 61
Remsen-Union 58, Charter Oak-Ute 8, *RU ranked No. 5
District 7 Scores, Week 1 (Aug. 26):
Melcher Dallas 44, EG 30
GR 62, Grandview Park Baptist 21
Boyer Valley (Dunlap) 61, Whiting 0
Kingsley-Pierson 47, Ar-We-Va 6
Northeast Hamilton (Blairsburg) 56, CRB 20
River Valley (Correctionville) 70, COU 28
District 7 Scores, Week 0 (Aug. 19):
Boyer Valley 66, River Valley (Correctionville) 22
CAM (Anita) 39, Woodbine 0
Armstrong-Ringsted 51, Ar-We-Va 12, *AR ranked No. 1
EYE ON GJ SAYS: The Hawks will have their hands full with the Boyer Valley Bulldogs, who look to be one of the top teams in the “Lincoln League” at this stage of the season. BV took sixth-ranked Kingsley-Pierson, a District 1 team, to overtime before falling by one point while unranked Newell-Fonda, also in District 1, rolled over Glidden-Ralston 45-8. Glidden-Ralston, Kingsley-Pierson and Newell-Fonda all advanced to the playoffs last year. KP lost to state champion Armstrong-Ringsted in the first round while NF was eliminated by Armstrong-Ringsted in the second round. GR made it to the quarterfinal round, losing to Fremont-Mills (Tabor) which was, in turn, eliminated by AR in the semifinals in the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls.
EG will need to stop the running game of Michael Hanigan, BV’s standout junior quarterback/defensive back. Hanigan ran the ball 41 times for 131 yards and two touchdowns against Kingsley-Pierson. He was 4-9 with one interception and 51 yards passing. He has ran the ball 91 times for 601 yards in three games—an impressive 200 yards per game average.
BV will need to shut down the EG aerial assault. Beger is now finding success with a range of receivers, while he and Ostrander are also a threat running the ball. Ostrander is still the go-to guy on the EG passing attack, so how the Hawks hold up against the Bulldogs’ pass defense will go a long way in determining who gets the upper hand in Dunlap.
In the 44-30 loss to Melcher-Dallas, Beger put up 195 total yards on 16-24 passing with one interception, giving him a total of 448 yards for both games combined—an impressive 224 yards per game average.
In other D7/Lincoln League games this week, Ar-We-Va (0-3) is at Coon Rapids-Bayard (1-1) and Woodbine (1-1) is at Glidden-Ralston.
East Greene slipped past Twin Cedars (Bussey), 36-34, in a game that stretched over two days—Friday and Saturday, Sept. 2 and 3—to pick up its first win of the season.
The game got underway as scheduled Friday night with a bit of sprinkles and light rain. The two teams traded touchdowns with the Hawks holding the upper hand at the halftime break, 26-20. Twin Cedars came back in the third quarter to take the lead on a touchdown and a two-point conversion, 28-26. The Sabers had the momentum as the Hawks looked to be tiring and were whistled for some key penalties.
The rain had stopped by halftime but with 3:45 left in the third quarter, the officials suspended the game due to lighting to the north. What was hoped to be a mandatory 30-minute delay with the expectations that the lighting would stop, turned into a one-hour delay and still no letup from the lightning. At that point—9:45 p.m.—it was determined to suspend play and resume the game the next day at 2 p.m.
The delay worked to the Hawks’ advantage as the Twin Cedars players and fans would need to drive all the way back to southern Marion County Friday night, and then back up to Grand Junction on Saturday.
Some electrical problems had made the sound system inoperative at Karber Field on Friday but the system was working on Saturday, so the resumed game got underway with the playing of the national anthem. But a light rain began just as play started, so conditions were similar to the night before—just brighter and with no lightning.
Twin Cedars got out of the blocks fast as Jared Stephens scored on a 25-yard run on the first play of the resumed game, extending the Sabers’ lead to 34-26. The EG defense came to the fore, however, and stopped the two point conversion.
The defensive momentum carried forward into the fourth quarter as the Hawks punted down to the 1-yard-line and then stopped TC for a loss in the end zone to score a two-point safety, cutting the lead to 34-28.
Neither team mounted much of a threat rest of the fourth quarter, but in the late stages the Sabers were threatening in Hawk territory when EG intercepted the ball with enough time on the clock to mount one last drive.
EG moved downfield on a key Tory Beger-to-Reed Ostrander pass play with Beger running the ball in a few plays later to tie the game at 34-34. Beger connected with Harrison Johnston on a two-point conversion pass play to put EG in the lead, 36-34, with 40 seconds left in the game.
The Hawks kicked off with Twin Cedars running the ball back to midfield. The Sabers put together an all-out passing assault but the Hawks held them in check in four downs and took over with 17 seconds left on the clock. The Hawks downed the ball on the first snap and then just ran out the clock to pick up their first win of the season, evening their non-district record at 1-1. Twin Cedars fell to 1-1 in non-district play.
Beger passed was 22-38 in passing for a total of 253 yards with no interceptions. He connected for three touchdown passes—one a 56-yard strike to Ostrander. On the receiving end, Ostrander caught 10 passes for 179 total yards. T. J. Lint caught seven passes for 50 yards, Gathercoal caught two for 18 yards, and Broc Timm
Beger ran the ball 16 times for 32 yards and Ostrander gained 106 yards on six carries, most of that on a 63-yard touchdown run. Beger scored on an 8-yard jaunt. Lint had 1 carry for a -1 yard, giving the Hawks 390 total yards—137 on the ground and 253 in the air. Twin Cedars had 356 total yards—213 rushing and 143 passing.
Lint lead the defense with 15 total tackles (two solo and 13 assisted) with Beger right behind with 12 total tackles (2 solo and 10 assisted). Ostrander, Beger and Cody Hidelbaugh each had a sack.
Gathercoal has a big night on defense as he added a fumble recovery to his game-changing interception. Beger also recovered a fumble. The Hawks kicking game was in good form with Zach Hiller kicking off five times for 165 yards and Alex Gordon punting four times for 150 yards.
