In a game heard on WEZC and online at dewittdailynews.com, Monticello scored four first-quarter touchdowns and blew away Rantoul 55-6 Friday night in Illini Prairie Conference high school football action from Rantoul.

Rantoul marched down the field on the opening drive but stalled at the 20-yard line on fourth down and the Sages answered with a drive that culminated with Tylor Bundy carrying it in from four yards out.

On the ensuing drive, Monticello recovered a fumble and scored when senior quarterback Drew Sheppard kept it for a 2-yard run to go up 13-0. 

After the Eagles went 3-and-out on the next possession, Spencer Mitze went up for a jump ball along the sideline and took it in for a 54-yard score to put the Sages up 20-0. 

Monticello forced Rantoul into another three and out and on the ensuing possession, Sheppard got a first and goal snap of as time expired and Bundy finished the play scoring from seven yards out to put Monticello up 27-0.

From there, Sheppard would connect on touchdown passes to Trey Welter, again to Mitze and Bundy would find the end zone again to stake the Sages to a 48-6 halftime lead.

Bundy scored again on the opening drive of the second half to put Monticello up 55-6.

In just two quarters, Sheppard finished 10-for-17 for 208 yards and three touchdowns passing. He also ran for 34 yards and a score on four carries.

With a couple of second-half touches, Bundy reached the 100-yard plateau on eight carries and found the end zone four times. Bundy's efforts earned him the Piatt/DeWitt Counties ServPro Player of the Game award.

Mitze finished with four catches for 119 yards and two touchdowns while Welter hauled in four catches for 70 yards and a touchdown.

Monticello improves to 4-2 overall and will host Paxton-Buckley-Loda next Friday night at 7 pm. Hear the action on 95.9 FM WEZC and online at dewittdailynews.com. 

As heard on WHOW, the Clinton Maroons fell to the Tuscola Warriors by a score of 29-7 on Friday night. Keaton Graves had 9 carries for 29 yards and a touchdown. The ServPro Player of the Game Tristin Potts had 20 carries for 109 yards.

Jordan Quinn led the Warriors going 16 of 26 for 278 yards with 2 touchdowns and an interception. He also had 12 carries for 51 yards. Hunter Branca had 8 catches for 127 yards. Austin Cumming had 4 catches for 120 yards and a touchdown.

With the loss, the Maroons dropped to 1-5 overall and 0-4 in CIC play, eliminating their playoff contention. Tuscola improves to 5-1 overall and 3-1 in the conference.

Tune in Friday, October 7 as Clinton travels to Warrensburg. You can hear the game live on the Big 1520 AM/92.3 FM/106.5 FM WHOW, online at dewittdailynews.com, on the WHOW mobile app, and on Amazon Alexa. Kickoff is set for 7pm.

The Clinton Maroons will look to continue its progress tonight when they travel to Tuscola for a week six Central Illinois Conference high school football tilt.

The Maroons were beaten 49-7 last week by Decatur St. Teresa. Clinton continues to build itself up under second-year coach Ron Bass. While taking a big loss last week, Coach Bass felt his team showed him a lot.

The Warriors enter action 4-1 overall and will look to punch its ticket to the playoffs with a fifth win. 

Game time is 7 pm. Hear the action on The Big 1520 AM/92.3 FM/106.5 WHOW and online at the many WHOW mobile platforms. 

Central Illinois Conference action tonight

Decatur St. Teresa at Sullivan-Okaw Valley 
Central A & M at Warrensburg-Latham
Shelbyville at Meridian

With a crucial stretch for the final third of the high school football season ahead, the Monticello Sages are not looking past a struggling Rantoul team tonight on the road in Illini Prairie Conference high school football action.

Monticello rolled Pontiact 45-0 last week at Homecoming in Monticello. The Sages enter play 3-2 overall with three state-ranked teams coming up after tonight's week six matchup against a winless Rantoul squad. 

Rantoul lost 65-6 to Paxton-Buckley-Loda. Rantoul has struggled to score offensively and has allowed 40 or more points in each of its losses. 

Tonight's game kicks off at 7 pm on 95.9 FM WEZC and online at dewittdailynews.com. 

Illini Prairie

Prairie Central at Paxton-Buckley-Loda
Monticello at Rantoul
St. Joseph-Ogden at Bloomington Central Catholic
Tolono Unity at Pontiac

Week 6 high school football matchups

8-Man Football

Champaign St. Thomas More at Danville Schlarman (Sat.)
Peoria Heights at Cambridge-Ridgewood (Sat.)
South Fork at Decatur LSA (Sat.)
Blue Ridge at Edwardsville Metro-East Lutheran

Apollo

Charleston at Taylorville
Lincoln at Mattoon
Mt. Zion at Effingham 

Big Twelve

Champaign Centennial at Bloomington 
Danville at Normal Community
Normal West at Peoria Manual
Peoria Notre Dame at Champaign Central

Central State Eight

Decatur Eisenhower at Jacksonville 
Decatur MacArthur vs. Springfield at Springfield Southeast
Rochester at Springfield Southeast
Springfield Lanphier at Chatham-Glenwood
Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin at Normal U-High

Heart of Illinois

Eureka at El Paso-Gridley
Fieldcrest at Tri-Valley
Tremont at Dee-Mack
Gibson City Melvin-Sibley vs. Colfax-Ridgeview-Lexington

Lincoln Prairie

Arcola at Sangamon Valley
Cerro Gordo-Bement at Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond
Oakland Tri-County at Argenta-Oreana
Villa Grove at Toledo-Cumberland

Mid-Illini

Canton at Dunlap
Metamora at Pekin
Morton at Limestone
Washington at East Peoria

Sangamo

Athens at Petersburg PORTA
Pittsfield at Pleasant Plains
Riverton at Auburn
Olympia at Maroa-Forsyth
Williamsville at New Berlin 

Non-Conference action tonight

Illinois Valley Central at Urbana 
Ottawa Marquette at LeRoy
Quincy Notre Dame at Mahomet-Seymour

Blue Ridge got by Arcola in three sets - 23-25, 25-18, 25-21 - Thursday night in Lincoln Prairie Conference high school girls' volleyball. 

Leading the Lady Knights was Gracie Shaffer with 31 assists and 27 digs. Phoebe Reynolds contributed 14 kills and Alexis Wike added three aces.

The Lady Knights improve to 18-8 (3-3).

The Maroa-Forsyth Lady Trojans got by Auburn in three sets - 25-20, 22-25, 25-16 - in Sangamo Conference high school girl's volleyball Thursday night from Auburn.

Reya Corley had 17 assists and three aces for the Lady Trojans. Megan Holub, Brynn Jostes, Abi Tertocha, and Addi Voorhees had a pair of aces apiece.

Jostes recorded 12 digs while Holub had ten digs. Voorhees finished with a team-high eight kills, nine digs, a block, and an assist.

Peyton Torbert and Avaleena Stewart had six kills apiece and Savanna Moody had five kills. Stewart also had five blocks. 

Maroa Forsyth moves to 16-5 overall and 4-0 in the Sangamo.

They resume Sangamo action Tuesday hosting Pleasant Plains.

The top of the latest Class 2A and 3A high school football polls remain largely unchanged for a second straight week.

In Class 2A, Wilmington, Decatur St. Teresa, Maroa-Forsyth, Bismarck-Henning, and North Mac remain the top five for a second straight week. 

Rockridge and Tri-Valley are up a spot to 6-7, respectively. Knoxville moved down to no. 8 from no. 6 last week and Carmi White County and Johnston City round out the top ten in Class 2A.

IC Catholic, Williamsville, Reed-Custer, Princeton, and Byron are the top five teams Class 3A again this week. Mt. Carmer, Prairie Central, and Eureka remained unchanged at 6-8 while Seneca and Paxton-Buckley-Loda swapped spots at 9-10 to round out the top 10.

In Class 1A, Ridgeview moved up a spot to take over No. 2 this week. Lena-Winslow remains the unanimous no. 1 while Camp Point Central and Hope Academy tied for third this week. Athens dropped from no. 2 to no. 5 this week.

Shelbyville is up to no. 6 this week from the eighth last week. St. Bede, Greenfield-Northwestern, Fulton, and Ottawa Marquette round out the top ten. 

Tuscola fell from this week's rankings in Class 1A.

Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin takes over no. 1 this week in Class 4A. Richmond-Burton, Joliet Catholic, St. Francis, and Rochester round out the top 5. Stillman Valley, Wheaton Academy, Carterville, Genoa-Kingston, and Macomb remain unchanged rounding out the top 10.

The top four teams in Class 5A all received votes for first place in this week's poll. Morris remained no. 1 with six first-place votes followed by Kankakee with four first-place votes. Sycamore and Mahomet-Seymour swap spots in the poll at 3-4, respectively, each receiving a first-place vote. 

Peoria remains at no. 5 in this week's poll. Chicago Morgan Park, Glenbard South, Highland, LaGrange Park Nazareth, and Sterling round out the top 10.

In Class 6A, Chatham-Glenwood remains no. 7 in this week's poll. Normal West re-enters the poll at no. 10. East St. Louis is the unanimous no. 1 team again this week and Champaign Centennial received a vote in this week's poll but did not make the top 10.

Pekin Remains no. 5 this week in Class 7A. Hersey jumped from no. 9 to no. 2 this week. Chicago Mt. Carmel remains the unanimous no. 1 team in 7A 

In Class 8A, Loyola Academy is no. 1 again this week.

Coming off a convincing 45-0 win over Pontiac at Homecoming on Friday night, Monticello football coach Cully Welter was pleased with his team's performance.

Other than a slow start offensively after a good week of practice, Coach Welter says his team tackled better, started strong in the second half and played much better defense than the week before at Bloomington Central Catholic.

The last third of the Monticello schedule will feature teams ranked in the top 10 in the week five polls. For Coach Welter, he wants his team to start stacking good practices.

The Sages travel to take on a winless Rantoul team on Friday night at 7 pm. Hear all the action on 95.9 FM WEZC and online at dewittdailynews.com. 

The Maroa-Forsyth Lady Trojans used a balanced attack to roll Athens in two sets, 25-19 and 25-17, in Sangamo Conference high school girl's volleyball Tuesday from Maroa-Forsyth High School.

Peyton Torbert led the way for Maroa-Forsyth with nine kills. Addi Voorhees contributed eight kills. Megan Holub, Abi Tortocha, and Vorhees had three aces each. 

Brynn Jostes had nine digs. Reya Corley, Holub, and Voorhees had five digs. 

Tortocha recorded 12 assists while Corley had ten.

The Lady Trojans improve to 13-5 overall and 2-0 in Sangamo action. They travel to Auburn for another conference tilt Thursday night.

Decatur LSA took down Blue Ridge in two sets, 25-14 and 25-19, Tuesday night in Lincoln Prairie Conferenc high school girl's volleyball action in Decatur. 

A slow attack for Blue Ridge was paced by Phoebe Reynolds with 7 kills and 11 digs. Gracie Shaffer added nine assists and a block.  

The Lady Knights fall to 17-8 overalla nd 2-3 in Lincoln Prairie play.

Blue Ridge returns home Thursday to host Arcola in more Lincoln Prairie Conference action.

In losing 49-7 Friday night to Decatur St. Teresa, Clinton Maroons football coach Ron Bass is taking away positives in defeat to one of the best teams high school football has to offer in Illinois.

Coach Bass says right now they are focused on their process more than results and even in defeat, they did some very good things against the Bulldogs Friday.

According to Coach Bass, turnovers in the first half plagued the Maroons from the start and allowed St. T  excellent starting field position on a couple of possessions. 

Heading to Tuscola next week, Coach Bass feels like the Warriors are a beatable team but his team will have to continue to focus on the little things and continue to get better.

On Friday night, Monticello High School's Cully Welter was inducted into the Mahomet-Seymour High School Hall of Fame.

The multi-sate champion and hall of fame football coach was able to attend the ceremony Friday and thanked Mahomet-Seymour for the honor but also the administration at Monticello High School for adjusting Friday night's kick-off so he could be there.

Friday night's Homecoming game against Pontiac was moved to a 7:30 pm kickoff. Welter won three state titles at Aledo with two runner-ups before winning another state title with Monticello in 2018. 

Between three stints at Ridgeview, Aledo and Monticello, Welter's teams have qualified for the postseason every season except his first year at Ridgeview and the COVID season of 2020-21. 

Monticello played discpline football and routed Pontaic 45-0 in a testy Illini Prairie Conference victory in high school football action Friday night from Monticello. 

Pontiac received numerous personal foul penalties throughout the course of the game despite a strong start defensively after rain started to fall shortly after kickoff.

Senior Dalton Tovrea was ejected in the third quarter after receiving his third personal foul penalty. 

Monticello went up 7-0 at the 7:58 mark of the second quarter on a one yard touchdown run by Drew Sheppard. 

Tylor Bundy scored from 20 yards out at the 3:38 mark of the second quarter to up 13-0.

The Sages started the second half with three scores on three possessions. Bundy scored again from ten yards out to go up 19-0. Sheppard then put a pass over the top of the Indians defense to Bundy in the end zone, absorbing a big hit and holding on to the catch for a 15-yard score.

Drew Sheppard was hit late on a 45-yard touchdown to Raiden Colbert at the 3:01 mark of the third quarter and Myles VonBehren took exception to the late hit by Tovrea and was penalized for his retaliation. 

Tovrea would not be long for the game and was ejected on Monticello's next possession after his final personal foul of the night shortly before the quarter expired.

Coming out of the fourth quarter, Monticello went up 38-0 after Sheppard ran for another score from 13 yards out.

Braxton Tharp closed out the scoring for Monticello with a 15 yard touchdown.

Sheppard ran for two touchdowns and threw for two more while Bundy scored three total touchdowns. 

The Indians drop to 1-4 overall while Monticello moves to 3-1 overall.

The Sages travel to Rantoul next Friday for a 7 pm kickoff. Hear the action on 95.9 FM WEZC and online at dewittdailynews.com. 

As heard on WHOW, the Clinton Maroons fell 49-7 to the St. Teresa Bulldogs by a score of 49-7 on Friday night. Junior Tristin Potts had 16 carries for 68 yards. Junior Dawson Graves had 6 carries for 10 yards and got the nod for ServPro Player of the Game for leading the defensive effort. Freshman Keaton Graves had 6 carries for 20 yards and a touchdown. Graves was 1 of 2 passing for yards.

The Bulldogs were led by Joe Brummer who was 11 for 18 passing for 148 yards and 2 touchdowns. Elijah Willis had 5 carries for 36 yards and a touchdown. He also had 1 catch for 63 yards and a touchdown. Ja'carrion Jones had 4 carries for 55 yards and a touchdown. 

With the loss, the Maroons fall to 1-4 on the season. St. Teresa improve to 5-0.

Tune in next week as the Maroons travel to Tuscola. You can hear the game live at 7pm on the Big 1520 AM/92.3 FM/106.5 FM WHOW, online at dewittdailynews.com, on the WHOW mobile app, and on Amazon Alexa.

The Clinton Maroons will have to find a way through the remainder of the football season after learning this week junior quarterback Mason Walker will miss the remainder of the season with a shoulder injury.

Coach Ron Bass says it happened in the second quarter of the team's 13-6 loss to Central A&M Friday night during the Homecoming game. While he credits Walker's toughness, it certainly leaves the team in a tough spot. 

Looking back on the team's performance in week 4, Coach Bass says it's the little things that are showing up on film. He says it's still a work in progress to get the kids to understand it's the little things done right that make a program successful. 

Coach Bass told his team to cherish the opportunity to play an athletic team like Decatur St. Teresa this Friday night at Clinton High School when the Bulldogs visit for a 7 pm kickoff. 

Hear all the action on The Big 1520 AM/92.3 FM/106.5 FM WHOW and on the many WHOW digital platforms. 

Central Illinois Confernece

Meridian at Sullivan-Okaw Valley

Tuscola at Central A & M

Warrensburg-Latham at Shelbyville

A beat up Monticello Sages football team will look to overcome the injury bug which biting pretty hard in the fall of 2023 when they host Pontiac tonight for Homecoming.

A frustrating end led to Bloomington Central Catholic powering past the Sages 42-28 in week four in Bloomington. The Saints turned to a power run game led by junior quarterback Colin Hayes. Monticello Coach Cully Welter was frustrated with his team's tackling late in that game.

Pontiac will bring very good size and a balanced approach into tonight's contest at Monticello. Coach Welter says defensively, the Indians keep you guessing.

Game time tonight is 7:30 pm and can be heard on 95.9 FM WEZC and online at dewittdailynews.com. 

Illini Prairie Conference matchups tonight

Bloomington Central Catholic at Tolono Unity

Illinois Valley Central at Prairie Central

Rantoul at Paxton-Buckley-Loda

Big Twelve

Danville at Champaign Centennial

Normal Community at Bloomington 

Peoria Manual vs. Peoria at Peoria Stadium (Sat.)

Peoria Richwoods)at Normal West

Central State Eight

Chatham-Glenwood at Rochester

Decatur MacArthur at Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin

Jacksonville vs. Springfield at Springfield Southeast

Normal U-High at Decatur Eisenhower

Springfield Lanphier vs. Springfield Southeast at Springfield Southeast (Sat.)

Lincoln Prairie

Sangamon Valley at Cerro Gordo-Bement

Oakland Tri-County at Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond

Toledo-Cumberland at Arcola

Villa Grove at Argenta-Oreana

Mid-Illini

Limestone at Washington

Canton at Metamora

East Peoria at Dunlap

Pekin at Morton

Sangamo

Auburn at Petersburg PORTA

Maroa-Forsyth at Pittsfield

New Berlin at Olympia

Pleasant Plains at Riverton

Williamsville at Athens

Non-conference action tonight

Tri-Valley at Heyworth

El Paso-Gridley vs. Ridgeview-Lexington at Ridgeview

Eureka at Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley

Blue Ridge at Martinsville (Sat.)