EG travels to Dunlap on Friday to face 2-1 Boyer Valley in the District 7 opener. This kicks off another season of the 8-Man Football “Lincoln League” as 5 of 7 teams in District 7 are located on the historic Lincoln Highway. The “Lincoln League” (8-Man District 7) is down to seven teams this season as Walnut has dropped its football program and is sharing football with Atlantic, a 3A school. Teams on the Lincoln are: East Greene, Glidden-Ralston, Ar-We-Va, Boyer Valley and Woodbine. The only non-Lincoln teams are within a dozen miles of the highway—Coon Rapids-Bayard and Charter Oak-Ute.
Towns that are on the Lincoln in the five school districts, heading westward, are Grand Junction, Ralston, Glidden, Arcadia, Westside, Vale, Arion, Dow City, Dunlap and Woodbine—a “Big 10” roster of Lincoln Highway/U.S. 30 towns.
Boyer Valley has had easy wins over Whiting and River Valley (Correctionville) and lost by one point on Friday in overtime to No. 6-ranked Kingsley-Pierson, 21-20. EG beat Boyer Valley last year in Grand Junction, 26-20. Both teams qualified for the playoffs last year with EG finishing third in District 7 and BV finishing fourth. Twin Cedars hosts Tri-County (Thornburgh) in a District 5 opener for both teams.
Season (Non-Districts) Records of Lincoln League Teams
Boyer Valley (Dunlap) 2-1
Coon Rapids-Bayard 1-1
East Greene 1-1
Glidden-Ralston 1-1
Woodbine 1-1
Charter Oak-Ute 0-2
Ar-We-Va (Westside) 0-3
District 7 Scores, Week 2 (Sept. 1):
EG 36, Twin Cedars (Bussey) 34
Woodbine 48, Whiting 8
Kingsley-Pierson 21, Boyer Valley 20 (OT), *KP ranked No. 6
CRB 42, Grandview Park Baptist 9
Newell-Fonda 45, GR 8
River Valley 64, Ar-We- 61
Remsen-Union 58, Charter Oak-Ute 8, *RU ranked No. 5
District 7 Scores, Week 1 (Aug. 26):
Melcher Dallas 44, EG 30
GR 62, Grandview Park Baptist 21
Boyer Valley (Dunlap) 61, Whiting 0
Kingsley-Pierson 47, Ar-We-Va 6
Northeast Hamilton (Blairsburg) 56, CRB 20
River Valley (Correctionville) 70, COU 28
District 7 Scores, Week 0 (Aug. 19):
Boyer Valley 66, River Valley (Correctionville) 22
CAM (Anita) 39, Woodbine 0
Armstrong-Ringsted 51, Ar-We-Va 12, *AR ranked No. 1
EYE ON GJ SAYS: The Hawks will have their hands full with the Boyer Valley Bulldogs, who look to be one of the top teams in the “Lincoln League” at this stage of the season. BV took sixth-ranked Kingsley-Pierson, a District 1 team, to overtime before falling by one point while unranked Newell-Fonda, also in District 1, rolled over Glidden-Ralston 45-8. Glidden-Ralston, Kingsley-Pierson and Newell-Fonda all advanced to the playoffs last year. KP lost to state champion Armstrong-Ringsted in the first round while NF was eliminated by Armstrong-Ringsted in the second round. GR made it to the quarterfinal round, losing to Fremont-Mills (Tabor) which was, in turn, eliminated by AR in the semifinals in the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls.
EG will need to stop the running game of Michael Hanigan, BV’s standout junior quarterback/defensive back. Hanigan ran the ball 41 times for 131 yards and two touchdowns against Kingsley-Pierson. He was 4-9 with one interception and 51 yards passing. He has ran the ball 91 times for 601 yards in three games—an impressive 200 yards per game average.
BV will need to shut down the EG aerial assault. Beger is now finding success with a range of receivers, while he and Ostrander are also a threat running the ball. Ostrander is still the go-to guy on the EG passing attack, so how the Hawks hold up against the Bulldogs’ pass defense will go a long way in determining who gets the upper hand in Dunlap.
In the 44-30 loss to Melcher-Dallas, Beger put up 195 total yards on 16-24 passing with one interception, giving him a total of 448 yards for both games combined—an impressive 224 yards per game average.
In other D7/Lincoln League games this week, Ar-We-Va (0-3) is at Coon Rapids-Bayard (1-1) and Woodbine (1-1) is at Glidden-Ralston.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Keeping It Grand
SOUNDS AND SIGHTINGS AROUND THE “JUNCTION”
The Walt and Claudia Light home on East Elizabeth Street has a remodeled front porch. Across the street, Bud and Pat Fagen have upgraded their driveway and added a new paved frontage parking area… Work continues on the new roof on the former Slininger’s funeral home at the corner of Main and South 16th Streets. Also on the “roofing beat,” Beger Roofing just finished putting a new roof on St. Brigid’s Catholic Church on South 15th Street… The new memorial marker at the Lion’s Club was dedicated recently. The marker honors the efforts of Bob Clause and Doug Wessling and all the Lions’ Club members in building the Tree Park east of town and how that led to the establishment of the Lincoln Highway Welcome Center and Historic Bridges area. The handsome new marker faces out to U.S. Highway 30 and is located at the top of the U drive of the Welcome Center, just off the Lincoln. The front reads: DEDICATED TO THE MEMBERS OF GRAND JUNCTION LIONS CLUB WHO IN 1980 ESTABLISHED, PLANTED AND CARED FOR THE ORIGINAL TREE PARK SITE. And on the back: LIONS CLUB TREE PARK… We are still the “City of Trees—Tall and Beautiful” although a few of our leafy friends were “pruned” a bit by the recent high winds that have rolled through town. Some of the, um, “trees no longer living,” were felled by storms and have been laid to rest branch by branch, it seems, at the City Dump/Tree Cemetery on the west edge of town. Reports also indicate that “amateur logging” in various yards the last week or so guarantee already that the fireplaces of Grand Junction will have wood available through the next two winters!.. Business has been brisk at Municipal Swimming Pool as the hot weather has made the pool a respite for young and old alike… Numerous attractive Lincoln Highway heritage signs have been placed along Lincoln Highway through Grand Junction and beyond town on the Lincoln over to Jefferson. The signs feature the “Iowa Byways” marking and logo just above “LINCOLN HIGHWAY Heritage Byway” on the middle and bottom of the signs… Plans continue for the day-long Grand Junction celebration—“Fun Day”—on Saturday, June 30. Mark your calendars!
The Walt and Claudia Light home on East Elizabeth Street has a remodeled front porch. Across the street, Bud and Pat Fagen have upgraded their driveway and added a new paved frontage parking area… Work continues on the new roof on the former Slininger’s funeral home at the corner of Main and South 16th Streets. Also on the “roofing beat,” Beger Roofing just finished putting a new roof on St. Brigid’s Catholic Church on South 15th Street… The new memorial marker at the Lion’s Club was dedicated recently. The marker honors the efforts of Bob Clause and Doug Wessling and all the Lions’ Club members in building the Tree Park east of town and how that led to the establishment of the Lincoln Highway Welcome Center and Historic Bridges area. The handsome new marker faces out to U.S. Highway 30 and is located at the top of the U drive of the Welcome Center, just off the Lincoln. The front reads: DEDICATED TO THE MEMBERS OF GRAND JUNCTION LIONS CLUB WHO IN 1980 ESTABLISHED, PLANTED AND CARED FOR THE ORIGINAL TREE PARK SITE. And on the back: LIONS CLUB TREE PARK… We are still the “City of Trees—Tall and Beautiful” although a few of our leafy friends were “pruned” a bit by the recent high winds that have rolled through town. Some of the, um, “trees no longer living,” were felled by storms and have been laid to rest branch by branch, it seems, at the City Dump/Tree Cemetery on the west edge of town. Reports also indicate that “amateur logging” in various yards the last week or so guarantee already that the fireplaces of Grand Junction will have wood available through the next two winters!.. Business has been brisk at Municipal Swimming Pool as the hot weather has made the pool a respite for young and old alike… Numerous attractive Lincoln Highway heritage signs have been placed along Lincoln Highway through Grand Junction and beyond town on the Lincoln over to Jefferson. The signs feature the “Iowa Byways” marking and logo just above “LINCOLN HIGHWAY Heritage Byway” on the middle and bottom of the signs… Plans continue for the day-long Grand Junction celebration—“Fun Day”—on Saturday, June 30. Mark your calendars!
Thursday, September 23, 2010
EG-GR Game Highlights Homecoming Week
HAWKS TAKE UNDFEATED MARK INTO D7 SHOWDOWN
Homecoming spirit is in full force at East Greene as the Hawks prepare for a big homecoming game against rival Glidden-Ralston tomorrow night. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at Karber Field in Grand Junction.
Homecoming 2010 got underway last Friday with the announcement of the Homecoming Court—five senior girls and five senior boys who are candidates for Homecoming Queen and King. Queen candidates are Brittanee Heaning, Tia Lowe, Jasmine Kinney, Molly Neese and Katlynn Gannon. King candidates are Zach Dearborn, Tyler Cooklin, Charlie Jacobsen, Aaron Lyons and Bret Kersey.
The football team pushed the interest in Homecoming to a higher level that night in Charter Oak with a big 68-12 win over the Charter Oak-Ute Bobcats to remain undefeated with a 4-0 mark and in a tie with Glidden-Ralston and Coon Rapids-Bayard for the lead in District 7 8-Man football. All three teams are 2-0. GR is 3-1 on the season with its only setback a triple-overtime loss to Newell-Fonda, 46-40, in non-district action.
Tomorrow night’s games will have a big impact on who takes the Division 7 crown this year and which of the four teams in the 8-team division will qualify for the playoffs. Besides the EG-GR faceoff, CRB (2-0, 3-1) will travel to Dunlap to face Boyer Valley (1-1, 3-1).
The theme of this year’s Homecoming is “Welcome to the Jungle: Let’s Get a Wildcat Takedown” and the spirit has been building all week with special dress up days for the high school students. Monday was PJ Day with the kids wearing pajamas; Tuesday was Opposite Dress Day, where they dress up as the opposite gender; and Wednesday was Throwback in Sports Day, where students don old uniforms.
Tuesday was also the traditional picture day for the elementary school in Rippey so it was “dress up days” for the younger grades.
All the grades got into the act today with Class Color Day: kindergarten—green; first—blue; second—purple; third—red; fourth—yellow; fifth—pink; sixth—yellow; seventh—orange; eighth—brown; ninth (freshmen)—purple; tenth (sophomores)—red; eleventh (juniors)—blue; and 12th (seniors)—pink.
The Homecoming King and Queen will be crowned tonight at a pep rally and coronation ceremony at the high school gym in Grand Junction. The annual parade is tomorrow at 2 p.m. in Grand Junction and the Homecoming Dance is Saturday night from 8-11 p.m. in the GJ gym.
District 7 Standings (District, Overall)
East Greene 2-0, 4-0
Coon Rapids-Bayard 2-0, 3-1
Glidden-Ralston 2-0, 3-1
Walnut 1-1, 1-3
Boyer Valley 1-1, 3-1
Ar-We-Va 0-2, 1-3
Woodbine 0-2, 1-3
Charter Oak-Ute 0-2, 0-4
Friday, Sept. 17 results:
Boyer Valley, Dunlap 28, Ar-We-Va, Westside 27
Coon Rapids-Bayard 58, Woodbine 27
East Greene, Grand Junction 68, Charter Oak-Ute 12
Glidden-Ralston 62, Walnut 0
EYE ON GJ SAYS: Glidden-Ralston has been a longtime rival of EG with both teams having been in the same conference together since the fall of 1976, with the exception of last year when GR moved to the Rolling Hills while EG was in its final year in the West Central. Most years they were grouped in the same football division with the exception of the early 00s, when EG was in 8-Man and GR was in Class A. Back in 1976, GR was coming off its Class 1A state championship the previous fall. Glidden has long been a football town and Glidden HS and Glidden-Ralston HS have won numerous football titles. The win tally in the EG-GR gridiron rivalry tilts pretty heavily toward the Wildcats. It’s possible that East Greene has not beaten GR since the Hawks’ playoff teams of the late 1980s.