Fisher at Dee-Mack

Granite City vs. Peoria Notre Dame at Peoria Richwoods

LeRoy at Fieldcrest

Milledgeville at LSA

Nokomis at St. Joseph-Ogden

Pawnee at Champaign St. Thomas More (Sat.)

Wheaton St. Francis at Champaign Central (Sat.)

The Blue Ridge Lady Knights came from behind to defeat Tri-County in three sets - 22-25, 25-21, 26-24 - in Lincoln Prairie Conference high school girl's volleyball action Thursday night from Blue Ridge.

Gracie Shaffer paced the Lady Knights attack with 26 assist, 23 digs, and a block. Phoebe Reynolds added 11 kills and Cassie Zimmerman had three aces.

Blue Ridge moves to 17-7 overall and 2-2 in the Lincoln Prairie. Tri-County falls to 6-7 overall.

Chase Brown became the first Illinois running back to rush for 100-plus yards in five straight games, Tommy DeVito passed for 329 yards and three touchdowns and the Fighting Illini blanked Chattanooga 31-0 on Thursday night.

Illinois improved to 3-1 and is off to its best start since 2015.

Brown capped a five-play, 64-yard scoring drive with a 9-yard touchdown run after the defense forced Chattanooga (3-1) into a three-and-out on its first drive.

He finished with 108 rushing yards on 20 carries and currently leads all FBS rushers with 604 yards through four games.

The closest the Mocs came to scoring came early in the second quarter when they drove to the Illinois 16-yard line. Jartavius Martin picked off a Preston Hutchinson pass in the end zone to end the Mocs' threat and preserve a 10-0 lead.

The Illini recorded their first shutout since a 2015 win over Western Illinois.

Chattanooga went just 4 of 14 on third downs and gained 142 total yards. Illinois piled up 502 yards of offense.

Hutchinson was sacked four times and completed just 6 of 18 passes for 49 yards with two interceptions.

Illinois nearly quadrupled Chattanooga's total first-half yardage, 332 yards to 84 yards, and led 24-0 at intermission.

Williams' 63-yard touchdown off a screen pass made it 31-0 with 4:56 left in the third quarter.

DeVito became the first Illinois quarterback to pass for more than 300 yards in a game since Brandon Peters threw for 369 yards at Michigan State in 2019.

Ailym Ford rattled off runs of 39 and 32 yards for the Mocs' biggest gains of the night. He finished with 93 yards on 17 carries.

Andrew Southard missed a 43-yard field-goal attempt early in the third quarter after Ford's 32-yard run took the Mocs into Illini territory.

Caleb Griffin kicked a 34-yard field goal to put Illinois up 10-0 in the first quarter.

Bret Bielema returns to his old stamping grounds when the Illini play at Wisconsin on Oct. 1.

Eastern Illinois and Murray State prepare to open the Ohio Valley Conference portion of the schedule against each other on Saturday night.  

Both teams enter at 0-3 season on the year with EIU coming off a 35-7 loss at Illinois State in the 110th Mid-America Classic.  Murray State is coming off a 31-0 loss at Ball State.  

This will be the final time the two schools will meet as Ohio Valley Conference foes with Murray State moving to the Missouri Valley Football Conference next season.

Game time Saturday is 4 pm. Hear all the action starting at 3:30 pm on WHOW and its many digital platforms.

In a game heard on WHOW, Shane Bieber pitched two-run ball into the eighth inning, and the Cleveland Guardians beat the Chicago White Sox 4-2 on Thursday night for a three-game series sweep.

Cleveland opened a seven-game lead over Chicago in the AL Central with its 15th win in 18 games. The Guardians (83-67) can clinch the franchise's first division title since 2018 as early as Sunday.

Bieber (12-8) earned his fourth straight win. The 2020 AL Cy Young Award winner allowed seven hits, struck out five and walked none in 7 2/3 innings.

Trevor Stephan finished the eighth and Emmanuel Clase handled the ninth for his AL-best 37th save in 41 chances.

Cleveland's pitching staff issued just one walk in the three-game set.

Gavin Sheets homered for Chicago in the eighth. Johnny Cueto (7-9) allowed four runs, three earned, and eight hits in six innings in his third straight loss.

Chicago isn't out of it yet, but it needs lots of wins - and help - down the stretch.

The White Sox (76-74) have dropped three straight and four of six overall.

Cleveland went ahead to stay on Jose Ramirez's sacrifice fly in the third. Steven Kwan hit an RBI triple in the fifth and scored on another Ramirez sacrifice fly, giving the Guardians a 4-1 lead.

The White Sox, who started September with an 8-2 streak but failed to make up much ground on the streaking Guardians, got a run in the first on Eloy Jimenez's RBI single.

Lucas Giolito (10-9, 5.07 ERA) goes against Tigers LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (3-5, 4.35 ERA) on Friday night.

Brendan Donovan hit his first career grand slam in the seventh inning to lead Albert Pujols and the Cardinals to a 5-4 victory against the San Diego Padres on Thursday, snapping a three-game losing streak.

Pujols remained at 698 career homers, although he did drive two balls to deep left field, one for a single and one for an out on the warning track. The next stop in his pursuit of the 700-homer club is Dodger Stadium, where the Cardinals open a three-game series on Friday.

Manny Machado hit his 30th homer for the Padres, who had won five in a row. They currently hold the NL's No. 2 wild-card spot.

Donovan's slam made a winner of Jack Flaherty (1-1), who struck out nine in six innings. He allowed three runs, two earned, on four hits and four walks.

Giovanny Gallegos pitched the ninth for his 14th save.

The Cardinals, who had been shut out in their previous three games, got on the board when Nootbaar led off the fifth with a drive to right against Joe Musgrove for his 13th homer. That ended a scoreless streak of 31 2/3 innings by Padres starters, five outs shy of the club record.

Musgrove was gone after five innings and 72 pitches, and Adrian Morejon breezed through a perfect sixth to hold a 3-1 lead.

Alec Burleson singled leading off the seventh and Nootbaar drew a one-out walk, leading manager Bob Melvin to bring on Nick Martinez (4-4). Tommy Edman walked to load the bases before Donovan drove his first career grand slam deep to right-center.

Musgrove allowed one run and five hits, struck out four and walked two.

Jose Quintana (5-6, 3.16 ERA) starts Friday night in the opener of a three-game series at the Los Angeles Dodgers. Andrew Heaney (3-2, 2.66 ERA) pitches for the NL West leaders.

Rookie Hayden Wesneski had an immaculate inning in his second major league start to lead the Chicago Cubs to a 3-2 victory over the skidding Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday night.

Wesneski (2-1) gave up two runs and five hits in 6 1/3 innings while striking out six and walking two in sending Pittsburgh to its seventh straight loss. It was his fourth appearance in the majors.

Wesneski had an immaculate inning in the fifth when he struck out the side on nine pitches. He fanned the three hitters at the bottom of the order: Jack Suwinski, Zack Collins and Jason Delay.

Mark Leiter Jr. got the last seven outs for his third save. The Pirates put the runners on second and third with two outs in the ninth, but Rodolfo Castro lined out to center field to end the game.

Christopher Morel hit a two-run double, and David Bote and Michael Hermosillo had two hits for the Cubs, who won their third straight game.

Mitch Keller (5-12) pitched well in a losing effort, allowing two runs and four hits in six innings. He struck out seven and walked two.

Keller has yielded three earned runs or fewer in 17 of 20 starts since being moved back to the rotation May 31 following a brief demotion to the bullpen.

Bryan Reynolds was 3 for 3 with an intentional walk for the Pirates. Kevin Newman homered.

Morel's double down the left-field line with two outs in the second inning opened the scoring.

The start of the game was delayed 25 minutes because of rain and momentarily in the seventh inning when the stadium lights went out.

Javier Assad (1-2, 3.86) will start Friday night. He lasted just two innings in his previous start last Sunday against Colorado, allowing four runs and taking the loss.

Pirates RHP Bryse Wilson (3-9, 6.07) is 1-3 with a 6.48 ERA in his last seven games, including six starts.

While Aaron Rodgers has a deep appreciation for what Tom Brady has accomplished during an unparalleled NFL career, he doesn't see himself following the seven-time Super Bowl champion's lead of playing well into his 40s.

Brady's already won two Super Bowls in his 40s. Less than six weeks after retiring in February, he announced he was returning for a 23rd season to pursue ''unfinished business'' with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who host Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.

The league's all-time passing leader turned 45 during training camp. What impresses Rodgers most about Brady's longevity is how well he continues to play.

Tampa Bay is 2-0 against Green Bay since Brady joined the Bucs in 2020, including a 31-26 victory in the NFC championship game two seasons ago.

The Bucs will play without leading receiver Mike Evans, who's serving a one-game suspension for his role in an on-field brawl at New Orleans last week. Brady could also be without two other primary targets - Chris Godwin (hamstring) and Julio Jones (knee) - who sat out against the Saints.

Packers rookie receiver Christian Watson went to Plant High School in Tampa and expects to have plenty of friends and relatives watching him Sunday. The second-round pick from North Dakota State has five catches for 43 yards through his first two games.

The Chicago Bears were riding high after a surprising victory over San Francisco in a rain-soaked season opener at Soldier Field, only to get taken down by Aaron Rodgers and the rival Green Bay Packers yet again.

They will try to bounce back when Lovie Smith - their former coach - and the winless Houston Texans visit Sunday.

Both teams have experienced their share of frustration. The Bears (1-1) have some big issues in their passing game, and the Texans (0-1-1) are simply searching for ways to win after failing to finish the first two weeks.

Houston settled for a 20-20 tie in the opener against Indianapolis after blowing a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter. The Texans also led entering the fourth last week against Denver, only to lose 16-9.

As frustrating as those two games have been, the Texans see encouraging signs coming off a 4-13 season.

The Bears got their run game going in a 27-10 loss at Green Bay. But when it comes to passing, they're not getting much.

Justin Fields, in his second season, is 15 of 28 for 191 yards. He has the fewest attempts in the NFL among qualifiers. Only Dallas' Dak Prescott has fewer completions and yards, and he missed last week's game following thumb surgery.

Smith led the Bears to an 81-63 record and a Super Bowl appearance from 2004-12. He was fired following a 10-win season.

The Bears have just one winning record and two playoff appearances since they let him go. They're also on their fourth coach since, with Matt Eberflus in his first season

Chris Buescher gave RFK Racing, a team long-owned by Jack Roush that added Brad Keselowski as a co-owner this year, its first victory in a points-paying Cup race in over five years by winning the night race at Bristol last Saturday night.

2014 series champion Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch (2015, 2019) and Richard Childress Racing teammates Austin Dillon and Tyler Reddick were eliminated as the playoffs moves to the round of 12 starting this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.

Buescher became the 19th different winner in NASCAR’s top series this season, matching a record accomplished four other times, and the third straight non-playoff participant to win in the postseason. 

Chase Elliott leads Joey Logano by 15 points, Ross Chastain by 20 and defending series champ Kyle Larson by 21.

Kyle Larson won from the pole position in the fall race last season on his way to the 2021 championship.

The 334-lap, 500 mile race begins at 2:30 pm Sunday afternoon. 

Noah Gragson held off Brandon Jones over the closing laps at Bristol to win his third consecutive XFinity Series race and series-best sixth this year.

Gragson enter the first race of the XFinity playoffs as the top seed while A.J. Allmendinger won his second consecutive regular season title. Gragson leads Ty Gibbs by 13 points, Justin Allgaier by 18 and Allmendinger by 19 heading into the Round of 12. Ryan Sieg claimed the last spot in the postseason by five points over Landon Cassill, who finished 35th.

John Hunter Nemechek won after starting 10th last fall in Texas. 

The 200-lap, 300 mile race starts at 2:30 pm Saturday afternoon. 

The Camping World Truck Series returns with the second race in the round of eight returns next Saturday at Talladega. 

The Shelbyville Rams have joined the Class 1A Top 10 and the 2A and 3A polls remain largely unchanged as the high school football regular season crosses into the halfway point this Friday night.

The Rams join the 1A top ten, checking in at no. 8 this week. Lena-Winslow, Athens, and Ridgeview remain 1-3, unchanged from last week. Camp Point Central and Hope Academy round out the top 5. Fulton drops from no. 4 to no. 6 this week. St. Bede is new to the top 10 at no. 7 and Iroquois West and Ottawa Marquette round out the top 10. 

Central A&M and Tuscola received votes in this week's poll but did not crack the top 10.

The Class 2A poll is almost unchanged as 1-8 remains the same as last week. Wilmington, Decatur St. Teresa, Maroa-Forsyth, Bismarck-Henning, and North Mac are the top 5 teams this week. Knoxville, Rockridge and Tri-Valley are 6-8, respectively. Johnston City is up a spot to no. 9 and Carmi White County enters the poll at no. 10. 

The top 5 in Class 3A are unchanged. IC Catholic, Williamsville, Reed-Custer, and Princeton are again the top 5 teams. Mt. Carmel, Prairie Central, and Eureka remain the same at no. 6-8, respectively. Paxton-Buckley-Loda enters the poll at no. 9 while Tolono Unity re-enters the poll tied for tenth with Seneca. 

Joliet Catholic and Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin break their tie for 1-2 this week. Richmond Burton moves up a spot after a big week 4 win over Normal West. St. Francis and Rochester round out the top 5. 

Stillman Valley, Wheaton Academy, Carterville, Genoa-Kingston, and Macomb round out the 4A top 10.

Morris, Kankakee, Mahomet-Seymour, and Sycamore are unchanged 1-4 in Class 5A this week. Peoria moved up a spot to round out the top 5. Chicago Morgan Park, Glenbard South, LaGrange Park-Nazareth, Highland and Sterling rounds out the top 10 in 5A. Decatur MacArthur received a vote in this week's poll.

East St. Louis is the no. 1 team in 6A. Chatham-Glenwood moved up a spot to no. 5 this week and Normal West's loss to Richmond Burton bumped them from the top 10. 

Chicago Mt. Carmel is the unanimous no. 1 in this week's 7A poll. Pekin moved up a spot to no. 5.

Loyola Academy remains the unanimous no. 1 in Class 8A.

Kim Ha-seong homered and Mike Clevinger had a strong outing for the Padres, who shut down Pujols and the Cardinals 5-0 Tuesday night to clinch their first winning record in a full season since 2010.

Kim homered to left off Adam Wainwright (11-10) with two outs in the fourth, his 10th, for a 3-0 lead. Manny Machado lobbed an RBI single into shallow right with one out in the fifth and Juan Soto hit a run-scoring single to right off Packy Naughton with two outs in the seventh.

Jake Cronenworth hit a two-run, opposite-field single with two outs in the first.

Clevinger (6-7) held the Cardinals to three hits in 5 2/3 innings while striking out three and walking two. Padres starters have a scoreless streak of 20 2/3 innings. The right-hander got the hook after allowing a double to Paul Goldschmidt with two outs in the sixth and then hitting Nolan Arenado with a pitch. Martinez came on and retired Corey Dickerson.

Wainwright allowed four runs and six hits in six innings, walked two and struck out one.

Myles Straw had a tiebreaking two-run double in Cleveland's five-run 11th inning, and the Guardians beat the Chicago White Sox 10-7 Tuesday night to move closer to the American League Central title.

Straw got his game-winning hit off Jake Diekman (5-4), and Steven Kwan followed with his fourth hit - an RBI single - to score Straw. Kwan scored on Jose Ramirez's sacrifice fly, and a throwing error by Chicago catcher Seby Zavala allowed Amed Rosario to score with an insurance run.

Emmanuel Clase (3-4), who allowed a game-tying single to Jose Abreu in the 10th for his fourth blown save in 40 chances, earned the win. Bryan Shaw survived a two-run home run by AJ Pollock - his 1,00th career hit - in the bottom of the 11th.

Cease lowered his ERA to 2.13 despite striking out three, tying a season low in an April 21 loss at Cleveland. Cease has a 1.35 ERA with 146 strikeouts in his last 21 starts.

David Bote hit a tying home run in the seventh inning, then added a sacrifice fly in the eighth that lifted the Chicago Cubs over the Miami Marlins 2-1 Tuesday night.

Esteban Quiroz got the first two hits of his major league career and P.J. Higgins also had two hits for the Cubs, who snapped a three-game losing skid

Chicago loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth against reliever Steven Okert (5-3).

Michael Hermosillo was hit by a pitch and Zach McKinstry reached on a sacrifice bunt when catcher Jacob Stallings threw late to second. Quiroz had a bunt single and Bote hit a go-ahead flyball.

Adbert Alzolay (1-1) threw two innings of perfect relief. Brandon Hughes closed with a scoreless ninth around Garrett Cooper's leadoff double for his sixth save.

Miami starter Pablo Lopez kept the Cubs scoreless until Bote's leadoff homer in the seventh tied it at 1. Bote drove Lopez's fastball over the wall in left-center for his third homer.

Lopez's one-run outing ended after 6 2/3 innings. The right-hander gave up five hits and hit a batter.

Jordan Groshan's two-out RBI infield single against Adrian Sampson in the second put Miami ahead. Bote dove and deflected the hard grounder to third base, but couldn't retrieve it to throw out Groshan while JJ Bleday scored from third.

Cubs pitchers retired 13 straight before Cooper's double. The Marlins had eight singles through the first four innings but hit into two double plays.

Sampson completed six innings of one-run ball. He allowed eight hits, walked one and struck out three.