GR switched from Class A to 8-man in 2004 and qualified for the playoffs that year, the first of four successive district crowns and playoff spots, punctuated by the 8-Man state championship in 2005. GR has never finished lower than fourth in the division standings. So GR brings a strong heritage into tomorrow night’s game but the Hawks’ will have the home field advantage and hopefully a big Homecoming crowd to spur them on. Look for GR to bring a good contingent too, as the Wildcat fans are looking to get back on the post-season trail after falling in the sub-state round the last two years.
Both teams have picked up votes in the Associated Press rankings for 8-man football the last two weeks and are among five or six teams just behind the ranked leaders.
This is another “battle of the Lincoln” in D7 as the two schools are both situated in towns on the historic Lincoln Highway. Karber Field is actually right on the historic original highway which runs in conjunction with Iowa Highway 144 north-south through Grand Junction (from Main Street) before turning west toward Jefferson at the southwest corner of GJ at the original Camp Cozy (known locally as Miller’s for the longtime Standard Oil service station there next to the Star Motel, a later name for Camp Cozy).
Homecoming spirit is in full force at East Greene as the Hawks prepare for a big homecoming game against rival Glidden-Ralston tomorrow night. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at Karber Field in Grand Junction.
Homecoming 2010 got underway last Friday with the announcement of the Homecoming Court—five senior girls and five senior boys who are candidates for Homecoming Queen and King. Queen candidates are Brittanee Heaning, Tia Lowe, Jasmine Kinney, Molly Neese and Katlynn Gannon. King candidates are Zach Dearborn, Tyler Cooklin, Charlie Jacobsen, Aaron Lyons and Bret Kersey.
The football team pushed the interest in Homecoming to a higher level that night in Charter Oak with a big 68-12 win over the Charter Oak-Ute Bobcats to remain undefeated with a 4-0 mark and in a tie with Glidden-Ralston and Coon Rapids-Bayard for the lead in District 7 8-Man football. All three teams are 2-0. GR is 3-1 on the season with its only setback a triple-overtime loss to Newell-Fonda, 46-40, in non-district action.
Tomorrow night’s games will have a big impact on who takes the Division 7 crown this year and which of the four teams in the 8-team division will qualify for the playoffs. Besides the EG-GR faceoff, CRB (2-0, 3-1) will travel to Dunlap to face Boyer Valley (1-1, 3-1).
The theme of this year’s Homecoming is “Welcome to the Jungle: Let’s Get a Wildcat Takedown” and the spirit has been building all week with special dress up days for the high school students. Monday was PJ Day with the kids wearing pajamas; Tuesday was Opposite Dress Day, where they dress up as the opposite gender; and Wednesday was Throwback in Sports Day, where students don old uniforms.
Tuesday was also the traditional picture day for the elementary school in Rippey so it was “dress up days” for the younger grades.
All the grades got into the act today with Class Color Day: kindergarten—green; first—blue; second—purple; third—red; fourth—yellow; fifth—pink; sixth—yellow; seventh—orange; eighth—brown; ninth (freshmen)—purple; tenth (sophomores)—red; eleventh (juniors)—blue; and 12th (seniors)—pink.
The Homecoming King and Queen will be crowned tonight at a pep rally and coronation ceremony at the high school gym in Grand Junction. The annual parade is tomorrow at 2 p.m. in Grand Junction and the Homecoming Dance is Saturday night from 8-11 p.m. in the GJ gym.
District 7 Standings (District, Overall)
East Greene 2-0, 4-0
Coon Rapids-Bayard 2-0, 3-1
Glidden-Ralston 2-0, 3-1
Walnut 1-1, 1-3
Boyer Valley 1-1, 3-1
Ar-We-Va 0-2, 1-3
Woodbine 0-2, 1-3
Charter Oak-Ute 0-2, 0-4
Friday, Sept. 17 results:
Boyer Valley, Dunlap 28, Ar-We-Va, Westside 27
Coon Rapids-Bayard 58, Woodbine 27
East Greene, Grand Junction 68, Charter Oak-Ute 12
Glidden-Ralston 62, Walnut 0
EYE ON GJ SAYS: Glidden-Ralston has been a longtime rival of EG with both teams having been in the same conference together since the fall of 1976, with the exception of last year when GR moved to the Rolling Hills while EG was in its final year in the West Central. Most years they were grouped in the same football division with the exception of the early 00s, when EG was in 8-Man and GR was in Class A. Back in 1976, GR was coming off its Class 1A state championship the previous fall. Glidden has long been a football town and Glidden HS and Glidden-Ralston HS have won numerous football titles. The win tally in the EG-GR gridiron rivalry tilts pretty heavily toward the Wildcats. It’s possible that East Greene has not beaten GR since the Hawks’ playoff teams of the late 1980s.
GR switched from Class A to 8-man in 2004 and qualified for the playoffs that year, the first of four successive district crowns and playoff spots, punctuated by the 8-Man state championship in 2005. GR has never finished lower than fourth in the division standings. So GR brings a strong heritage into tomorrow night’s game but the Hawks’ will have the home field advantage and hopefully a big Homecoming crowd to spur them on. Look for GR to bring a good contingent too, as the Wildcat fans are looking to get back on the post-season trail after falling in the sub-state round the last two years.
Both teams have picked up votes in the Associated Press rankings for 8-man football the last two weeks and are among five or six teams just behind the ranked leaders.
This is another “battle of the Lincoln” in D7 as the two schools are both situated in towns on the historic Lincoln Highway. Karber Field is actually right on the historic original highway which runs in conjunction with Iowa Highway 144 north-south through Grand Junction (from Main Street) before turning west toward Jefferson at the southwest corner of GJ at the original Camp Cozy (known locally as Miller’s for the longtime Standard Oil service station there next to the Star Motel, a later name for Camp Cozy).
Friday, September 10, 2010
Hawks Take 2-0 Mark Into D7 Opener
EG FACES BOYER VALLEY IN 'LINCOLN LEAGUE' BATTLE
Two key wins over non-district opponents Melcher-Dallas and Twin Cedars (Bussey) give East Greene some serious momentum heading into tonight’s district opener in Grand Junction.