If Illinois can take care of business Thursday night when the 10th ranked team in the FCS Chattanooga comes to Champaign, Illinois enters a big contest at Wisconsin next Saturday at 3-1. 

The key to the Illini's success so far has been an effect ground game and a defense that is vastly improved from last season. Illini beat writer Bob Asmussen says the health of Keith Randolph, Jr. has been huge for Illinois this season.

Illinois defensive coordinator Ryan Walters is certain to start gaining interest in head coaching jobs in the next year or two and Asmussen says the buzz around the building in Champaign is this is the best coaching staff the program has ever had.

In college football, head coaches get a very short leash to prove their worth to a program and for Asmussen, he believes second-year coach Bret Bielema is the right man for Illinois and has them trending in a very positive direction. 

Arthur-Lovinginton-Atwood-Hammond defeated Blue Ridge 25-14 and 25-16 in Lincoln Prairie Confernece high school girl's volleyball action Tuesday night in Atwood.  

Blue Ridge was led by Gracie Shaffer with 9 assists. Cassie Zimmerman added 11 digs while Phoebe Reynolds contributed six kills and Kylie Madden had an ace.

With the loss, the Lady Knights drop to 16-7 overall and 1-2 in the Illini Prairie Conference. They will host Tri-County in another Lincoln Prairie Conference tilt on Thursday. 

After falling behind 13-0 in Illini Prairie Conference play at Bloomington Central Catholic Friday night, the Monticello Sages rebounded to score 14 unanswered points before the half, but things fell apart in the second half as the Siants imposed their will to run away with at 42-28 win.

Coach Cully Welter was pleased with the effort that led to the comeback in the first half but was disappointed after BCC started to take the game over on the ground in the fourth quarter.

Coach Welter did not waste time laying out the challenge to his team. After the game in the post-game huddle, he challenged everyone to get better.

Monticello hosts Pontiac Friday night at 7:30 pm for the Homecoming game. Hear the action on 95.9 FM WEZC and online at dewittdailynews.com.
 

Despite falling 13-6 at home to Central A&M on Homecoming night at Clinton High School Friday, Maroons football Coach Ron Bass believes his team continues to take steps forward.

He says the tough loss is a good step forward in the process of his program becoming a winner. He was proud of the effort they gave Friday against a perennially strong football program.

Perhaps the next step forward for Clinton is to hone in on the little things. Coach Bass says when you watch a program like Central A&M, it's noticeable they are well coached and do the little things that lead to wins and that's what he sees as the next step for his group.

Coach Bass thought the option game was very strong for his team Friday and would like to see them turn to that more. He notes they are in the very infant stages of implementing that scheme.

Coach Bass indicates they continue to keep things simple defensively and was pleased with the execution of his team despite Central A&M getting open for some big plays. 

The Maroons take on Decatur St. Teresa Friday night. Hear the action on The Big 1520 AM/92.3 FM/106.5 FM WHOW as well as on the many WHOW digital platforms. 

The LeRoy Lady Panthers got by Blue Ridge in two sets - 25-21 and 25-14 - Monday night in high school girl's volleyball action from Farmer City.

Gracie Shaffer paced the Lady Knights with 14 digs, six assists, an ace, and a block while Phoebe Reynolds contributed six kills.

Blue Ridge falls to 16-5 overall and travels to Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond tonight for a Lincoln Prairie Conference tilt.

The first month of the college football season has been wild and for teams in the Big Ten West, the division feels almost wide open.

Could the Illinois Fighting Illini win eight football games this year? It's not out of the question says Illini beat writing Bob Asmussen who wouldn't have guessed it just a few weeks ago.

For Asmussen, he believes the way byes are set up in this year's schedule is really going to favor second-year coach Bret Bielema. 

This week's opponent, Chattanooga ranks tenth in the latest FCS top 25. This week's game is Thursday night at Memorial Stadium coming off a bye this last weekend.

Bryan De La Cruz hit a grand slam in the third inning and the Miami Marlins beat the Chicago Cubs 10-3 on Monday night.

Rookie Charles Leblanc and Jon Berti also went deep while Miguel Rojas had three hits for the Marlins. Berti also singled twice and stole two bases, giving him an NL-leading 36.

Miami starter Edward Cabrera (6-3) threw five innings of three-run ball. The rookie right-hander gave up three hits, walked three, struck out four and hit two batters in a 79-pitch outing that was cut short because of a blister on his right middle finger.

Berti hit a solo homer to put Miami on the board. Leblanc then reached on a fielding error, Brian Anderson was hit by a pitch and Nick Fortes hit a two-out infield single that loaded the bases. De La Cruz followed with an opposite-field drive to right-center for his 10th homer and second career grand slam.

The Marlins added two runs in the fourth and ended Miley's outing after three-plus innings. Jerar Encarnacion scored from third on a wild pitch and Berti hit an RBI single.

In his third start since returning from the 60-day injured list, Miley allowed seven runs, three earned, on seven hits. He walked two in addition to plunking Anderson.

The Cubs struck first on Christopher Morel's solo homer and Ian Happ's RBI double in the third.

Adrian Sampson (2-5, 3.48 ERA) will start the middle game of the series for the Cubs Tuesday and RHP Pablo Lopez (9-10, 3.99) will start for the Marlins.

Aaron Jones rushed for 132 yards and a touchdown and caught a scoring pass from Aaron Rodgers, who continued his domination of the Chicago Bears by leading Green Bay to a 27-10 victory on Sunday night.

Jones had five carries for 49 yards and three catches for 27 yards in a season-opening 23-7 loss at Minnesota, and the Packers (1-1) vowed he'd have a bigger role.

Jones came through, gaining 8.8 yards per rush and leading the Packers' 203-yard ground attack. He had 15 carries as well as three catches for 38 yards.

Green Bay beat the Bears (1-1) for a seventh straight time, matching its second-longest win streak in the 205-game history of the NFL's oldest rivalry. The Packers won 10 straight over the Bears from 1994-98. They have two other seven-game win streaks in this series, from 1928-30 and 2000-03.

The Packers built a 24-7 halftime lead by dominating the second period, then made a goal-line stand in the fourth quarter to thwart a Bears comeback attempt.

A week after he struggled to connect with his new crop of receivers, Rodgers was characteristically efficient, going 19 of 25 for 234 yards and two touchdowns. The Packers are 24-5 against the Bears in games Rodgers has started.

Chicago's David Montgomery rushed for 122 yards on 15 carries. Fields had a touchdown run and was 7 of 11 for 70 yards with an interception.

The Packers outscored the Bears 21-0 in the second quarter. Jones scored twice, both times catching pitches from Rodgers in the backfield and reaching the end zone.

The first was a backward pass that got ruled as a 15-yard carry. On the second touchdown, Jones went in motion, caught a flip pass in the backfield and scored from 8 yards out. Jones benefited from the return of right tackle Elgton Jenkins, playing for the first time since tearing his left anterior cruciate ligament last Nov. 12.

Rodgers completed passes to eight receivers. None had more than three receptions, but Sammy Watkins turned his trio of catches into 93 yards.

The Bears made the game competitive in the second half by capitalizing on Green Bay's mistakes.

Cairo Santos' 44-yard field goal cut Green Bay's lead to 24-10 after a fumbled exchange between Rodgers and Dillon gave the Bears the ball at their own 31.

The Packers' next series got foiled when a snap from Josh Myers hit receiver Christian Watson, who was in motion, and got past Rodgers. Dillon recovered the fumble, but it put the Packers in a third-and-22 situation and led to a punt.

Chicago drove toward Green Bay's end zone and had an apparent 6-yard touchdown run by Fields overturned when replays determined he was down before stretching his arm across the goal line. On the next play, Fields ran again on fourth-and-goal from inside the 1, and officials ruled that Preston Smith and Jarran Reed stopped him just short of the end zone with a little over eight minutes left in the game.

The Bears host Houston on Sunday While the Packers are at Tampa Bay on Sunday.

In a game heard on WHOW, Andrew Vaughn hit his first career grand slam, and the Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers 11-5 on Sunday.

Eloy Jimenez and AJ Pollock also connected as Chicago won for the third time in four games. Jimenez finished with three hits and three RBIs, and Gavin Sheets had two hits and two RBIs.

The White Sox are trying to catch the AL Central-leading Guardians, but they are running out of time. They trail Cleveland by 3 1/2 games after the Guardians lost 3-0 to Minnesota.

Chicago hosts Cleveland on Tuesday night in the opener of a three-game series.

The White Sox improved to 12-4 against the last-place Tigers in the season series. The teams play again in Chicago next weekend.

The reigning AL Central champions grabbed control with five runs in the fifth

Sheets snapped a tie with a bases-loaded walk against Drew Hutchison (2-9), and Vaughn made it 7-2 when he drove a 1-2 slider from James Foley deep to left-center for his team-high 17th homer.

The White Sox (76-71) have recorded 31 homers in their last 19 games. They are 27-5 when they hit at least two homers.

Tanner Banks (2-0) pitched three innings for the win.

White Sox CF Luis Robert (hand) was held out of the lineup as a precaution. Cairo said Robert could return Tuesday. 

RHP Michael Kopech (shoulder), who was placed on the 15-day IL on Saturday, said he was shut down as a precaution and hopes to return before the end of the season.

There was no word on a starting pitcher for either team for Tuesday. Chicago's pitching plan remains in flux after Johnny Cueto got sick.

Stuart Fairchild homered and Luis Cessa tossed five shutout innings as the Cincinnati Reds shut down Albert Pujols and the St. Louis Cardinals 3-0 on Sunday.

The 42-year-old Pujols, who entered the game with 698 home runs, went 0 for 4. He received a lengthy standing ovation from the sellout crowd in each of his plate appearances.

Pujols sits fourth on the all-time list behind Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755) and Babe Ruth (714). He has 19 home runs this season, and his last round-tripper came in a 6-5 win over the Reds on Friday. The Cardinals have 14 games remaining.

Cessa got Pujols to ground out and fly out in two chances against his childhood idol.

St. Louis, which managed just two hits, had a three-game winning streak snapped.

The Cardinals hold an eight-game lead over Milwaukee in the NL Central.

Fairchild hit a two-run homer in the sixth off Jordan Montgomery, who allowed three runs on seven hits over 5 1/3 innings. Montgomery (8-5) struck out nine and walked two.

Cessa (4-3) gave up just one hit, a single by DeJong in the third.

Buck Farmer recorded his second save in three opportunities and induced Pujols to pop out to start the ninth inning.

Spencer Steer added a run-scoring hit for the Reds, who had lost nine of their previous 10 games,

Cincinnati did not allow an earned run over the final 24 2/3 innings of the five games series and won two games in the set.

The Cardinals rested regulars Paul Goldschmidt and Tommy Edman before heading out on a 10-day, eight game road trip.

Cardinals RHP Jordan Hicks was placed on the 15-day injury list with fatigue and neck spasms. Hicks has allowed three runs in 3 2/3 innings over his last three appearances.

Adam Wainwright (11-9, 3.29) will open a three-game series at San Diego on Tuesday. Wainwright and battery mate Yadier Molina set an all-time record of 325 starts together on Wednesday.

Randal Grichuk had two hits and two RBIs, and the Colorado Rockies beat the Chicago Cubs 4-3 on Sunday for a rare second straight win on the road.

Connor Joe hit a solo homer for last-place Colorado, and Brendan Rodgers had a run-scoring groundout. Staked to an early four-run lead, Ryan Feltner (3-8) pitched 5 1/3 innings of three-run ball for his first win since Aug. 9.

Colorado is tied with Kansas City for the worst road record in the majors at 24-48. It took two of three at Wrigley Field for its first road series win since July 7-10 at Arizona. It also closed out a 3-2 trip against the White Sox and Cubs for its first winning road trip since June 7-12.

Yan Gomes homered and drove in a season-high three runs for the Cubs, who trailed 4-0 after two innings. David Bote had two hits.

Coming off his first major league win against the Mets in New York, Cubs starter Javier Assad (1-2) struggled with his control. He issued four walks in two innings and was charged with four runs and two hits.

Feltner allowed six hits, struck out four and walked one. The right-hander went 0-5 with a 6.28 ERA in his previous six starts.

Daniel Bard pitched a perfect ninth for his 32nd save.

Charlie Blackmon had two hits, walked and scored a run for Colorado. The four-time All-Star was in a 5-for-44 slump before delivering a tiebreaking triple in the ninth on Saturday.

The Rockies jumped ahead 3-0 in the first as Assad labored, throwing 41 pitches and walking three.

Rodgers drove in the first run with a groundout. Grichuk knocked in two with a single, the only hit in the rally.

Joe made it 4-0 in the second with his seventh homer, a drive to left.

Gomes' second single of the game drove in two runs in the third. His solo shot deep to left in sixth trimmed it to 4-3.

Wade Miley (1-0, 2.89 ERA) starts Monday night in Miami.

Central Illinois Conference 

Meridian at Decatur St. Teresa 0-62
Shelbyville at Tuscola 40-6
Sullivan-Okaw Valle at Warrensburg-Latham 50-7

Illini Prairie Conference

Prairie Central at Rantoul 48-6
Paxton-Buckley-Loda at Pontiac 43-6
St. Joseph-Ogden at Illinois Valley Central 41-14

Apollo

Effingham at Mattoon 34-0
Mahomet-Seymour at Lincoln 63-14
Mt. Zion at Taylorville 21-6

Big 

Bloomington at Danville 14-28
Champaign Centennial at Champaign Central 45-20
Normal Community at Peoria  30-64
Peoria Richwoods vs. Peoria Notre Dame at Dozer Park 48-35

Central State Eight

Chatham-Glenwood at Springfield Southeast 42-0
Decatur Eisenhower at Decatur MacArthur 0-33
Jacksonville at Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin 14-55
Springfield at Normal U-High 32-13
Springfield Lanphier at Rochester 0-49

Heart of Illinois

Mackinaw Dee-Mack at El Paso-Gridley 8-13
Fieldcrest at Eureka 0-54
Tremont at Tri-Valley 6-40
Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley at LeRoy 29-12

Lincoln Prairie

Arcola at Tri-County 46-14
Argenta-Oreana at Sangamon Valley 14-30
Villa Grove at Cerro Gordo-Bement 40-19

Mid-Illini

Dunlap at Limestone 41-0
East Peoria at Canton 0-41
Morton at Metamora 21-38
Washington at Pekin 28-49

Sangamo

Athens at Auburn 22-14
Petersburg PORTA at Pleasant Plains 22-49
Pittsfield at New Berlin 7-0
Riverton at Maroa-Forsyth 7-77

Non-Conference 

Salt Fork at Iroquois West 20-23
Nokomis at Heyworth 28-14
Tolono Unity at Paris 44-6

In a game heard on WEZC, quarterback Colin Hayes accounted for five touchdowns and willed Bloomington Central Catholic to a 42-28 victory over Monticello in Illini Prairie Conference High Schoo football action Friday night in Bloomington.

The Saints jumped out to a quick 13-0 lead as Hayes marched the Saints down the field on the opening drive of the game, capped by a 13-yard score to Blaize Killian.

After Monticello quarterback threw an interception, Ian Whitaker scored from three yards out to put BCC up 13-0 in the first quarter. 

But Monticello rallied to two second-quarter scores. Sheppard first hit Wade Carroll from 33-yards out to pull the Sages to 13-6 then on a short 13-yard reception to put the Sages up 14-13. The second capped an 85-yard drive with just over two minutes to play in the first half. 

Monticello got the ball to start the second half but  BCC forced Monticello into a 3-and-out. Then Hayes hit Ryerson Pirtz from 22-yards out to put BCC up 20-14.

Tylor Bundy scored from 10-yards out to go up 21-20.

From there, it was all Hayes and BCC as they outscored Monticello 22-7 the rest of the way. Hayes scored from 18, 13, and 20 yards out to close out the victory.

Hayes finished 15-for-23 for 174 yards and two touchdowns. He ran for 153 yards on 17 carries and three scores. Whitaker finished with 16 carries for 95 yards and a score while Pirtz hauled in four passes for 69 yards and a touchdown.

For Monticello, Shepard was the ServPro of Piatt/DeWitt Counties Player of the Game - finishing with 290 yards passing completing 29-for-40 attempts. He also accumulated 51 yards on the ground.

Carroll finished with seven receptions for 78 yards. Spencer Mitze had six receptions for 91 yards. 

BCC improves to 3-1 overall and puts themselves in the driver's seat to return to the playoffs with still Tolono Unity, St. Joseph-Ogden, and Praire Central still to play on its schedule.

Monticello drops to 2-2 overall and has never missed the playoffs since Cully Welter took over the program in the fall of 2010. With Paxton-Buckley-Loda, Prairie

Central, and Tolono Unity on the schedule in the final three weeks of the season, the road to the playoffs just became very difficult.

The Sages return home to host Pontiac next Friday night for Homecoming. Game time is 7:30 pm. Hear all the action on 95.9 FM WEZC and online at dewittdailynews.com. 

In a game heard on WHOW, the Clinton Maroons fell 13-6 to the Central A&M Raiders on Homecoming. Quarterback Mason Walker went 4 of 16 for 19 yards. Rushing, he had 21 carries for 99 yards and a touchdown. Tristin Potts had 17 carries for 78 yards, and Dawson Graves had 2 catches for 28 yards. Scott Isaac Webb got the nod for ServPro Player of the Game due to his fumble recovery.

Central A&M was led by Drew Damery going 8 of 16 for 90 yards and 2 touchdowns. Will Thompson had 12 carries for 47 yards and 2 fumbles. Colby Morrison had 1 catch for 39 yards and a touchdown, in addition to 16 carries for 117 yards.

The Maroons fall 1-3 overall and 0-2 in the CIC. Central A&M move to 3-1 on the season and 1-1 in conference action.

Tune in Friday, September 23, as the Maroons St. T. You can hear the game live on the Big 1520 AM/92.3 FM/106.5 FM WHOW, online at dewittdailynews.com, and all of WHOW's digital platforms.

The Clinton Maroons are looking to rebound from a tough week three defeat at Shelbyville when they return home to host Central A&M for Homecoming in Central Illinois Conference high school football.

Coach Ron Bass was disappointed in his team's showing last week in a game they felt they could be competitive in. While things didn't fall their way, it wasn't all negative for the second-year coach.

Coach Bass calls the Raiders a good group of kids and are well coached. He says his team is going to have to play disciplined football this week.

Despite the distractions Homecoming week can often bring for a football program, Coach Bass has been pleased with practices this week and says for them, they are focusing on getting better at the things they want to do and then they'll start adding what he calls, "the fun stuff".

Game time tonight is 7 pm. Hear all the action on The Big 1520 AM/92.3 FM/106.5 FM WHOW and on the many WHOW digital platforms.

Central Illinois Conference matchups tonight

Meridian at Decatur St. Teresa

Shelbyville at Tuscola

Sullivan-Okaw Valle at Warrensburg-Latham

It's among one of the bigger games on the schedule for the Monticello Sages tonight when they travel to Bloomington to take on Central Catholic in Illini Prairie Conference high school football.

Monticello came away with a grinding, if not surprising, 39-6 win over Milwaukee Academy of Science last Friday night. As the Sages get back to the Illini Prairie slate, Coach Cully Welter isn't hiding it from his team - this is a big game on their schedule.

Central Catholic is a proud program that has fallen on hard times in recent memory but this is a team that boasts a lot of size and athleticism. Coach Welter says the Saints will be gunning for them after a couple of close losses the last few times out.

Game time tonight is 7 pm. Hear all the action on 95.9 FM WEZC and online at dewittdailynews.com.

Illini Prairie Conference action tonight...

Prairie Central at Rantoul

Paxton-Buckley-Loda at Pontiac

St. Joseph-Ogden at Illinois Valley Central

Week 4 matchups tonight

8-Man football

Biggsville-West Central at Peoria Heights (Sat.)

Prairie City at Champaign St. Thomas More (Sat.)

Decatur LSA at Flanagan-Cornell-Woodland

Blue Ridge at South Fork (Sat.)

Apollo

Effingham at Mattoon

Mahomet-Seymour at Lincoln

Mt. Zion at Taylorville

Big 

Bloomington at Danville 

Champaign Centennial at Champaign Central

Normal Community at Peoria 

Peoria Richwoods vs. Peoria Notre Dame at Dozer Park

Central State Eight

Chatham-Glenwood at Springfield Southeast

Decatur Eisenhower at Decatur MacArthur

Jacksonville at Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin

Springfield at Normal U-High

Springfield Lanphier at Rochester

Heart of Illinois

Mackinaw Dee-Mack at El Paso-Gridley

Fieldcrest at Eureka

Tremont at Tri-Valley

Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley at LeRoy

Lincoln Prairie

Arcola at Tri-County

Argenta-Oreana at Sangamon Valley

Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond at Toledo-Cumberland

Villa Grove at Cerro Gordo-Bement

Mid-Illini

Dunlap at Limestone

East Peoria at Canton

Morton at Metamora

Washington at Pekin

Sangamo

Athens at Auburn

Petersburg PORTA at Pleasant Plains

Pittsfield at New Berlin

Riverton at Maroa-Forsyth

Olympia at Williamsville

Non-Conference action this week

Salt Fork at Iroquois West

Nokomis at Heyworth

Normal West at Richmond-Burton (Sat.)

Tolono Unity at Paris

Eastern Illinois and Illinois State will meet for the 110th time in the Mid-America Classic on Saturday night. 

Jonah O'Brien passed for two touchdowns in Saturday's 29-10 loss to No. 10 Chattanooga as he passed for 183 yards.  He has connected with five different receivers for touchdown passes.  Last season EIU's offense had just eight touchdown passes for the entire season with four different players scoring with touchdown receptions. 

When Redbird starting running back Cole Mueller was lost to injury early in the Wisconsin game, the rest of the ISU running back room knew it would need to step up to fill the void of the team's leading rusher from a year ago. 

Redshirt freshman Wenkers Wright got the message and took the lead against Valparaiso, as he recorded the first 100-plus yard rushing effort of his career in the victory over the Beacons. After a slow start with only 16 yards in the first half, Wright rallied for 85 yards in the game's final two quarters to finish with 101 yards on 21 carries. 

Those crucial yards helped the Redbirds chew up clock and hold on for a big win in the home opener.

Game time is 6:30 pm from Hancock Stadium in Normal. Hear the action on The Big 1520 AM/92.3 FM/106.5 FM WHOW and online at dewittdailynews.com.

Elvis Andrus hit one of Chicago's five home runs off rookie Hunter Gaddis - and backed up a pregame swipe at the Guardians - as the White Sox cut Cleveland's lead in the AL Central to three games with an 8-2 victory in a makeup game Thursday.

Andrus connected in the fifth inning off Gaddis (0-2), who became the first Cleveland pitcher to allow five homers in a game since Luis Tiant in 1969.

Gavin Sheets hit a two-run homer in the second to start Chicago's homer barrage against Gaddis, and Andrew Vaughn, Yoan Moncada and Yasmani Grandal joined Andrus by hitting shots off the right-hander.

Lance Lynn (7-5) limited the Guardians to two run and six hits in 6 1/3 innings. The right-hander is 5-0 in his last seven starts.

Cleveland had its winning streak stopped at six as it began a run of nine straight games against the White Sox and Minnesota Twins, the club's two closest pursuers in one of baseball's only tight division races.

Sheets and Vaughn connected for consecutive homers in the second off the 24-year-old Gaddis, who was making his second major league start.

Gaddis started the inning by walking Eloy Jimenez and Sheets followed with his 13th homer, a shot into the seats in right that brought a shouting Andrus out of the dugout to high-five teammates along the rail.

Vaughn fouled off two pitches before making it 3-0 with his 16th homer of the season, which again sent Andrus into celebration.

Moncada connected for his 10th homer in the third and Grandal hit No. 5 in the fourth before Andrus, who signed with Chicago on Aug. 19, made it 6-1 with his leadoff homer in the fifth.

After Moncada doubled and scored on Jose Abreu's single, Guardians manager Terry Francona pulled Gaddis, who is the third pitcher in team history to give up five homers.

Lucas Giolito (10-9, 5.18 ERA), 4-0 in his last seven starts, will start the series opener in Detroit on Friday against RHP Matt Manning (2-2, 3.73).

Nick Senzel and Aristides Aquino hit solo home runs and the Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2 Thursday night to snap a six-game losing streak in the opener of a five-game series.

The loss cut the Cardinals' lead in the National League Central to 7 1/2 games over the idle Milwaukee Brewers.

St. Louis made it interesting in the ninth against rookie reliever Alexis Diaz, loading the bases with one out on two singles and walk before pulling within a run on a sacrifice fly by Albert Pujols, giving him 123 in his career and tying him with Hall of Famer Robin Yount for third most in MLB history since 1954.

Diaz then got pinch-hitter Cory Dickerson to ground out to end the game and earn his seventh save.

Aquino and Spencer Steer each had two hits for the Reds.

Pujols finished 0 for 3 and remained at 697 career home runs. He is fourth on the all-time list behind Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755) and Babe Ruth (714).

Miles Mikolas (11-12) had allowed four or more runs in three of his past four starts before giving up three runs in six innings against the Reds. He allowed six hits and three walks in his 30th start of the season.

Cincinnati starter Chase Anderson (1-3) gave up one hit in five innings. He struck out three and waked two.

Anderson, signed to a minor league contract on Aug 27, faced the Cardinals twice last month and gave up eight runs (seven earned) and five hits and two walks over 2 1/3 innings.

Jack Flaherty (0-1, 4.50) will be facing the Reds for the first time this season, and 10th time in his career. Cincinnati has not announced a starter for Friday's game.

After spending the last three seasons looking up at the Green Bay Packers in the NFC North standings, the Chicago Bears head into Lambeau Field in an unusual position.

The Bears (1-0) lead the Packers (0-1) in the division race for the first time since 2018, when Chicago last earned the NFC North title. The Packers have won the NFC North every year since and are 6-0 against the Bears during that stretch.

Chicago would love to take a two-game edge over the three-time defending division champions by winning Sunday night.

The Bears' recent struggles in this series stem from their inability to slow reigning MVP Aaron Rodgers.

The Packers are 23-5 against the Bears in games Rodgers has started. Rodgers appreciates the part he has played in the NFL's oldest rivalry.

Rodgers is coming off a sluggish performance, going 22 of 34 for 195 yards with no touchdown passes, one interception and a lost fumble in a 23-7 loss at Minnesota in his first game since the trade of two-time All-Pro receiver Davante Adams to the Las Vegas Raiders.

Chicago won its opener 19-10 over the San Francisco 49ers, causing some Bears to celebrate by sliding along a rain-soaked Soldier Field.

If the Bears follow that up with a victory at Lambeau Field, they'll have even more reason for jubilation.

Bears offensive coordinator Luke Getsy worked on the Packers' staff from 2014-21 and was quarterbacks coach the last two seasons.

The Bears' roster includes two guys who played for the Packers last season in offensive lineman Lucas Patrick and wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown. New Packers punter Pat O'Donnell spent the last eight seasons in Chicago.

The Bears beat the 49ers despite gaining just 204 yards, the lowest total by any team in the season's opening week.

The Packers posted their lowest point total since a 38-3 loss to the New Orleans Saints in their 2021 season opener.

Ty Majeski scored his first career Truck Series win on Thursday night and the victory at Bristol Motor Speedway locked Majeski into the championship finale.

Majeski, in his 40th career start in the trucks, became the first driver to earn a spot in the championship-deciding final four. He had a clean jump on Zane Smith on a restart to with 12 laps remaining to cruise to the victory in a Toyota for ThorSport Racing.

The 28-year-old from Wisconsin ran only four Truck Series races last season as he desperately tried to continue his NASCAR career. It led to a full season ride with ThorSport for this year and now a shot at the series championship.

Bristol marked the opening race of the round of eight in the Truck Series playoffs.

Smith finished second after starting at the back of the field.

Parker Kligerman finished third and was followed by Grant Enfinger, Matt Crafton and Derek Kraus.

The Truck Series races next on Oct. 1 at Talladega Superspeedway.

Bubba Wallace regained the lead with 43 laps to go and stayed out front the rest of the way, outrunning his car owner, Denny Hamlin, at Kansas as the Cup Series playoffs round of 16 concludes this weekend at Bristol Motorspeedway.

Wallace’s victory was the second of his career and the second in as many races won by a driver that didn’t qualify for the playoffs. Erik Jones won a week earlier at Darlington. 

Christopher Bell finished third and became the first driver to qualify for the next playoff round. He’s 10 points ahead of William Byron, 11 ahead of Hamlin and 18 ahead of Joey Logano. Kevin Harvick finished 36th and has failed to finish three straight races for the first time in a Cup career spanning 782 starts. 

This is the last race of round one of the playoffs; the playoff field will be trimmed to 12 following the race.

The 500 lap marathon is at 6:30 pm on Saturday evening.

Noah Gragson took the lead out of a restart on Lap 76 and maintained it until NASCAR shortened the race at Kansas because of rain after 94 laps to win his second race in a row and his fifth of the season with the XFinity Series heading to Bristol tonight.

Despite the victories, Gragson is just fourth in points. Allmendinger leads Ty Gibbs by 38, Justin Allgaier by 55 and Gragson by 72 as the series heads to the final race before the 12-driver field is set for the playoffs. Gragson and Ty Gibbs share the series lead for victories. Allmendinger has finished in the top 10 in 22 of 25 races; Gragson is next with 18 top-10 runs.

The 300 mile race is tonight at 6:30 pm. 

Central Illinois football teams that took tough losses last Friday night expectedly took a tumble in the latest high school football rankings while there are some newcomers in central Illinois in a few polls.

Starting in Class 2A where Tri-Valley took a tough loss to Ridveview, ranked no. 3 in 1A this week, the Vikings fell all the way to no. 8 in the 2A poll. Wilmington remains atop the poll again this week followed by Decatur St. Teresa, Maroa-Forsyth, Bismarck-Henning, and North-Mac rounding out the top five. Knoxville and Rockridge preceed Tri-Valley at 6-7, respectively with Pana and Johnston City rounding out the top 10.

Ridgeviews win over Tri-Valley bumped them a spot to no. 3 this week in the Class 1A poll, replacing Central A&M who fell to Decatur St. Teresa last Friday. Lena-Winslow is no. 1 this week followed by Athens. Fulton and Camp Point Central Round out the 1A top five.

Hope Academy jumped Tuscola to no. 6 and the Warriors stayed at no. 7 this week. Forreston, Iriquois West and Central A&M reound out the top 10.

Shelbyville received a vote in the poll this week though they did not crack the top 10.

In Class 3A, the poll remains almost unchanged. IC Catholic, Williamsville, Reed-Custer, Princeton, and Byron remain one through five unchanged. Mt. Carmel, Prairie Central, Eureka, Peotone and Tolono Unity round out the top 10. The only change was Peotone at no. 9 and Unity at no. 10. They tied for tenth last week. 

Paxton-Buckley-Loda received votes in this week's poll though they did not crack the top 10.

Joliet Catholic and Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin tied for no. 1 in the 4A poll this week with 114 points. St. Francis, Richmond-Burton, and Rochester rounds out the top 5. 

Six through tenth in the poll this week are unchanged with Stillman Valley, Genoa-Kingston, Wheaton Academy, Carterville and Freeburg rounding out the top 10.

Mahomet-Seymour is up a spot in this week's Class 5A poll after the Bulldogs big win in week three over Mt. Zion. Morris takes over no. 1 followed by Kankakee at no. 2. Sycamore and LaGrange Park Nazareth round out the top 5. 

Peoria remains no. 6 this week followed by Chicago Morgan Park, Glenbard South, Mascoutah, and Highland, who is new to the rankings this week.

Normal West enter enters the 6A poll this week after their big win over crosstown rival Normal Community last week. The Wildcats are no. 9. East St.Louis remains no. 1this week followed by Crystal Lake Prairie Ridge, Chicago Simeon, Lemont and Crete-Monee.

Chatham-Glenwood moves up a spot to no. 6 followed by Niles Notre Dame and Kenwood at no. 7-8, respectively and Cary-Grove rounds out the top 10 in 6A.

In Class 7A, Pekin moved up to no. 6 this week. Chicago Mt. Carmel remains the unanimous no. 1 team. 

And in Class 8A, Loyola Academy is the unanimous no. 1.

David Peterson got only one out and the slumping New York Mets fell behind early Wednesday night in a 6-3 loss that completed a three-game sweep by the Chicago Cubs.

The NL East leaders lost their fifth consecutive home game and dropped to 5-7 in a 16-game stretch against Washington, Pittsburgh, Miami and Chicago - all more than 20 games under .500 this season.

New York remained a half-game ahead of the Braves in the division race after they lost in San Francisco earlier. The Mets have held a share of first place for all but two days this season: April 11 and Sept. 9.

New York has dropped three straight overall for the second time this month and fourth time this year.

Peterson's only out was a strikeout of Patrick Wisdom, and the left-hander allowed two-run doubles to Yan Gomes and P.J. Higgins. Trevor Williams permitted an RBI double to Michael Hermosillo and a run-scoring single to Nelson Velazquez in Chicago's 25-minute opening inning.

Pete Alonso and Tomas Nido homered for the Mets, who scored six runs in the series and got swept for the fourth time this year. New York was also swept in a pair of two-game sets against AL-best Houston in June and last month against the Yankees in the Bronx.

The Mets were 1 for 15 with runners in scoring position during the series and were swept in a three-game set for the first time since September 2021 against St. Louis.

Peterson (7-5) allowed five runs and two hits. In his last three starts against Chicago, Miami and Washington, he has given up 11 runs in 9 1/3 innings.

The Cubs won their third straight for the first time winning five in a row Aug. 16-20.

Chicago starter Drew Smyly (7-8) allowed two runs - one earned - and four hits in five innings. He struck out five and walked one.

Chicago earned its third sweep and scored six runs in the first inning for the second time this year.

Williams began warming up 13 minutes into the game and Gomes gave the Cubs a 2-0 lead with a double to the right field corner. Two pitches later, Higgins hit a two-run double down the right field line that just stayed fair, and Peterson was booed off the mound.

Hermosillo's double to left pushed Chicago's lead to 5-0, and the center fielder scored the sixth run on a single by Velazquez.

The Mets were within 6-3 when Alonso connected in the eighth, but Michael Rucker whiffed rookie Mark Vientos. Mark Leiter Jr. hit Jeff McNeil in the back with a pitch to open the ninth before getting his second save.

Marcus Stroman (3-7, 3.91 ERA) starts Friday afternoon at home against Colorado RHP German Marquez (8-10, 5.25).

Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina started together for the 325th time, the most by a battery in major league history. The duo eclipsed the regular-season mark of 324 held by the Detroit Tigers pair of Mickey Lolich and Bill Freehan from 1963-1975 and after the final out in a 4-1 victory over Milwaukee on Wednesday night, it was time for the Cardinals to shower the record-making duo with a clubhouse celebration.

Brewers leadoff man Christian Yelich got into the moment, too. The Milwaukee star stood absolutely still and made no attempt to swing at Wainwright's first pitch, a called strike.

The ball was taken out play, then Wainwright and Molina went to work at extending the Cardinals' lead in the NL Central.