The Hawks can use the home field advantage to counter-act the offensive prowess of Boyer Valley (Dunlap), which has rolled by its first two opponents, 82-12 (Whiting) and 52-32 (Kingsley-Pierson). This is the first-ever matchup between East Greene and Boyer Valley in football or any other athletic contest.
Boyer Valley is in its first year of 8-man competition, dropping down from Class A where it racked up a 4-5 record and a 2-4 mark in District 8 action in 2009. BV is one of seven teams that switched to 8-man this year and so far they have a combined 11-2 record and one of those two losses was BV’s defeat of Kinsley-Pierson.
Along with BV and Kingsley-Pierson, the other newcomers to “8-ball” this year as are Newell-Fonda, River Valley (Correctionville), Fremont-Mills (Tabor), Midland (Wyoming) and Tripoli.
Last week EG racked up 336 yards and 13 first downs in beating Twin Cedars, a District 5 team, on the Sabers’ home field near Bussey. Schyler Bardole led the rushing brigade with 182 yards on 17 carries and 3 touchdowns. Tory Beger had 12 carries for 49 yards and Tyler Cooklin rushed five times for 25 yards. Beger and Cooklin split the quarterbacking duties with Beger going 3-8 for 65 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception and Cooklin good on 1 of 5 passes for 12 yards and 1 interception.
Beger and Bardole each had a big night on defense with 16 and 12 tackles, respectively. Cooklin snared two interceptions and ran one back for a touchdown. He also had a good night on kick returns with 91 yards, one of which he scored a TD.
EG is now 2-0 on the season and one of just 18 (of 65 total) undefeated teams in 8-man football.
The Hawks opened the season on Aug. 28 with a big 48-6 win over Melcher-Dallas at Karber Field in Grand Junction. The Hawks put 42 points on the board before allowing the Saints to cross the goal line. Bardole led the rushing attack with 172 yards and three touchdowns, while Cooklin passed for 99 yards and three touchdowns. Two of those were caught by Nic Nicolaisen and the other by Bardole.
EG’s defense picked off three passes from MD quarterback Robert Bingham who threw for over 2,000 yards last season. Cooklin had two of the interceptions and Nicolaisen nabbed the other. Bingham went 16-29-3 for 203 yards.
Elsewhere in non-district games, Glidden-Ralston suffered a tough triple-overtime loss to Newell-Fonda, 46-40. The week before GR had rolled over Grandview Park Baptist (Des Moines) 71-7. CRB opened its season with a loss to No. 4-ranked Northeast Hamilton, 68-27, but bounced back last Friday with a 66-25 drubbing of GPB, which is in District 5 along with Melcher-Dallas and Twin Cedars.
EYE ON GJ SAYS: Tonight's game features two real-deal, D7 “Lincoln League” schools, as the Bulldogs will be motoring east on Highway 30 to Grand Junction for this match-up of high schools located in towns on U.S. Highway 30, the historic “Lincoln Highway.”
Boyer Valley was formed when Dunlap CSD merged with Dow City-Arion CSD a few years back, and Dow City-Arion was a merger from a generation before that. All three towns are on Highway 30 west of Denison — first Arion, then Dow City (just two miles down the road) and then Dunlap. The next town west is Woodbine, also a member of D7 and a “Lincoln League” school and town. Woodbine hosts Glidden-Ralston tonight, creating another head-to-head “battle of the Lincoln.” The fifth LL team located on U.S. 30, Ar-We-Va (Westside), hosts CRB.
Tonight’s Lincoln League (District 7) slate:
Boyer Valley @ East Greene
Coon Rapids-Bayard @ Ar-We-Va
Charter Oak-Ute @ Walnut
Glidden-Ralston @ Woodbine
District 7 Standings (Non-District Games)
East Greene 2-0
Boyer Valley 2-0
Ar-We-Va 1-1
Coon Rapids-Bayard 1-1
Glidden-Ralston 1-1
Woodbine 1-1
Charter Oak-Ute 0-2
Walnut 0-2
Sept. 3 Results:
Ar-We-Va 50, River Valley (Correctionville) 20
Boyer Valley 52, Kingsley-Pierson 32
Coon Rapids-Bayard 66, Grandview Park Baptist 25
East Greene 40, Twin Cedars (Bussey) 22
Woodbine 58, Whiting 20
Newell-Fonda 46, Glidden-Ralston 40 (3 OT)
Remsen-Union 68, Charter Oak-Ute 7
Nishnabotna (Farragut) 68, Walnut 26
Aug. 27 Results:
Boyer Valley 82, Whiting 12
East Greene 48, Melcher-Dallas 6
Glidden-Ralston 71 Grandview Park Baptist 7
Kingsley-Pierson 31, Ar-We-Va 24
River Valley 55, Charter Oak-Ute 14
Northeast Hamilton (Blairsburg) 68, Coon Rapids-Bayard 27
East Mills (Malvern) 40, Woodbine 28
Sidney 50, Walnut 25
Friday, August 27, 2010
Hawks Vie for ‘Lincoln League’ Title
EG OPENS SEASON AGAINST MELCHER-DALLAS
East Greene opens the 2010 football season tonight with a home tilt against Melcher-Dallas. After a trip to Twin Cedars (Bussey) in another non-district game next week, the Hawks return home to open District 7 action on Sept. 10 against new district foe Boyer Valley (Dunlap).
The newly aligned District 7 could easily be tabbed the “Lincoln League” as five of the eight high schools are located in communities on U.S. Highway 30, the original Lincoln Highway. Along with East Greene, the other schools on Highway 30 are Glidden-Ralston, Ar-We-Va, Boyer Valley (Dunlap) and Woodbine. Rounding out the “League” are Coon Rapids-Bayard, Charter Oak-Ute and Walnut.
Two of those other three schools are located within less than a dozen miles of U.S. 30—Coon Rapids south of the Lincoln in eastern Carroll County and Charter Oak west of Denison and north of Dunlap in Crawford County, heading along the diagonal that starts at Arcadia and heads down to Missouri Valley. Walnut is the “orphan” of the league. Located less than a mile south of Interstate 80 in the far northeast corner of Pottawattamie County, Walnut is about 40 miles due south of U.S. 30 from Vail.