Wainwright and Molina made their first start together on April 6, 2007, in Houston. Wainwright recorded a 4-2 win in that game -- the first of his 213 victories with Molina behind the plate.

The 40-year-old Molina, a perennial Glove Glover, has indicated he will retire at the end of this season. The 41-year-old Wainwright has yet to make a decision on his future.

Wainwright (11-9) gave up just one run in five innings despite allowing eight hits and walking two. He struck out three in a 98-pitch stint.

Wainwright and Molina were sprayed with Cherry Coke, Sprite and apple juice by teammates in a lengthy postgame celebration in the locker room.

Molina gave his buddy a big defensive boost, throwing out Kolten Wong attempting to steal on the back end of a strikeout to end the third. Wainwright fanned Andrew McCutchen with a 74 mph curve and Molina still got Wong by plenty.

Molina put the Cardinals ahead for good with a tiebreaking single in the second. It was his 31st career go-ahead RBI in a Wainwright start.

Nolan Arenado and Lars Nootbaar both homered for the Cardinals, who have won three of four. They stretched their division lead to eight games over the second-place Brewers.

Milwaukee had a three-game winning streak snapped and remained two games behind San Diego in the race for the final wild-card spot in the NL.

Wainwright has thrown 2,141 of his 2,553 innings to Molina. He and Molina have teamed up to record 1,815 strikeouts.

Arenado hit his 29th homer in the second off Corbin Burnes (10-7).

Burnes gave up three runs on seven hits over seven innings. He struck out five and walked one.

Nootbaar pushed the lead to 3-1 with his 12th homer in the fifth.

Albert Pujols hit an RBI double in the eighth. He remains at 697 career home runs, fourth on the all-time list behind Barry Bonds (755), Hank Aaron (714) and Babe Ruth (715).

Pujols was hit on the right shoulder by Burnes' pitch in the sixth, but remained in the contest.

Ryan Helsley picked up his 17th save in 21 opportunities.

Yelich had two hits for the Brewers, who spent 92 days in first place in the NL Central earlier in this season.

Miles Mikolas (11-11, 3.42) takes on Cincinnati RHP Chase Anderson (0-3, 9.00) in the first of a five-game set on Thursday in St. Louis. Mikolas is 3-4 with a 5.55 ERA in 15 appearances against the Reds.

Kyle Freeland outdueled Dylan Cease and put a dent in a push by the Chicago White Sox for a playoff spot, pitching 6 2/3 shutout innings as the Colorado Rockies earned a 3-0 victory Wednesday.

The White Sox fell four games behind AL Central-leading Cleveland with 19 games remaining. Chicago travels to Cleveland for a makeup game Thursday, and the teams return to Chicago for a three-game series starting Sept. 20.

Freeland (9-9) frustrated a Chicago lineup that was 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. He worked around seven hits and three walks, striking out five.

Freeland has posted a 2.17 ERA over his last four starts. Chicago fell to 20-9 in games started by Cease.

Daniel Bard struck out three in the ninth for his 30th save.

Cease (14-7), a contender for the AL Cy Young Award, threw 56 pitches in the first two innings.

Alan Trejo, filling in for injured Jose Iglesias, hit an RBI double in the second to snap Cease's 16-inning scoreless streak. Yonathan Daza singled home a run later in the inning.

Daza reached near the top of the left-field fence to rob Seby Zavala of an extra base hit with two runners on base to end the Chicago fourth.

Ryan McMahon opened the fifth with a double off Cease and scored on C.J. Cron's single.

The White Sox put at least one runner in scoring position in the first five innings against Freeland but didn't score. A.J. Pollock grounded into a double play in the second, struck out with runners at first and second in the fourth and grounded to third with a runner at second to end the eighth.

Chicago brought the tying run to the plate with two out in the seventh, but newly summoned reliever Carlos Estevez struck out Yoan Moncada.

White Sox SS Tim Anderson (middle left finger surgery) received treatment, one day after performing baseball work. Anderson is expected to resume fielding duties Thursday, interim manager Miguel Cairo said.

Lance Lynn (6-5, 4.07) starts Thursday against the Guardians. Lynn allowed two runs in six innings in a 10-2 win over the Athletics Sept. 10.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said Wednesday that running backs A.J. Dillon and Aaron Jones need to get the ball more than they did in a season-opening defeat at Minnesota.

The reigning MVP suggested the Packers need to stick with the running game more than they did in the 23-7 loss to the Vikings. The Packers finished with 39 pass attempts and 18 carries.

Rodgers suggested perhaps the team reacted to the score when they were running the ball well. He hopes to stick with the run.

Jones and Dillon are Rodgers’ top playmakers now that two-time All-Pro receiver Davante Adams is with the Las Vegas Raiders.

Dillon had 10 carries for 45 yards and five catches for 46 yards at Minnesota. Jones had five carries for 49 yards plus three catches for 27 yards. Packers coach Matt LaFleur has emphasized the need to give them more opportunities.

The Packers must get more punch from their offense after posting their lowest scoring total since the 2021 season opener, which they lost 38-3 to the New Orleans Saints. They host the Chicago Bears (1-0) on Sunday night.

Packers wideouts caught a combined 12 passes for 120 yards at Minnesota. For comparison’s sake, Adams caught 10 passes for 141 yards in the Raiders’ season-opening 24-19 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.

The Bears say any offense led by Rodgers remains dangerous even without Adams on the roster. The Packers are 23-5 against the Bears in games their four-time MVP has started. In one of the losses, Rodgers departed with an injury after the opening series.

The dilemma for Rodgers is how to bring Green Bay’s rookie receivers up to that standard.

Romeo Doubs, the rookie fourth-round pick from Nevada, led Green Bay wideouts with four catches for 37 yards Sunday. Christian Watson, the second-round pick from North Dakota State, had two catches for 34 yards.

Allen Lazard, the Packers’ top returning receiver, was limited in practice Wednesday. He missed the Vikings game with an ankle injury.

Green Bay’s top options at wide receiver are Lazard, Watson, Doubs and veterans Randall Cobb and Sammy Watkins. Amari Rodgers, the 2021 third-round pick from Clemson, didn’t play a single snap on offense against the Vikings.

They Packers need to deal with whatever growing pains Watson and Doubs endure. That means trying to build their confidence as much as possible early on.

Watson got that chance on the Packers’ first play from scrimmage Sunday but dropped a likely 75-yard touchdown pass.

OG Jon Runyan Jr. (concussion) didn’t practice Wednesday. OLs David Bakhtiari (knee) and Elgton Jenkins (knee) were limited practice participants. Neither played at Minnesota. The Packers signed S Mike Brown to the practice squad.

As the Chicago Bears regrouped in the locker room following a half that was as ugly as the weather at Soldier Field, quarterback Justin Fields noticed something. Offensive coordinator Luke Getsy was smiling.

Fields didn’t ask why.

Getsy’s confidence and Fields’ steadiness helped the offense get going in the second half and all the Bears to make a big splash in the season opener by beating the San Francisco 49ers 19-10 in coach Matt Eberflus’ debut. After taking out a team with Super Bowl hopes in heavy rain, they’ll try to pull off another surprise this week when they visit Green Bay.

A rare win over Aaron Rodgers and the Packers would put Chicago two games ahead of their rivals. The three-time defending NFC North champions opened with a loss at Minnesota.

Getsy knows Rodgers and the Packers well, having spent the past three seasons as their quarterbacks coach and seven years on their staff. That could work to the Bears’ advantage, and they’ll take any edge they can get.

Their offense could certainly use a boost.

The Bears bounced back in the second half against San Francisco after struggling in the early going. They finished with 204 yards, just 68 coming in the first two quarters. But there were sparks in the second half that they hope can propel them forward.

The Bears didn’t cross midfield until their sixth and final possession before halftime. That drive ended with a punt after an unusual penalty involving the use of a towel knocked them out of field goal range.

But the Bears kept their poise and adjusted at halftime. Now they just need a complete game from their quarterback.

Fields came through with some big plays on what was overall a rough start to his second season. The former Ohio State star was 8 of 17 for 121 yards with an interception and had trouble at times gripping the ball. But in the second half, he threw two touchdown passes.

Fields, the No. 11 draft pick last year, helped change the complexion of the game with Chicago trialing 10-0 in the third. As two defenders closed in, he rolled to his left and saw Dante Pettis wide open on the other side of the field. Fields lofted the ball to his receiver, who took it in for a 51-yard touchdown. He also hit Equanimeous St. Brown for an 18-yarder early in the fourth to give the Bears a 13-10 lead.

OL Alex Leatherwood was placed on the non-football illness list and will miss at least four weeks. The Bears claimed Leatherwood off waivers two weeks ago after the 2021 first-round draft pick was let go by the Las Vegas Raiders. He was inactive for the season opener. The Bears signed OL Michael Schofield on Wednesday.

The Monticello football team picked up a big 39-6 victory over a Milwaukee Academy of Science football team that brought to central Illinois a great challenge for the Sages.

Coach Cully Welter was pleased to head home Friday with a win and called it a grind all night noting it didn't feel like a 30-plus point win for his team.

The Novas were big, fast and very athletic and Coach Welter felt like his team really went to work on the little things. While some things slipped through the cracks, he felt they hung tough and came out with a win.

Coach Welter took note of the linebacker play Friday night. Pointing to the pick six by Spencer Mitze as time was expiring on the first half, Jacob Long made a key block on that play and junior Luke Teschke had a sack and interception for a touchdown for Monticello. 

A pair of 2-1 football teams square off Friday night in Bloomington when the Sage visit Central Catholic. The Saints fell in an overtime thriller to PBL Friday and will be looking to get back on the winning track in what is a challenging stretch of the BCC schedule. 

Game time is 7 pm and can be heard on 95.9 FM WEZC.

Chris Bassitt had his shortest start in three months, failing to get through the fourth inning as the NL East-leading New York Mets lost to the Chicago Cubs 5-2 Monday night.

New York remained 1 1/2 games ahead of Atlanta, which lost 3-2 in San Francisco.

The Mets had won each of Bassitt's last eight starts, a span in which he had a 2.24 ERA. But the right-hander gave up five runs in 3 2/3 innings - his quickest exit since he lasted a season-low 3 1/3 innings against San Diego on July 8.

Rafael Ortega homered in the second - the first home run allowed by Bassitt (13-8) since he gave up Manny Machado's round-tripper July 23, a stretch of 54 1/3 innings. Zach McKinstry hit a two-run shot in the third before Ortega and Alfonso Rivas each had an RBI single in the fourth.

A quartet of relievers blanked the Cubs on two hits over the final 5 1/3 innings. But the Mets stranded 10 runners - including seven over the first six innings against rookie right-hander Javier Assad (1-1), who allowed five hits in earning the first victory of his career.

Mark Canha struck out with the bases loaded in the first. James McCann delivered a two-out RBI single in the fourth, when Brandon Nimmo whiffed to leave two on. Eduardo Escobar tripled with two outs in the sixth but was left there when Assad struck out Tyler Naquin.

The Mets loaded the bases with none out but didn't score in the eighth when Showalter utilized Mychal Givens - who'd pitched the seventh and eighth - as a pinch-runner at first base for designated hitter Daniel Vogelbach. It was the first pinch-running appearance of Givens' eight-year career.

But Manuel Rodriguez struck out Canha before giving way to Brandon Hughes, who retired Escobar and pinch-hitter Darin Ruf on flyouts.

Hughes gave up a two-out homer to Francisco Lindor in the ninth before retiring Jeff McNeil on a groundout for his fifth save.

Escobar, who also singled in the fourth, extended his hitting streak to 10 games. He's batting .500 (18 for 36) during the run.

Adrian Sampson (1-5, 3.76 ERA) has one win in 14 starts this season despite allowing two runs or fewer nine times, including in each of his last three outings.

Mets: RHP Jacob deGrom (5-1, 1.66 ERA) has retired at least 12 consecutive batters in each of his last six starts, the longest such streak in the last 40 years.

Justin Fields threw for two second-half scores, Eddie Jackson set up a TD with an interception and Chicago gave Matt Eberflus a win in his head coaching debut, beating the San Francisco 49ers 19-10 on a rain-soaked Sunday.

It was a sweet start for a new regime. The Bears decided to make major changes after last season, when they went 6-11 and missed the playoffs for the ninth time in 11 years.

General manager Ryan Poles and Eberflus took over for the fired Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy. And their first game was a win over a team that played in the NFC championship game last season. 

Fields shook off a rough first half. The long touchdown to Dante Pettis, a former 49er, came with the Bears trailing 10-0. 

Fields connected with Equanimeous St. Brown for an 18-yarder early in the fourth to put Chicago on top 13-10. Jackson then picked off Trey Lance near midfield for his first interception since 2019 and returned the ball to the 21. That led to a 6-yard touchdown run by Khalil Herbert, making it 19-10.

Fields, the No. 11 overall pick in 2019, was 8 of 17 for 121 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. The former Ohio State star is trying to convince Eberflus and new general manager Ryan Poles he can solidify a position that has long been a weakness for Chicago.

San Francisco running back Elijah Mitchell left the game in the first half with a knee injury and did not return. Niners star tight end George Kittle missed the game because of a groin issue.

Heavy rain flooded the area and drenched the new Bermuda grass installed this week instead of the traditional Kentucky bluegrass used in a stadium often criticized for its choppy surface. As the final seconds ticked away, Bears players took head-first dives into the drenched end zone.

The Bears also got called for an unusual penalty near the end of the first half, when their holder got flagged for bringing out a towel to dry a small area of the field ahead of a field goal try. Rookie Trenton Gill used a towel to dry the spot where the kick would be attempted. Kicker Cairo Santos also stepped on the towel and used it to dry a different area.

Trey Lance, drafted eight spots ahead of Fields, completed 13 of 28 passes for 164 yards and an interception.

The Bears visit Green Bay on Sept. 18.

Justin Jefferson smashed rival Green Bay for 184 receiving yards and two touchdowns in a record-setting first half, giving new Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell a 23-7 win in his first game Sunday - and the team its largest margin of victory over the Packers with Rodgers at quarterback.

After accumulating the most receiving yards (3,016) in a player's first two years in the NFL, Jefferson set an all-time Vikings receiving record with 158 yards in the first half. Kirk Cousins completed 23 of 32 passes for 277 yards without a turnover, targeting Jefferson on more than a third of his throws and keeping the Packers on their heels for most of the afternoon.

O'Connell, who served as offensive coordinator of the Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams last season, had Jefferson moving all over the formation to help keep him away from star Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander.

Rodgers' first game without Davante Adams was filled with frustration, and the three-time defending NFC North champion Packers fell flat in their opener for the second straight season. The Packers are going to need a healthy offensive line for once, too, after they played most of the second half with three backups.

Sporting a fresh haircut after a summer of personal rejuvenation, Rodgers returned to an offensive cast that needs plenty of work - running back duo Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon aside. Rodgers went 22 for 34 for 195 yards, and LaFleur blamed himself for Jones only getting five carries and three catches.

Second-round draft pick Christian Watson, who was taken after the Packers traded up with the Vikings for the No. 34 overall selection, juked past 12-year veteran Patrick Peterson on the first snap for the Packers and let what would've been a 75-yard touchdown pass slip through his hands.

Rodgers even had his NFL-record streak against division opponents of 38 touchdown passes without an interception stopped near the end of the second quarter when his see-what-happens heave was picked off by Harrison Smith. The last one was snagged by Detroit's Amani Oruwariye on Dec. 29, 2019.

Za'Darius Smith, who was released by the Packers in a cost-cutting move, had one of Minnesota's four sacks and stopped Dillon for no gain on fourth-and-goal at the 1 in the second quarter.

Packers LT David Bakhtiari and RT Elgton Jenkins were inactive, and WR Allen Lazard was also held out. LG Jon Runyan (concussion) left in the third quarter and was replaced by rookie Zach Tom. Rookie LB Quay Walker (shoulder) and backup CB Keisean Nixon (shoulder) departed in the fourth quarter. Backup LB Krys Barnes (ankle) left on a cart.

The Packers host Chicago next Sunday night.

Albert Pujols hit his 697th home run, moving past Alex Rodriguez into fourth place on the career list and doing it in dramatic fashion with a ninth-inning drive that rallied the St. Louis Cardinals over the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-3 Sunday.

The NL Central-leading Cardinals trailed 2-1 when Pujols connected for a two-run drive. Pujols had tied Rodriguez with a home run Saturday night.

Pujols trails Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755) and Babe Ruth (714) on the all-time homer chart.

In his chase for 700 homers, the 42-year-old Pujols has 21 games left in his 22nd and final season in the big leagues. He's hit 18 home runs this year.

The Cardinals went to the ninth inning trailing 2-0 but scored four runs off Chase DeJong (4-2).

Tommy Edman and Corey Dickerson led off with back-to-back doubles to produce the first run. Pujols followed with his homer to put the Cardinals on top.

One out after Pujols connected, Tyler O'Neil hit a solo shot to cap St. Louis' big inning.

The Cardinals won on a day when first baseman Paul Goldschmidt and third baseman Nolan Arenado, two NL MVP candidates, got the day off.

De Jong entered the game with a 19-inning scoreless streak.

The Cardinals are off Monday before opening a three-game home series with Milwaukee on Tuesday. LHP Jordan Montgomery (8-3, 3.08) will start for St. Louis. He is 5-0 with a 1.45 ERA in seven starts since being acquired from the New York Yankees in a trade.

In a game heard on WHOW, Tony Kemp became the first leadoff hitter in Oakland history with a home run, triple and four runs scored as the Athletics beat the Chicago White Sox 10-3 on Sunday to avoid a winless homestand.

amon Laureano hit a two-run homer and Vimael Machin hit a two-run double in the decisive fifth inning to back Cole Irvin's second straight winning decision to help the A's snap a five-game losing streak.

Defending AL Central champion Chicago had a four-game winning streak end with just the club's third loss in 12 games as it chases first-place Cleveland in the division race down the September stretch.

Acting manager Miguel Cairo left the Bay Area pleased as his club concluded a seven-game road trip.

Irvin (8-11) allowed three runs - two earned - on four hits, struck out five and walked two over seven impressive innings.

A's outfielder Chad Pinder was ejected after the first inning when he came out to confront third base umpire Edwin Moscoso and had to be restrained by Machin. Pinder certainly was still upset about a foul ball call moments earlier down the left-field foul line when he thought he had an RBI single. The A's challenged the call and it was confirmed as foul.

Johnny Cueto was tagged for seven runs, five earned, on eight hits over 4 2/3 innings.

Tim Anderson, who had surgery last month to repair a tear in his left middle finger, will see a hand specialist Tuesday to determine when he might be able to return. Cairo remains hopeful Anderson could return this year. 

After Monday's off day, RHP Michael Kopech (4-9, 3.78 ERA) takes the ball for Chicago back home against Colorado.

Thairo Estrada homered in the seventh, Wilmer Flores connected in the eighth and the San Francisco Giants held on to beat the Chicago Cubs 4-2 on Sunday night.

The Giants kept the Cubs' offense in check while using six pitchers on a bullpen day, though Zach McKinstry had four hits for the Cubs, who have dropped 15 of 21.

Estrada, Evan Longoria and Austin Dean had two hits each for the Giants, who had lost five of six.

Flores hit a two-run shot off Hayden Wesneski (1-1) after Lewis Brinson walked for his 18th homer of the season, matching a career high and snapping an 0-for-19 skid.

Estrada led off the seventh with his 13th of the season. The homer ended Wesneski's streak of six scoreless innings to begin his major league career.

Seiya Suzuki homered off Scott Alexander in the eighth to pull the Cubs within 4-2.

Left-handed starter Wade Miley gave up a run and four hits, struck out five and walked one in five innings for the Cubs. It was his second outing after missing three months with a shoulder injury.

Javier Assad (0-1, 2.93) is scheduled to start Monday at New York. RHP Chris Bassitt (13-7, 3.24) is slated for the Mets.

Denny Hamlin managed to trim into Bubba Wallace’s lead down the stretch, but the co-owner with Michael Jordan of the No. 45 car for 23XI Racing ultimately ran out of time. Wallace took the checkered flag for his second NASCAR Cup Series victory, and made it back-to-back weeks that a non-playoff driver won a postseason race.

Wallace got around playoff contender Alex Bowman for the lead with 67 laps to go, then built a 2-second cushion over a parade of drivers in the title hunt, each trying to earn the win that would ensure their spot in the round of eight.

Hamlin wound up at the front of it, finishing second to climb into third in the playoff standings.

Wallace, who became the 18th different driver to reach victory lane this season, also won during last year’s playoffs at Talladega, when he was likewise out of the title picture. And his victory Sunday came after Erik Jones, who also missed out on the postseason this year, won a chaotic race a week ago at Darlington.

Kurt Busch stepped out of the ride while dealing with a concussion. He was quick to tweet his congratulations.

Bell finished third and Bowman fourth with playoff outsider Martin Truex Jr. in fifth. William Byron, Ross Chastain, Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney and Daniel Suarez — all firmly in the playoff hunt — rounded out the top 10.

Bell was the only driver to clinch a spot in the next round on points. The other 11 are up for grabs heading to Bristol.

Kevin Harvick spent the week ruing an inferno that ruined his playoff opener, and led to renewed discussions of safety in the Next Gen car. But it was the aerodynamics of the car that ruined Sunday and left his playoff hopes in peril.

The trouble began when Harvick was caught four-wide shortly after a competition caution. Ross Chastain drifted in front of him, took the air off Harvick’s nose and made him loose. The three-time Kansas winner touched the wall out of Turn 4, then hit hard again across the start-finish line, leaving him with heavy damage to the right side.

Tyler Reddick’s brilliant weekend, which included his first pole on an oval, also ended in the first stage when his right rear tire went down. That sent his No. 8 sliding into the wall, breaking the upper control arm in the right front.

Stage 2 was just as frustrating to playoff hopefuls. Many had problems on pit road, including Kyle Busch, who not only had a penalty for an uncontrolled tire but later spun into the grass and went a lap down. Busch finished 26th and fell below the playoff cut line along with Harvick, Chase Briscoe and Austin Dillon.

Busch trails Suarez by six points and Reddick and Austin Cindric by two heading to Bristol. Dillon is another point back.

The final race in the round is Saturday night on the concrete at Bristol, where Busch won the Cup race on dirt in April.

It may not sound like a great finish but two young Clinton Maroons squads finished in the top-20 of a meet with better than 50 teams competing. 

Both cross country teams finished 19th Saturday morning from Detweiler Park in Peoria where the state finals run is held.

Making the accomplishment more impressive is the fact none of the schools competing are divided in class, so everyone is lumped together in finishes regardless of school size.

Drew Moser was the top finisher of either team, finishing with the 36th overall time of 16-minutes and 32 seconds. It was his best finish at Detweiler. 

Several boy's runners set personal bests times at the Peoria course including Talan Thrasher, Jade Carlos Gustafson, Ollie Goar, Colin Jameson, Abel Koritz, Preston Daniels, Dyllon Wright, Jarrett Turney, and Logan Newberg.

Carter Blankenship and Migeulangel Mendoza ran new personal bests while Kael Morlock tied his personal best on Saturday.

MaKayla Koeppel finished a girl's team-best 40th overall with a time of 19-minutes and 52-seconds. Amerie Hemphill, Addie Koritz, Missy Hale, Lydia Cahill, Maddi Leonard, and Grace Duke set new course records at Detweiler.

Avarie Brown set a personal best time on Saturday for the girls.

The Maroons travel to Tuscola on Saturday.

Central Illinois

Decatur St. Teresa at Central A & M 48-7
Tuscola at Sullivan-Okaw Valley 28-25
Warrensburg-Latham at Meridian 28-35

Illini Prairie

Bloomington Central Catholic at Paxton-Buckley-Loda 25-28
Illinois Valley Central at Tolono Unity 20-62
Pontiac at Rantoul 50-14
St. Joseph-Ogden at Prairie Central 28-55

Apollo

Charleston at Effingham 13-31
Mahomet-Seymour at Mt. Zion 49-14
Mattoon at Taylorville 17-14

Big Twelve

Bloomington vs. Peoria Notre Dame at Peoria Richwoods 18-12
Danville at Peoria Manual 49-6
Normal West at Normal Community 21-4
Peoria Richwoods at Champaign Centennial 20-45

Central State Eight

Decatur MacArthur vs. Springfield Lanphier at Springfield Southeast 49-6
Normal U-High at Chatham-Glenwood 28-70
Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin at Decatur Eisenhower 63-0
Springfield Southeast at Jacksonville 20-64

Lincoln Prairie

Argenta-Oreana at Arcola 23-47
Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond at Villa Grove 35-18
Cerro Gordo-Bement at Oakland Tri-County 19-22
Sangamon Valley at Toledo-Cumberland 6-41

Mid-Illini

Limestone at East Peoria 20-33
Canton at Morton 0-7
Metamora at Washington 22-44
Pekin at Dunlap 28-19

Sangamo

Maroa-Forsyth at Petersburg-PORTA 56-8

Non-Conference

Ridgeview-Lexington at Tri-Valley 21-16
Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley at El Paso-Gridley 13-14
Heyworth at Eureka 0-59
Jerseyville at Lincoln 26-14
Dee-Mack at Ottawa-Marquette 0-28
Tremont at LeRoy 16-20

8-Man Football

Champaign St. Thomas More at Polo 0-46
Milford at Blue Ridge 22-8

The Monticello Sages capitalized on numerous miscues from a young Milwaukee Academy of Science football team en route to a 39-6 win in non-conference high school football action Friday night from Monticello.

The scoring started with a blocked punt that was returned for a touchdown to put the Sages up 6-0.

Then Drew Sheppard hit Trey Welter for a 54-yard strike to make the score 12-0.

After Monticello picked off freshman quarterback Braylyn Albritton, Tylor Bundy ran 24-yards for a touchdown to put the Sages up 18-0.

With six seconds left in the half, Albritton threw to the sideline and Spencer Mitze picked it off and took it to the house for a pick-six and Monticello led 25-0 at the break.

A screen pass for 54-yards to Luke Teschke put Monticello ahead 32-0 and it looked like the Sages would cruise to a 40-point running clock victory but the Novas continued to battle and struck from three yards out with Josiah Johnson's touchdown run and continued to make Monticello earn each and every yard offensively. 

Monticello concluded the scoring when Teschke returned an interception 100 yards for a touchdown to go up 39-6.

Sheppard finished 12-for-22 for 167 yards and touchdowns and an interception. He also ran for 127 yards on eight carries. 

Bundy finished with 48 yards and a touchdown on ten carries.

Welter had two receptions for 59 yards with a touchdown.

Mitze's defensive efforts earned him the ServPro of Piatt/DeWitt Counties player of the game nod.

Milwaukee Academy of Science's Albritton finished 27-for-47 for 252 with five picks but at one point in the second half had completed a stretch of 15 of 18 passes. A young  Novas team has a very bright future ahead. 

The Sages move to 2-1 overall while the Novas drop to 3-1. 

Monticello resumes Illini Prairie Conference action next Friday night at Bloomington Central Catholic. 

In a game heard on WHOW, the Clinton Maroons fell to the Shelbyville Rams 40-8 on Friday night. Quarterback Mason Walker was 3 of 15 passing for 34 yards and 2 interceptions. Walker had 21 carries for 135 yards. Tristin Potts had 7 carries for 26 yards. ServPro Piatt/DeWitt Counties Player of the Game Isaiah Reynolds had 2 catches for 32 yards and a touchdown.

Brody Boehm was 6 of 11 passing for 89 yards with 2 touchdowns for the Rams. He had 10 catches for 69 yards and a touchdown as well. Will Fox had 10 carries for 52 yards and a touchdown.

With the loss, the Maroons fall to 1-2 overall and 0-1 in the CIC. Shelbyville improves to 3-0 on the season and 1-0 in conference play.

Tune in next Friday, September 16, as the Maroons hope to get a Homecoming win against Central A&M. You can hear the game live on the Big 1520 AM/92.3 FM/106.5 FM WHOW, online at dewittdailynews.com, on the WHOW mobile app, and on Amazon Alexa. Game time is set for 7pm.

As the Central Illinois Conference slate opens for Clinton entering week three of the high school football season, the Maroons are looking for a statement win tonight when they travel to Shelbyville.

The Rams pose a good challenge for the Maroons with a good quarterback, a good wide receiver and show a lot of formations. Coach Ron Bass is hoping for more sustained ball movement this week.

Heading into week three, Coach Bass says his team is starting to get healthier with some key pieces of their team coming back this week.

Kickoff tonight is 7 pm from Shelbyville. The Rams enter play 2-0 with wins over Toledo-Cumberland and Bridgeport-Red Hill. Hear all the action on The Big 1520 AM/92.3 FM/106.5 FM WHOW and at the many WHOW digital platforms.

Central Illinois

Decatur St. Teresa at Central A & M

Tuscola at Sullivan-Okaw Valley

Warrensburg-Latham at Meridian

After a much-needed 38-8 victory over IVC last Friday night, the Monticello Sages will host out-of-state opponent Milwaukee Academy of Science in non-conference high school football action tonight in Monticello.

The Sages fell behind 8-0 after a late first quarter safety and a turnover led to a touchdown for the Grey Ghosts but Coach Cully Welter liked the resilience his team showed in bouncing back to score 38 unanswered points, including 28 in the final minutes of the first half.

Milwaukee Academy of Science brings a 3-0 record into tonight's contest with convincing wins in all three victories. Coach Welter points out there are a lot of new players to the team from last year and given the decisive nature of their wins in the first three games, it is hard to scout and prepare.

The Sages are 1-1 overall and Coach Welter continues to emphasize the need to dial in each week with a very tough portion of the schedule still to come. 

Game time tonight is 7 pm. Hear all the action on 95.9 FM WEZC and online at dewittdailynews.com. 

 Illini Prairie

Bloomington Central Catholic at Paxton-Buckley-Loda

Illinois Valley Central at Tolono Unity

Pontiac at Rantoul

St. Joseph-Ogden at Prairie Central

Apollo

Charleston at Effingham

Mahomet-Seymour at Mt. Zion

Mattoon at Taylorville

Big Twelve

Bloomington vs. Peoria Notre Dame at Peoria Richwoods

Danville at Peoria Manual

Normal West at Normal Community

Peoria Richwoods at Champaign Centennial

Central State Eight

Decatur MacArthur vs. Springfield Lanphier at Springfield Southeast

Normal U-High at Chatham-Glenwood

Rochester vs. Springfield at Springfield Southeast (Sat.)

Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin at Decatur Eisenhower

Springfield Southeast at Jacksonville

Lincoln Prairie

Argenta-Oreana at Arcola

Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond at Villa Grove

Cerro Gordo-Bement at Oakland Tri-County

Sangamon Valley at Toledo-Cumberland

Mid-Illini

Limestone at East Peoria

Canton at Morton

Metamora at Washington

Pekin at Dunlap

Sangamo

Maroa-Forsyth at Petersburg-PORTA

Non-Conference action tonight

Ridgeview-Lexington at Tri-Valley

Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley at El Paso-Gridley

Heyworth at Eureka

Jerseyville at Lincoln

Dee-Mack at Ottawa-Marquette

Peoria Heights at South Fork (Sat.)

Tremont at LeRoy

8-Man Football

Champaign St. Thomas More at Polo

Milford at Blue Ridge

Decatur LSA at Martinsville (Sat.)

The Blue Ridge Lady Knights avenged an early season loss to Champaign Judah Christian with a two-set, 25-9 and 25-19 win in non-conference high school girl's volleyball action from Champaign Thursday night. 

Alexis Wike led Blue Ridge with 12 digs and 3 aces. Phoebe Reynolds added 9 kills while Gracie Shaffer posted 15 assists.

Shaffer set the school career record for assists Wednesday night. 

Champaign Judah Christian defeated Blue Ridge on Aug. 27 from the Blue Ridge Volleyball Earlybird Invite in the third place match.

Blue Ridge moves to 8-2 overall. 

Coming off a tough season opener on the road at No. 18 Wisconsin last weekend, Illinois State returns to the friendly confines of Hancock Stadium to begin a three-game homestand with a contest against Pioneer Football League foe Valparaiso.

Agaionst the No. 18 Badgers, the Redbirds posted 14 first downs compared to 18 for Wisconsin, and passed for 186 yards while recording 243 yards of total offense. 

Six transfer newcomers saw action in the season opener at Wisconsin, with several stepping up to play big minutes and contribute in big ways for the Redbirds. Quarterback Zack Annexstad was solid in his debut after transferring from Minnesota, passing for 186 yards and posting a QBR of 115.1. Fellow Minnesota transfer and brother, Brock, caught a pair of passes for 36 yards for the Redbirds as well. 

Kentucky transfer Jake Pope also saw action on the offensive line late in the contest. On the defensive side, the transfer trio of defensive backs Deandre Lamont, Sy Dabney and Larry Tracy III also contributed, with Lamont recording five tackles and breakup, and Dabney and Tracy each recording two tackles each.

The Beacons opened the 2022 season last weekend at home against Indiana Wesleyan and came away with a thrilling win, as Brian Bartholomew drilled a career-long 50-yard field goal in the final two minutes to propel Valpo to the 20-17 victory. For his efforts in the win, Bartholomew was named the Pioneer Football League Special Teams Player of the Week.

Aaron Dawson rushed for 147 yards on 22 carries in his Valpo debut. The Beacons outgained Indiana Wesleyan in rushing yards 145-25, but the Wildcats held the advantage in the passing game 273-194.

Game time is 6:30 pm from Hancock Stadium in Normal.

Illinois will try to rebound after blowing a late lead in a 23-20 loss at Indiana when they host Virginia Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium in Champaign.

Illinois RB Chase Brown became the first Illinois running back since at least 1942 to rush 150 yards in back-to-back games to start the season. Brown ran 36 times for 199 yards against Indiana and he’s averaging 6.4 yards per carry through two games.

First-year coach Tony Elliott is looking to get the Cavaliers out to a 2-0 start for the second straight year and seventh time since 2000. Virginia brushed off a slow start against FCS opponent Richmond to win 34-17 last week.

QB Brennan Armstrong vs. Illinois defense. Armstrong threw for 405 yards and five touchdowns in a 42-14 win over the Illini last year, and last week he became Virginia’s all-time leader in total offense as he threw for more than 200 yards and ran for more than 100 against Richmond. Illinois gave up 330 passing yards to Indiana.

Game time Saturday is 3 pm. 

Eastern Illinois opened up the 2022 season last Thursday night with a 34-27 loss at defending Mid-American Conference Champion Northern Illinois and will host Chattanooga to open its home slate Saturday night.

EIU was 8-of-12 on 3rd down and running back Markenzy Pierre rushed for 100 yards on 14 carries at NIU. 

Game time Saturday evening is 6 pm and can be heard on The Big 1520 AM/92.3 FM/106.5 FM WHOW and on all the WHOW digital platforms.

In a game heard on WHOW, Yoan Moncada went 5 for 6 with two home runs and five RBIs, Dylan Cease stuck out nine in six scoreless innings and the Chicago White Sox hammered the Oakland Athletics 14-2 on Thursday night.