Not only does D7 encompass five high schools located on the Lincoln, those five school districts among them have 10 towns located on the highway. From east to west, they are: Grand Junction, Ralston, Glidden, Arcadia, Westside, Vail, Arion, Dow City, Dunlap and Woodbine. Grand Junction, however, is the only town to lay claim to being both on both U.S. 30 and the historic Original Lincoln Highway. The original Lincoln spans a point east of Grand Junction—site of the Historic Bridges and Welcome Center—and continues for three miles through Grand Junction along Main Street and Highway 144/Eighth Street to the southwest edge of town, and then on to Jefferson and Scranton, running parallel to “New 30.”
EG vs. Melcher-Dallas
District alignment saw the shifting of Adair-Casey and CAM (Anita) to District 6 while Elk Horn-Kimballton/Exira, a D7 member last year has moved up to Class A. Filling the gap of those three departures are Ar-We-Va, Charter Oak-Ute and Woodbine from District 1. Boyer Valley, which drops down from Class A, was assigned to D7 making it a full 8-team league.
With the shift of district assignments, the non-district match-ups were adjusted too. EG faced Ar-We-Va and Charter Oak-Ute last year but as they are now D7 foes, EG will face two teams from District 5: Melcher-Dallas and Twin Cedars (Bussey).
The Hawks return nine lettermen from a squad that finished fifth of six teams in D7 at 1-4 and 3-6 overall. Co-coaches Tim Bardole and Tony Beger will be looking to the six senior returning lettermen to lead the Hawks this year: Schyler Bardole, Nic Nicolaisen, Wes Onken, Aaron Lyons, Rob Ritchie and Brett Kersey. Also back is Zach Hiller, who lettered as a junior, and sophomore letterwinners Tory Beger and Reed Ostrander.
Bardole has started in the EG backfield since his freshman year and he has been named to all-district team each of the last three years. He rushed for 822 yards on 52 carries last year and scored 14 touchdowns. He was also the Hawks’ leading receiver with 24 catches for 338 yards. Nicolaisen ran the ball 23 times for 163 yards.
Coaches Bardole and Beger will look to either Tyler Cooklin or Tory Beger to handle the QB duties. They will have big shoes to fill as Tom Beger racked up 1,262 yards last season with a 78-174 completion rate. He threw 16 touchdown passes last year and scored 2 rushing TDs.
Lyons and Nicolaisen will anchor the receiving corps this year. Lyons caught 14 passes for 210 yards and Nicolaisen snagged 9 for 137 yards.
The Hawks have some key holes to fill on defense, but have back two of their top four tacklers—Ritchie and Bardole.
Both of EG’s non-district opponents are located in southern Marion County, south of Knoxville and Pella.
Melcher-Dallas: Melcher and Dallas are not a combined school district like Paton-Churdan or Glidden-Ralston, but actually one town. But they were merged. Dallas was established first in the southwestern corner of the county on one rail line and Melcher, a coal mining town, was formed on a different rail line but the towns were less than a mile apart. The distance grew smaller over the years and they basically grew into each other. The two were officially merged in 1986, but each still maintains its own zip code.
The Saints went 3-2 and finished third in the six-team District 6 last year and 4-6 overall. MD lost to Ankeny Christian 69-28 in the substate round of the playoffs. The Saints are led by returning QB Robert Bingham, one of the top returning quarterbacks in 8-man as he threw for 2,220 yards and 31 touchdowns last season. Also back is offensive end Josh Schrader, who had 661 yards receiving and 7 TDs.
Twin Cedars (Bussey): Predominantly a rural school district, Twin Cedars encompasses six very small towns in the southeastern corner of the county. The towns are Bussey, Attica, Hamilton, Tracy, Marysville and Pershing. When the district was formed in 1961 it was a merger of the existing schools in Bussey, Tracy and Attica. Attica is the most western of the towns while Bussey and Tracy are the most eastern. Tracy is almost right on the Marion-Mahaska county line and Bussey is less than a mile west of the county line.
A new high school was built in the country east of Bussey on County Road G71 across the county line into Mahaska County in 1961, as the school district also encompasses all of Jefferson Township in the southwestern corner of Mahaska. A gym was added in 1970 and a new elementary school built on the site in 1976. The school takes its name from the north and south branches of Cedar Creek that flow through the district.
TC has a BEDS enrollment (grades 9-11 in 2009-10) of 125 while Melcher-Dallas is closer in size to East Greene (81) with a BEDS enrollment of 85. The Sabers finished fifth in D5 last year at 1-4 and were 2-7 overall.
In head-to-head competition last year, Melcher-Dallas beat Twin Cedars 70-28 in the last game of the season.
Lincoln League Title Up for Grabs
With last year’s co-champs—Adair-Casey and CAM—now over in District 6, the race for the top of “Lincoln League” is up for grabs. GR and CRB seem to be getting the most attention as they tied for third last year, ending the season with identical 3-2 and 7-2 marks. Each lost in the substate round to end the year at 7-3.
GR returns much of its punishing ground game from last year while CRB will again feature its high-octane aerial attack. Senior QB Michael Schwenk passed for 2,940 yards and 53 TD’s last year while adding another 637 yards and 13 TDs on the ground.
Ar-We-Va and Woodbine both qualified for the playoffs last year as they ended up with Remsen-Union in a three-way tie for second at 5-2 (all 6-3 overall) just behind D1 champion St. Mary’s (Remsen). But all four of the D1 teams were knocked out of the substate round to their D2 competitors. It was the worst substate performance of any of the 8 districts.
Ar-We-Va loses nine players off that squad and will be in a bit of rebuilding this phase, but the Rockets are always competitive.
Boyer Valley is the mystery team, moving down from Class A where it went 2-4 in District 8, finishing in a three-way tie for fourth. Overall, BV was 4-5. Traditionally, when teams make that first year move from A down to 8-man they do very well. EG went 7-2 in its first year in 8-man in 2001 as did CRB in 2002.
When GR made the move in 2005, the Wildcats went 8-1 and won the District 4 crown with a perfect 5-0 mark. GR did not lose a district game over the next three seasons, qualifying for the playoff each year. GR went undefeated and won the state 8-man championship in 2005 and went undefeated again in 2007 before falling to Ar-We-Va, the team it beat to win the district crown, in the quarterfinal round of the playoffs.
Overall, D7 was very competitive last year as the teams went 12-3 against the other districts in the weeks before intra-district play got underway. That was topped only by District 6, which includes Lenox and Ankeny Christian, which went 13-3. D6 gets even tougher this year with Adair-Casey and CAM in the mix while Grandview Park Baptist moves over to D5.
Districts 5, 1 and 8 had the worst showings at 5-11 and that prevailed in the playoff round as those districts had the fewest teams advancing from the substate to the first round.
East Greene 2010 Football Schedule
(Game time for all is 7 p.m.)
Aug. 27: Melcher-Dallas H
Sept. 3: Twin Cedars (Bussey) A
Sept. 10: Boyer Valley H
Sept. 17: Charter Oak-Ute A
Sept. 24: Glidden-Ralston H (HOMECOMING)
Oct. 1: Woodbine A
Oct. 8: Walnut H (PARENTS’ NIGHT)
Oct. 15: Coon Rapids-Bayard A
Oct. 22: Ar-We-Va A
EYE ON GJ SAYS: Melcher-Dallas is a good first-game test for EG as the Hawks’ defense was its strong suit last year. If the Hawks can contain Bingham and his aerial attack it will stand in their favor for stronger teams that pass a lot like CRB as the season progresses.
Iowa Sports Connection has CRB ranked No. 5 in its pre-season Top 10. Northeast Hamilton from D3 is getting some attention also as ISC ranks NEH sixth. CRB and NEH square off tonight in Blairsburg in the season opener for both teams.
The online BC Moore pre-season rankings have CRB, NEH and GR at seventh, eighth and ninth. Ar-We-Va comes in at No. 20 and EG is close behind at No. 24.
BC Moore gave the Hawks some good feedback, noting that EG’s improvement over the last five years is second only to that of CWL (Corwith). EG has improved from 46th to 35th to 30th to 29th to 24th since 2006.
In the Associated Press poll released this week, NEH is ranked No. 7 at 1-0 after a season opening win over Twin River Valley (Bode) 65-6 last week. All the other teams are 0-0 as they kick off their seasons tonight. CRB is among six teams that received votes in the poll but not enough to rank in the top 10. Lenox, No. 1 in the AP poll, takes on No. 9 ranked Stanton tonight in Stanton.
The Des Moines Register poll this week has Lenox at the top and Stanton eighth and Northeast Hamilton ninth.
East Greene opens the 2010 football season tonight with a home tilt against Melcher-Dallas. After a trip to Twin Cedars (Bussey) in another non-district game next week, the Hawks return home to open District 7 action on Sept. 10 against new district foe Boyer Valley (Dunlap).
The newly aligned District 7 could easily be tabbed the “Lincoln League” as five of the eight high schools are located in communities on U.S. Highway 30, the original Lincoln Highway. Along with East Greene, the other schools on Highway 30 are Glidden-Ralston, Ar-We-Va, Boyer Valley (Dunlap) and Woodbine. Rounding out the “League” are Coon Rapids-Bayard, Charter Oak-Ute and Walnut.
Two of those other three schools are located within less than a dozen miles of U.S. 30—Coon Rapids south of the Lincoln in eastern Carroll County and Charter Oak west of Denison and north of Dunlap in Crawford County, heading along the diagonal that starts at Arcadia and heads down to Missouri Valley. Walnut is the “orphan” of the league. Located less than a mile south of Interstate 80 in the far northeast corner of Pottawattamie County, Walnut is about 40 miles due south of U.S. 30 from Vail.
Not only does D7 encompass five high schools located on the Lincoln, those five school districts among them have 10 towns located on the highway. From east to west, they are: Grand Junction, Ralston, Glidden, Arcadia, Westside, Vail, Arion, Dow City, Dunlap and Woodbine. Grand Junction, however, is the only town to lay claim to being both on both U.S. 30 and the historic Original Lincoln Highway. The original Lincoln spans a point east of Grand Junction—site of the Historic Bridges and Welcome Center—and continues for three miles through Grand Junction along Main Street and Highway 144/Eighth Street to the southwest edge of town, and then on to Jefferson and Scranton, running parallel to “New 30.”
EG vs. Melcher-Dallas
District alignment saw the shifting of Adair-Casey and CAM (Anita) to District 6 while Elk Horn-Kimballton/Exira, a D7 member last year has moved up to Class A. Filling the gap of those three departures are Ar-We-Va, Charter Oak-Ute and Woodbine from District 1. Boyer Valley, which drops down from Class A, was assigned to D7 making it a full 8-team league.
With the shift of district assignments, the non-district match-ups were adjusted too. EG faced Ar-We-Va and Charter Oak-Ute last year but as they are now D7 foes, EG will face two teams from District 5: Melcher-Dallas and Twin Cedars (Bussey).
The Hawks return nine lettermen from a squad that finished fifth of six teams in D7 at 1-4 and 3-6 overall. Co-coaches Tim Bardole and Tony Beger will be looking to the six senior returning lettermen to lead the Hawks this year: Schyler Bardole, Nic Nicolaisen, Wes Onken, Aaron Lyons, Rob Ritchie and Brett Kersey. Also back is Zach Hiller, who lettered as a junior, and sophomore letterwinners Tory Beger and Reed Ostrander.
Bardole has started in the EG backfield since his freshman year and he has been named to all-district team each of the last three years. He rushed for 822 yards on 52 carries last year and scored 14 touchdowns. He was also the Hawks’ leading receiver with 24 catches for 338 yards. Nicolaisen ran the ball 23 times for 163 yards.
Coaches Bardole and Beger will look to either Tyler Cooklin or Tory Beger to handle the QB duties. They will have big shoes to fill as Tom Beger racked up 1,262 yards last season with a 78-174 completion rate. He threw 16 touchdown passes last year and scored 2 rushing TDs.
Lyons and Nicolaisen will anchor the receiving corps this year. Lyons caught 14 passes for 210 yards and Nicolaisen snagged 9 for 137 yards.