Chicago had 21 hits, including 10 extra-base hits, in its highest-scoring game of the season. It has won seven of its last nine games.

Romy Gonzalez went 4 for 5 with a homer and three RBIs. Elvis Andrus, released by the A's in August, and Eloy Jimenez also homered.

Cease (14-6) reached 206 strikeouts for the year, becoming the seventh White Sox pitcher with multiple 200-strikeout seasons. The right-hander allowed three hits and two walks after coming within one out of a no-hitter in his last start against the Minnesota Twins.

Miguel Cairo improved to 7-3 as acting manager as Tony La Russa remains away from the team with an unspecified health issue.

White Sox OF Luis Robert missed his second straight game after getting hit on his left fingers during a swing on Tuesday in Seattle. He is also dealing with a sore left wrist.

Lucas Giolito (10-9, 5.21 ERA) makes his third career start against Oakland on Friday. Giolito is 1-1 with a 4.15 ERA in his two previous outings. Athletics RHP James Kaprielian (3-9, 4.79) looks to snap a four-game losing streak. He beat the White Sox on July 29, allowing one run in six innings.

Yadier Molina homered twice on a day he paired with St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright to tie the major league record of 324 starts by a battery in an 11-6 loss to the Washington Nationals on Thursday.

Alex Call had four hits and five RBIs for Washington, including a three-run homer off James Naile in the ninth.

Wainwright and Molina matched the mark set by Detroit's Mickey Lolich and Bill Freehan from 1963-75.

Molina hit a two-run homer into the third deck in left field in the third and a solo shot just ove the wall in the fourth. It was the ninth career multi-homer game for Molina and his first since April 17, 2021, at Philadelphia.

Wainwright allowed four runs and nine hits in five innings.

Miles Mikolas (11-10, 3.32 ERA) will open a three-game series Friday night at Pittsburgh, while the Pirates counter with RHP Roansy Contreras (4-4, 3.41 ERA). Mikolas allowed just two hits over eight scoreless innings in his last start on Sept. 4.

Jonathan India hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the ninth inning, and the Cincinnati Reds rallied for a 4-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Thursday.

Chicago was ahead 3-2 when Alejo Lopez's liner off Mark Leiter Jr. (2-7) slipped between right fielder Seiya Suzuki and center fielder Rafael Ortega and rolled to the wall for a triple, allowing Nick Senzel to score from first to tie it. Lopez trotted home on when India lined a single to left, his third hit of the game.

Suzuki doubled and scored in the sixth and put Chicago in front with a solo shot in the eighth. His 12th homer was a liner into the first row of Wrigley Field's left-center bleachers off Alexis Diaz.

Kyle Farmer led off the seventh with a solo shot to chase Cubs starter Adrian Sampson, who allowed one run on five hits and walked none. Farmer and Jake Fraley each had two hits for the Reds, who have won two straight and three of four.

Nico Hoerner tripled and doubled. Franmil Reyes and P.J. Higgins drove in runs for the Cubs, who have lost nine of 11.

Drew Smyly (5-8, 3.84) starts for Chicago on Friday against visiting San Francisco's Carlos Rodon (12-7, 2.92).

No head coach in NFL history has fared better over his first three seasons than Matt LaFleur, who will take his staggering 39-10 record with the Green Bay Packers and three NFC North titles to U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday. 

The last two of those first-place finishes came in a runaway, one reason why O'Connell is here as the successor to Mike Zimmer in this attempt by the Vikings to reset without rebuilding and retake the division they haven't won since 2017.

When Kevin O'Connell takes the field with the Minnesota Vikings for his first game as a head coach, the 37-year-old will carry with him the blank slate that's one of the benefits of being a rookie in this high-pressure, much-coveted job.

O'Connell needn't be concerned for now about being booed at home by impatient or inebriated fans. His play calls and game management will be closely scrutinized in the media, at the stadium and on the couch, sure, but even with a ready-made roster full of proven starters and more than a couple of stars, the heat won't turn up every week he doesn't win for a while.

LaFleur was also a first-timer when he was hired by the Packers at age 39, bringing a similar background of playing and coaching quarterback and serving as an offensive coordinator on the way up. He and O'Connell both held that role under Rams head coach Sean McVay (LaFleur in 2017 and O'Connell from 2020-21), and they have the same agent (Trace Armstrong).

Erik Jones held off Danny Hamlin in a 20-lap sprint to the finish in the first playoff race to win for the second time at Darlington last weekend - continuing a chaotic NASCAR season.

Jones became the first non-playoff driver to win the first postseason race since the format was established in 2014. 

Pole-winner Joey Logano moved into first in the postseason standings by six over William Byron and eight over Hamlin. Kyle Busch led a race-high 155 laps, but suffered a blown engine as he prepared for the final restart. He wound up 30th.

Kyle Larson won from the pole position last year on his way to the Cup Championship. 

Practice and qualifying for the Cup series is at 11 am Saturday and the green flag waves at 2 pm on Sunday.

Noah Gragson passed Sheldon Creed and Kyle Larson as they battled for the last-lap lead and won at Darlington last week as the XFinity Series enters the final two weeks of the regular season shifting to Kansas Speedway this week.

Points leader A.J. Allmendinger has finished in the top 10 in 21 of 24 races. The next best is Gragson with 17 top 10 finishes. Creed finished second, followed by Justin Allgaier, Allmendinger and Larson. 

The top seven drivers in the series have cemented their playoff status by winning 20 of the 24 races.

Ty Gibbs won after starting 10th last year at Kansas. 

Practice and qualifying is at 4 pm this afternoon and the green flag waves at 2 pm on Saturday afternoon.

After a nearly month layoff, the Camping World Truck Series resumes its playoff run tonight at Kansas Speedway. 

Chandler Smith led the final 175 of 250 laps at Richmond to win for the third time this season and assure himself of a spot in round two of the playoffs.

Smith joined playoff round one winner Grant Enfinger as drivers guaranteed a spot in the second round of the playoffs. Three-time series champion Matt Crafton leads Carson Hocevar by three points in the race for the eighth and final playoff spot moving forward. The other driver behind the cut line is Christian Eckes, and he’s six points behind Crafton.

Kyle Busch won after starting second in May of last year. 

Practice and qualifying is at 2 pm this afternoon and the green flag drops at 6:30 pm tonight.

The San Francisco 49ers advanced to the NFC championship game last season, and they believe they have the playmakers to make another big playoff run.

The Chicago Bears are starting over with a new general manager and coach.

Though the two teams are in far different places, they do have something in common. Both are relying on second-year quarterbacks, and all eyes figure to be on Trey Lance and Justin Fields when the 49ers and Bears meet in the opener at Soldier Field on Sunday.

The 49ers have been building for this since they traded three first-round picks to draft Lance with the No. 3 overall pick in 2021 out of FCS school North Dakota State.

He spent most of his rookie season backing up and Eastern Illinois alumn Jimmy Garoppolo. The Niners decided to hand him the keys this season, hoping his athleticism and big-play ability would open up the offense.

There could be calls to go back to Garoppolo, who took a big pay cut to remain in San Francisco, if Lance struggles. But if he delivers the way the 49ers hope, that won't be an issue.

Fields, meanwhile, needs to take a step forward and show new Bears general manager Ryan Poles and coach Matt Eberflus he's the one who can stabilize the position.

The former Ohio State star struggled as a rookie last year after Chicago traded up to grab him with the No. 11 overall pick. He finished with more interceptions (10) than touchdown passes (seven), along with an unimpressive 73.2 rating.

The Bears went 6-11 and missed the playoffs for the ninth time in 11 years. Poles didn't make any splashy additions to an offense that ranked among the NFL's worst last season.

Chicago's Roquan Smith is ready to start the season for ''The Monsters of the Midway'' after a turbulent training camp.

The star linebacker opted to ''hold in'' at the start and requested a trade with negotiations on a contract extension going nowhere. He practiced for the first time on Aug. 20 and did not play in the preseason.

The Bears and Niners will play on new turf after Bermuda grass was installed this week instead of the usual Kentucky bluegrass.

A switch like that probably wouldn't draw much attention elsewhere. But in Chicago, where the choppy conditions at Soldier Field have frustrated the Bears and opposing teams for years, it's a different story.

The new grass figures to be tested with rain forecast for Sunday.

The top of the latest high school football state rankings saw very little change at the top.

In Class 1A, Lena-Winslow remained the top team followed by Athens, Central A&M, and Ridgeview. Camp Point Central moved up a spot to round out the top five.

Tuscola jumped a spot to no. 7 in 1A, while Hope Academy and Iriquois West traded spots at 9&10, respectively. 

In Class 2A, Wilmington remained no. 1 followed by Decatur St. Teresa, Tri-Valley, Maroa-Forsyth, and Bismarck-Henning round out the top five. 

North-Mac, Rockridge, and Pana enter this week's poll at 8-10.

In Class 3A, Tolono Unity re-enters this week's poll at no. 10. Prairie Central stayed put at no. 7 with IC Catholic retaining the top spot and Williamsville at no. 2. 

Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin is this week's no. 1 team by one point after coming for a tie for first with Joliet Catholic, this week's no. 2 team. Rochester stayed at no. 5 this week. Peoria Notre Dame fell out of the poll this week while Mt. Zion received votes this week, though did not make the top 10.

Mahomet-Seymour has dropped a spot to no. 4 this week, despite receiving two first-place votes in the Class 5A poll. LaGrange Park Nazareth is this week's no. 1 team in 5A. Peoria stayed at no. 6 in Class 5A. 

East St. Louis is the unanimous no. 1 team in 6a this week. Chatham-Glenwood stayed at no. 7. Normal West received votes this week though did not crack the top 10.

In Class 7A, Pekin stayed at no. 9 this week with Chicago Mt. Carmel the unanimous top team in 7A.

Loyola Academy is this week's no. 1 team in 8A.

The latest high school cross country rankings have the Clinton Maroons boy's and girl's teams in this week's poll

A trio of polls recognizes the early success of this year's runners. The Milesplit poll has the Maroons at girl's runners at no. 20 and the boys at no. 21. 

Other teams receiving recognition in the Milesplit poll on the boy's side in 1A, Normal U-High is no. 4 this week, down from second last week. St. Joseph-Ogden is no. 10 this week. The Monticello boy's cross country team fell out of the top 10 dropping all the way to no. 17a nd Tuscola moves into the top 25 rankings at no. 25.

Tolono Unity is this week's top team on the girl's side. Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin is up to no. 7 followed by Olympia and Monticello at no. 8 and 9, respectively.

Shelbyville enters this week's rankings with a jump to no. 11. 

In boy's Class 2A, the Lincoln boy's cross country team is no. 17 this week, down from no. 6 last week and Mahomet-Seymour enters the rankings at no. 20. 

Normal U-High is no. 9 in this week's Class 2A girl's poll followed by Washington at no. 10 and Rochester at no. 11. Normal West jumps to no. 17 this week and Mt. Zion is down to no. 19. Elsewhere, Mahomet-Seymour jumps into this week's rankings at no. 23.

Runnerspace has Clinton at no. 20 in the Class 1A boy's polls, entering the poll for the first time. Normal U-High is no. 2, Decatur St. Teresa no. 7, and St. Joseph-Ogden no. 10. Monticello is no. 13 this week, Tuscola falls to no. 25 and Tolono Unity enters the top-30 poll at no. 30.

Runnerspace has the Clinton Lady Maroons at no. 20 this week, down from no. 19 last week. Tolono Unity is the top girl's team in Class 1A. Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin is no. 11 this week, Shelbyville enters the rankings at no. 19, and the Monticello girl's fell to no. 30 after being no. 9 in the preseason. 

Runnerspace has Mahomet-Seymour at no. 9 this week in Class 2A boy's polling followed by Lincoln, new to the poll at no. 10. Mt. Zion checks in at no. 21, followed by Taylorville at no. 22 and Chatham-Glenwood at No. 23. 

Speedratings has Clinton at no. 19 in this week's 1A poll for the boys. Normal U-High is no. 1 followed by Decatur St. Teresa. St. Joseph-Ogden is no. 9 and El Paso-Gridley rounds out the top 10. 

Other ranked teams included Williamsville at no. 12, Monticello at no. 16, Tuscola at no. 22, Shelbyville at no. 29 and Heyworth at no. 30. 

Saturday Clinton runners head to Peoria for a meet at Detweiller Park, where the state finals are held. 

Gracie Shaffer broke the Blue Ridge High School career assist record Wednesday night leading the Lady Knights to a  25-13 and 25-15 two-set victory over Normal U-High in non-conference high school girl's volleyball action from Farmer City.

Shaffer's 16 assists broke the career assist record at BRHS of 1,527 that was previously held by Emily Zelhart, set in 2014. Shaffer added ten digs. 

Phoebe Reynolds added 8 kills and Cassie Zimmerman posted 3 aces. 

The Lady Knights improve to 7-2 overall. 

In a game heard on WHOW, Eloy Jimenez drove in three runs with a homer and double, and Chicago took advantage of each of Seattle's three errors in a 9-6 come-from-behind win Wednesday afternoon. 

The Mariners began the day with the fewest errors of any team in baseball, then ended up allowing six unearned runs to the White Sox.

The White Sox took two of three in the series and stayed on the heels of Cleveland and Minnesota in the crowded AL Central race.

It looked early like it would be a series loss for the White Sox as Seattle starter Luis Castillo tied an American League record by striking out the first seven batters to start the game.

But Castillo made a mistake giving up Jimenez's two-out home run in the fourth inning, and watched Chicago rally for four runs in the sixth inning that started with a fielding error by third baseman Eugenio Suarez.

Liam Hendriks struck out the side the ninth for his 31st save. The White Sox have won six of the past eight.

Dylan Cease (13-6, 2.13) will start the opener of a four-game series in Oakland on Thursday. Cease was one out from a no-hitter in his last start against Minnesota. The no-hitter was broken up by Luis Arraez.

Tommy Edman's long drive to left field nicked off the glove of outfielder Alex Call for a two-run, two-out double to cap St. Louis' five-run ninth inning in a 6-5 victory over the Washington Nationals on Wednesday night.

St. Louis moved 9 1/2 games ahead of Milwaukee for the NL Central lead, winning for the 20th time in its last 23 home games. The Cardinals are a season-high 25 games over .500 at 81-56.

Edman doubled to left off reliever Kyle Finnegan (5-3) to cap the rally.

Paul Goldschmidt hit his 35th homer, a solo homer off Cory Abbott leading off the fourth. Goldschmidt leads the NL with 108 RBIs. He's one homer shy of tying his career best.

Jordan Montgomery turned in another strong outing with his new team. Montgomery allowed one run on three hits over 6 2/3 innings and did not get a decision. He struck out six, walked two and left with it tied 1-1.

Jake Woodford (4-0) pitched the ninth for the victory.

Cardinals OF Dylan Carlson was placed on the 10-day disabled list with a left thumb strain. He is not expected to swing a bat for at least the next four days.

Adam Wainwright (10-9, 3.21) will face Washington RHP Josiah Gray (7-9, 4.91) in the finale of the four-game series on Thursday afternoon. Wainwright and batterymate Yadier Molina will likely tie the career record for most games together at 324, which is currently held by the Detroit Tigers duo of Mickey Lolich and Bill Freehan (1963-1975).

In a game heard on WHOW, Logan Gilbert tied his career high with nine strikeouts, Cal Raleigh homered and the Seattle Mariners beat the Chicago White Sox 3-0 on Tuesday night to keep the AL wild-card race tight.

Raleigh hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning as the Mariners won for the eighth time in nine games. Seattle and Tampa Bay are 1 1/2 games ahead of Toronto, which is 3 1/2 games on front of Baltimore for the final AL wild card. Raleigh has 23 homers, tops among catchers.

Chicago has lost two of three and dropped three games behind first-place Cleveland in the AL Central, also trailing Minnesota by 1 1/2 games.

Jose Abreu had a out-one double in the sixth, his third hit of the game, and took third on Eloy Jimenez's single. But Gilbert struck out Gavin Sheets and fanned A.J. Pollock on a shoulder-high 98 mph fastball, Gilbert's 101st and last pitch. It was his hardest throw of the game and brought a rare fist pump.

Pollock also struck out with two runners aboard in the eighth against Andres Munoz. Paul Sewald struck out two in a perfect ninth for his 18th save in 22 chances. The Mariners staff is 8-1 in its last nine games with four saves and 71 strikeouts.

Johnny Cueto (7-7) allowed one run, five hits and three walks in six-plus innings.

Michael Kopech (4-9, 3.58) is 0-3 in his last five starts. He has been sidelined since Aug. 23 by a strained left knee.

Mariners RHP Luis Castillo (6-5, 2.71) is 2-1 with a 2.39 ERA in six starts since he was acquired from Cincinnati. He pitched six shutout innings against Cleveland on Sept. 2.

The Blue Ridge Lady Knights defeated the Greenview 25-23 and 25-17 in non-conference high school girl's volleyball action from Greenview Tuesday night. 

The Lady Knights were led by Gracie Shaffer with 11 assists, 5 kills and 2 blocks. 

Alexis Wike added 5 kills, 12 service pts and 2 aces while Cassie Zimmerman had 10 digs for Blue Ridge

The Lady Knights to improve to 6-2. 

Nolan Gorman broke out of a slump with a homer and a pair of RBIs, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Washington Nationals 4-1 on Tuesday night.

Gorman said time spent with hitting coach Jeff Albert helped him after the rookie had just one hit in his previous 12 at-bats. Gorman had eight strikeouts during that span.

Jose Quintana (5-6) gave up a run on five hits and he struck out five in five innings to earn his first win since Aug. 10. The Cardinals have won five of their last six games and 19 of their last 22 at Busch Stadium.