The Hawks have some key holes to fill on defense, but have back two of their top four tacklers—Ritchie and Bardole.
Both of EG’s non-district opponents are located in southern Marion County, south of Knoxville and Pella.
Melcher-Dallas: Melcher and Dallas are not a combined school district like Paton-Churdan or Glidden-Ralston, but actually one town. But they were merged. Dallas was established first in the southwestern corner of the county on one rail line and Melcher, a coal mining town, was formed on a different rail line but the towns were less than a mile apart. The distance grew smaller over the years and they basically grew into each other. The two were officially merged in 1986, but each still maintains its own zip code.
The Saints went 3-2 and finished third in the six-team District 6 last year and 4-6 overall. MD lost to Ankeny Christian 69-28 in the substate round of the playoffs. The Saints are led by returning QB Robert Bingham, one of the top returning quarterbacks in 8-man as he threw for 2,220 yards and 31 touchdowns last season. Also back is offensive end Josh Schrader, who had 661 yards receiving and 7 TDs.
Twin Cedars (Bussey): Predominantly a rural school district, Twin Cedars encompasses six very small towns in the southeastern corner of the county. The towns are Bussey, Attica, Hamilton, Tracy, Marysville and Pershing. When the district was formed in 1961 it was a merger of the existing schools in Bussey, Tracy and Attica. Attica is the most western of the towns while Bussey and Tracy are the most eastern. Tracy is almost right on the Marion-Mahaska county line and Bussey is less than a mile west of the county line.
A new high school was built in the country east of Bussey on County Road G71 across the county line into Mahaska County in 1961, as the school district also encompasses all of Jefferson Township in the southwestern corner of Mahaska. A gym was added in 1970 and a new elementary school built on the site in 1976. The school takes its name from the north and south branches of Cedar Creek that flow through the district.
TC has a BEDS enrollment (grades 9-11 in 2009-10) of 125 while Melcher-Dallas is closer in size to East Greene (81) with a BEDS enrollment of 85. The Sabers finished fifth in D5 last year at 1-4 and were 2-7 overall.
In head-to-head competition last year, Melcher-Dallas beat Twin Cedars 70-28 in the last game of the season.
Lincoln League Title Up for Grabs
With last year’s co-champs—Adair-Casey and CAM—now over in District 6, the race for the top of “Lincoln League” is up for grabs. GR and CRB seem to be getting the most attention as they tied for third last year, ending the season with identical 3-2 and 7-2 marks. Each lost in the substate round to end the year at 7-3.
GR returns much of its punishing ground game from last year while CRB will again feature its high-octane aerial attack. Senior QB Michael Schwenk passed for 2,940 yards and 53 TD’s last year while adding another 637 yards and 13 TDs on the ground.
Ar-We-Va and Woodbine both qualified for the playoffs last year as they ended up with Remsen-Union in a three-way tie for second at 5-2 (all 6-3 overall) just behind D1 champion St. Mary’s (Remsen). But all four of the D1 teams were knocked out of the substate round to their D2 competitors. It was the worst substate performance of any of the 8 districts.
Ar-We-Va loses nine players off that squad and will be in a bit of rebuilding this phase, but the Rockets are always competitive.
Boyer Valley is the mystery team, moving down from Class A where it went 2-4 in District 8, finishing in a three-way tie for fourth. Overall, BV was 4-5. Traditionally, when teams make that first year move from A down to 8-man they do very well. EG went 7-2 in its first year in 8-man in 2001 as did CRB in 2002.
When GR made the move in 2005, the Wildcats went 8-1 and won the District 4 crown with a perfect 5-0 mark. GR did not lose a district game over the next three seasons, qualifying for the playoff each year. GR went undefeated and won the state 8-man championship in 2005 and went undefeated again in 2007 before falling to Ar-We-Va, the team it beat to win the district crown, in the quarterfinal round of the playoffs.
Overall, D7 was very competitive last year as the teams went 12-3 against the other districts in the weeks before intra-district play got underway. That was topped only by District 6, which includes Lenox and Ankeny Christian, which went 13-3. D6 gets even tougher this year with Adair-Casey and CAM in the mix while Grandview Park Baptist moves over to D5.
Districts 5, 1 and 8 had the worst showings at 5-11 and that prevailed in the playoff round as those districts had the fewest teams advancing from the substate to the first round.
East Greene 2010 Football Schedule
(Game time for all is 7 p.m.)
Aug. 27: Melcher-Dallas H
Sept. 3: Twin Cedars (Bussey) A
Sept. 10: Boyer Valley H
Sept. 17: Charter Oak-Ute A
Sept. 24: Glidden-Ralston H (HOMECOMING)
Oct. 1: Woodbine A
Oct. 8: Walnut H (PARENTS’ NIGHT)
Oct. 15: Coon Rapids-Bayard A
Oct. 22: Ar-We-Va A
EYE ON GJ SAYS: Melcher-Dallas is a good first-game test for EG as the Hawks’ defense was its strong suit last year. If the Hawks can contain Bingham and his aerial attack it will stand in their favor for stronger teams that pass a lot like CRB as the season progresses.
Iowa Sports Connection has CRB ranked No. 5 in its pre-season Top 10. Northeast Hamilton from D3 is getting some attention also as ISC ranks NEH sixth. CRB and NEH square off tonight in Blairsburg in the season opener for both teams.
The online BC Moore pre-season rankings have CRB, NEH and GR at seventh, eighth and ninth. Ar-We-Va comes in at No. 20 and EG is close behind at No. 24.
BC Moore gave the Hawks some good feedback, noting that EG’s improvement over the last five years is second only to that of CWL (Corwith). EG has improved from 46th to 35th to 30th to 29th to 24th since 2006.
In the Associated Press poll released this week, NEH is ranked No. 7 at 1-0 after a season opening win over Twin River Valley (Bode) 65-6 last week. All the other teams are 0-0 as they kick off their seasons tonight. CRB is among six teams that received votes in the poll but not enough to rank in the top 10. Lenox, No. 1 in the AP poll, takes on No. 9 ranked Stanton tonight in Stanton.
The Des Moines Register poll this week has Lenox at the top and Stanton eighth and Northeast Hamilton ninth.
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