Jordan Hicks pitched two scoreless innings and Giovanny Gallegos turned in a perfect eighth in relief. Ryan Helsley pitched around a leadoff double to earn his 14th save in 18 opportunities.

Brendan Donovan's solo homer broke an 0-for-12 skid and ignited a three-run fourth inning that snapped a 12-inning scoreless streak for the Cardinals. Tyler O'Neill's sacrifice fly scored Nolan Arenado and Gorman's double scored Corey Dickerson to give St. Louis a 3-1 lead.

Gorman added to the lead with a solo home run off Steve Cishek in the seventh.

Cardinals slugger Paul Goldschmidt was held to one hit and did not drive in a run as he continued his Triple Crown pursuit. Goldschmidt leads the NL with his .329 average and 107 RBIs. His 34 homers trails Philadelphia's Kyle Schwarber (36) and Atlanta's Austin Riley (35).

Cory Abbott (0-2, 4.39 ERA) will get the start for the Nationals in the third of a four-game series Wednesday night, while the Cardinals counter with LHP Jordan Montgomery (8-3, 3.15 ERA). Abbott will make his second career start at Busch Stadium after giving up a pair of runs in five innings as a member of the Chicago Cubs on Oct. 1, 2021. Montgomery, who is making his first career start against Washington, pitched six shutout innings against the Cubs in his last outing on September 2.v

Hayden Wesneski allowed two hits over five shutout innings of relief to win his major league debut, and the Chicago Cubs took advantage of 11 walks to beat the Cincinnati Reds 9-3 Tuesday night for their second win in nine games.

Wesneski (1-0), a 24-year-old right-hander acquired from the New York Yankees on Aug. 1 for reliever Scott Effross, struck out eight and walked one in front of about 20 family members and friends from Texas.

He relieved Wade Miley, who returned from a shoulder injury to make his first start since June 10. Wesneski retired 13 of the first 14 batters around a walk before Spencer Steer doubled with one out in the ninth and Aristides Aquino singled. Wesneski struck out Jake Fraley and Jose Barrero to end the game.

Wesneski threw at up to 95.7 mph, mixing 26 curveballs and five changeups among 61 pitches and getting four of his eight swings and misses on curves. He was 6-7 with a 3.51 ERA in 23 starts at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and 0-2 with a 5.66 ERA in five appearances at Triple-A Iowa.

Seiya Suzuki tied the score 3-3 with a two-run homer in the fifth off Justin Dunn. Nick Madrigal poked a two-run single off Fernando Cruz in the sixth that landed in front of right fielder Aristides Aquino. Madrigal's hit followed Nico Hoerner's leadoff single against Ian Gibalt (1-1) and Christopher Morel's walk off Relver Sanmartin.

Chicago scored three runs on batters who reached on walks and another with a batter who was hit by a pitch. Cincinnati's 11 walks were its most since Aug. 8, 2018.

All of the Cubs' runs scored with two outs.

Bell was ejected by plate umpire Carlos Torres with two outs in the top of the ninth after complaining about Torres' strike zone. It was Bell's third ejection this season and the 19th of his career.

Cincinnati (53-80), which had four hits, is two losses from ensuring a losing record. The Reds began the year trying to string together three straight winning seasons for the first time since four in a row from 1985-88.

Miley, who missed 76 games because of a left shoulder strain, allowed three runs - two earned - and two hits in four innings. He struck out six, walked two and generated 14 swings and misses.

Ian Happ homered in the first, his 26th homer against the Reds.

Kyle Farmer's homer extended the Reds' lead to 3-1 in the third.

Suzuki, who hit his 11th homer, is batting .349 (22 for 63) with five doubles and two homers in his last 18 games. Suzuki also walked with the bases loaded in the seventh.

Mike Minor (3-10, 5.98) starts Wednesday. Minor allowed two runs in 4 2/3 innings in a 5-3 loss to the Cardinals Aug. 31.

Cubs RHP Javier Assad (0-0, 0.90) hasn't allowed a run in starts against the Cardinals on Aug. 23 and the Blue Jays on Aug. 29.

The Chicago Bears plan to build an enclosed suburban stadium that could host Super Bowls, College Football Playoff games and Final Fours.

The Bears released conceptual illustrations Tuesday of the proposed stadium and entertainment complex that would be built on the site of a former horse racing track in Arlington Heights, Illinois. The Bears said the project could include restaurants, office space, a hotel, fitness center, new parks and open areas as well as “other improvements for the community to enjoy.”

Of the three illustrations released Tuesday, one is a map showing the stadium near a highway and commuter rail tracks and the mixed-use district southeast of the stadium. Two other aerial illustrations show the stadium and several other buildings and green spaces.

The Bears said they would not seek public funding for the stadium if the sale of the 326-acre property is completed and if they decide to move there. But they would seek taxpayer assistance for the rest of the project.

The Bears did not mention what the seating capacity would be at a new stadium, nor potential costs to construct the stadium or develop the rest of the property. They said construction would create more than 48,000 jobs, as well as $9.4 billion in economic impact for the region and provide $3.9 billion in income to workers.

The Bears estimate the completed project would add 9,750 long-term jobs, $1.4 billion in annual economic impact and $601 million a year in income to workers.

The Bears also said the project would generate $16 million in annual tax revenue, in addition to property taxes for Arlington Heights, $9.8 million for Cook County, and $51.3 million for the State of Illinois — calling the possible development “one of the largest development projects in Illinois state history.”

The organization signed a purchase agreement last year for the tract of land that’s about 30 miles northwest of Soldier Field. Bears President and CEO Ted Phillips, who announced last week he will retire after this season, has said a deal likely wouldn’t close until early 2023.

The Bears’ lease at Soldier Field, where the team has played since 1971, runs through 2033.

In July, Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot proposed three options for renovating the stadium. One included enclosing it, and another called for rebuilding both end zones with columns that could support a dome. A third option was to modify it to be a multipurpose facility better suited for soccer.

The Bears said Tuesday they will not consider Soldier Field renovations or explore any other potential stadium sites while they are under contract for the property in Arlington Heights.

In a game heard here on WHOW, Lance Lynn mowed through Seattle striking out a season-high 11, Elvis Andrus hit a two-run home run, and the Chicago White Sox snapped the Mariners' seven-game win streak with a 3-2 win on Monday.

Lynn retired the final 17 batters he faced in a dominant outing against a Seattle lineup that looked sleepy following a long Sunday in Cleveland and an early-morning arrival back in the Pacific Northwest.

The win kept the White Sox on the heels of Minnesota and Cleveland in a suddenly tight AL Central race, while Seattle lost ground to both Toronto and Tampa Bay in the chase for the top wild-card spot in the AL.

Chicago has won five of six.

Lynn (5-5) didn't allow a base runner after Abraham Toro's bloop RBI single in the second inning that right fielder Andrew Vaughn appeared to lose briefly in the sun. The 11 strikeouts were one off his career high, and he allowed just three hits.

Seattle's only run was unearned thanks to a passed ball and Lynn has allowed three earned runs total in his past four starts.

The consecutive batters retired streak reached 19 until Julio Rodriguez singled off Kendall Graveman with two outs in the eighth. Liam Hendriks allowed two singles and a walk in the ninth, including J.P. Crawford's two-out single to score Mitch Haniger. But Hendriks struck out pinch-hitter Adam Frazier to finish off his 30th save.

A.J. Pollock also hit a solo home run for the White Sox.

The White Sox activated 3B Yoan Moncada from the 10-day IL and reinstated LHP Aaron Bummer from the 60-day IL. Moncada had been out with a strained left hamstring. He was hitting .197 with seven homers and 40 RBIs in 80 games prior to the injury. Moncada is expected to be in the lineup on Tuesday.

White Sox RHP Johnny Cueto (7-6, 2.93) has won three of his past four decisions. Cueto threw 5 1/3 innings allowing six hits and one run in his last start against Kansas City.

Mariners RHP Logan Gilbert (11-5, 3.35) threw six shutout innings allowing only two hits and striking out nine in his last start against Detroit. Gilbert picked up his first win since July 3 in the outing.

Jack Flaherty pitched five effective innings for St. Louis in his first big league action since June, but the NL Central-leading Cardinals had their four-game winning streak stopped by Joey Meneses and the Washington Nationals 6-0 Monday.

Meneses got three hits and fellow rookie C.J. Abrams had four to back five shutout innings from Anibal Sanchez (2-5). Washington, which has the worst record in the majors, has won three in a row.

Flaherty (0-1) returned from the injured list after being sidelined by a right shoulder issue. In his first start since June 26, he allowed one run on six hits and a walk. He struck out six and hit a batter while throwing 91 pitches.

Anibal Sanchez gave up just two hits. It was his first start at Busch Stadium since he threw 7 2/3 no-hit innings in the opener of the 2019 NL Championship Series.

St. Louis managed just three singles against three pitchers. Mason Thompson allowed one hit in three innings for his first big league save.

The Cardinals have won seven of their last nine games and 23 of 31.

The Cardinals activated Flaherty from the 60-Day injured list and optioned RHP Dakota Hudson to Triple-A Memphis. 

Cardinals LHP Jose Quintana (4-6, 3.47) will be making his third start of the season against the Nationals and his first as a member of the Cardinals. The Nationals are one of five teams that he has no career wins against.

Noah Gragson shot past Sheldon Creed on the final lap to defend his Xfinity Series victory at Darlington Raceway on Saturday night.

Gragson, tracking leader Creed, looked like his chance at victory might’ve slipped away when NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson took over second. But as Larson and Creed fought side-by-side, touching several times in the final laps, Gragson moved low around both of them as Creed’s car had a flat tire and gave off sparks against the wall.

Creed ended second, followed by A.J. Allmendinger, Justin Allgaier and Larson.

Gragson had led 82 of 147 laps.

The race was red-flagged for 2 hours, 37 minutes after rain hit the track. It ended under the lights.

Albert Pujols collected home run No. 695 in the eighth inning and Miles Mikolas tossed eight shutout innings to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 2-0 win over the Chicago Cubs on Sunday.

Pujols drilled the two-run, pinch-hit shot off reliever Brandon Hughes (2-2).

A probable future Hall of Famer, Pujols trails only Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755), Babe Ruth (714) and Alex Rodriguez (696) on the all-time home run list.

Pujols has seven pinch-hit homers in his career, including two this season. He has homered against 451 different pitchers, an all-time record.

The 42-year-old jumped on an 0-1 offering.

Mikolas (11-10) gave up two hits. He struck out three and walked one. Ryan Helsley earned his 13th save in 17 chances.

Chicago starter Marcus Stroman allowed four hits in seven shutout innings. He struck out five and did not walk a batter in a 98-pitch stint.

The start of the game was delayed 1 hour, 28 minutes by rain.

Carlos Correa homered and Dylan Bundy shut down Chicago once again, helping the Minnesota Twins beat the White Sox 5-1 on Sunday.

Jose Miranda added a two-run double in the ninth inning as Minnesota salvaged the finale of the weekend series. Max Kepler scored on Kendall Graveman's wild pitch in the eighth, and Jhoan Duran turned in some impressive relief work.

Correa connected in the fifth, hitting a two-run drive to left-center off Lucas Giolito for his 16th homer. Bundy pitched five scoreless innings to improve to 7-0 with a 3.15 ERA in 10 career appearances against the White Sox.

Elvis Andrus had two of Chicago's seven hits. The White Sox had won four in a row since a stretch of seven losses in eight games.

AJ Pollock hit an RBI double off Michael Fulmer in the seventh, but Chicago wasted a chance for a big inning.

With runners on second and third and one out, Leury Garcia bunted right back to Duran for a fielder's choice that retired pinch-runner Adam Haseley at home.

Romy Gonzalez then struck out swinging, ending the inning.

Duran also worked a perfect eighth. The hard-throwing right-hander has allowed just one run in 20 1/3 innings over his last 19 appearances.

Bundy (8-6) yielded two hits, struck out four and walked one. The 29-year-old right-hander is 3-0 with a 1.77 ERA in four starts against the White Sox this year.

Giolito (10-9) pitched five innings for Chicago, allowing six hits and finishing with five strikeouts and two walks.

Remember WHOW is your home for Chicago White Sox baseball. Our next broadcast is tonight at 5pm against the Seattle Mariners. You can hear the game live on the Big 1520 AM/92.3 FM/106.5 FM WHOW, online at dewittdailynews.com, on the WHOW mobile app, and on Amazon Alexa.

Illini Prairie Conference

Prairie Central at Pontiac 55-13
Rantoul at Bloomington Central Catholic 6-61
Tolono Unity at St. Joseph-Ogden 50-7

Apollo

Effingham at Mahomet-Seymour 14-35
Lincoln at Charleston 20-0
Mattoon at Mt. Zion 21-42

Big Twelve

Champaign Central at Normal Community 14-50
Normal West at Bloomington 46-0
Peoria  at Danville 36-16
Peoria Manual at Champaign Centennial 20-69
Peoria Notre Dame at Urbana 2-0

Central State Eight

Chatham-Glenwood at Decatur MacArthur 53-13
Decatur Eisenhower at Rochester 0-44
Springfield Lanphier at Jacksonville  0-65
Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin vs. Springfield at Springfield Southeast 56-13
Springfield Southeast at Normal U-High 14-27

Heart of Illinois 

Tri-Valley at Dee-Mack 33-12
El Paso-Gridley at Fieldcrest 28-0
Eureka at Tremont 50-0
LeRoy at Heyworth 40-7

Sangamo

Auburn at Maroa-Forsyth 13-39

Non-Conference action tonight...

Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond at Meridian 48-6
Limestone at Woodstock 13-31
Althoff Catholic at Decatur St. Teresa 0-54
Reed-Custer at Arcola 66-7
Cerro Gordo-Bement at Carlyle 19-20
Dunlap at Rock Island 13-26
East Peoria at Aurora Central Catholic 32-26
Blue Ridge at Edwardsville Metro-East Lutheran 60-12
Fithian-Oakwood at Iroquois West 58-6
LaSalle-Peru at Metamora 8-16
Pekin at Belleville East 33-22
Peoria Richwoods at Morton 13-45
Sparta at Paxton-Buckley-Loda 0-47
Sullivan-Okaw Valley at Nokomis 42-2
Villa Grove vs. Ridgeview 26-33
Washington at Kankakee (Sr.) 0-42

8-Man Football 

Flanagan-Cornell-Woodland at Champaign St. Thomas More 18-50

After a second-quarter safety and a touchdown on the ensuing possession, Monticello scored 28 unanswered points to finish the first half and rolled to a 38-8 victory over IVC in Illini Prairie Conference football action Friday night in Chillicothe.

It was another slow start for the Sages and a bad snap on a 4th down deep in their own territory forced Cole Sowinski to field the errant snap in the end zone and was tackled for the first score of the game.

After IVC quarterback Nate Dennison hit David Russell in the back of the end zone from 11 yards out to put IVC up 8-0, Tylor Bundy returned the kickoff 48 yards to the 32-yard line, and then Drew Sheppard hit Raiden Colbert from 32 yards out to bring Monticello to 8-6.

Monticello got the ball back and used a hook-and-lateral that sprung Bundy for 67 yards on the pitch from Colbert and a double reverse two-point conversion made it 14-8.

With 2:58 to go in the second quarter, Bundy picked off a Dennison pass and returned it 33 yards for a touchdown to put the Sages up 21-8.

But Monticello wasn't done. After they forced IVC into a 3-and-out, Drew Sheppard hit Bundy over the middle for 38 yards setting the Sages up for a red zone opportunity, and Luke Teschke's touchdown from two yards out on a shovel pass made it 28-7.

Out of the half, Monticello received the opening kick and Sheppard took the opening play of the half 37 yards on an option run, setting up another Bundy touchdown from 3-yards out to send Monticello up 35-8.

The scoring concluded in the fourth when Sowinski slammed a 32-yard field goal through for the 38-8 score.

Bundy's efforts earned him the ServPro of Piatt/DeWitt County Player of the Game. He finished with 133 yards receiving with a touchdown, 35 yards rushing with a touchdown, his pick six, and several tremendous special teams plays. 

Sheppard was 17-for-27 with 278 yards passing to go along with three touchdowns and an interception. He added 61 yards rushing.

Colbert hauled in three passes for 44 yards with a touchdown. Spencer Mitze recorded three receptions for 32 yards and led a tenacious Monticello defense throughout the night from the linebacker position. Trey Welter had four catches for 36 yards. 

Monticello moves to 1-1 overall while IVC falls to 0-2. 

The Sages host the Milwaukee Academy of Science next Friday night in Monticello. Hear the action on 95.9 FM WEZC and online at dewittdailynews.com. 

As heard on WHOW, the Clinton Maroons defeated the Argenta-Oreana Bombers 48-0 Friday night. ServPro Player of the Game Mason Walker was 2 of 3 passing for 18 yards. He also had 19 carries for 118 yards and 6 touchdowns. Tristin Potts had 16 carries for 149 yards and a touchdown. Khanton Wilson had 7 carries for 61 yards.

The Bombers were led by Ethan Mahan who was 2 of 13 passing for 25 yards and 3 interceptions. Jamario Barbee had 8 catches for 37 yards.

With the win, Clinton improves to 1-0 and Argenta-Oreana will fall to 0-2.

Tune in next Friday, September 9, as the Maroons travel to Shelbyville. You can hear the game live on the Big 1520 AM/92.3 FM/106.5 FM WHOW, online at dewittdailynews.com, on the WHOW mobile app, and on Amazon Alexa.

While it wasn't the result they wanted to start the season, there are a lot of positive things to take away in week one for the Clinton Maroons football squad with a week two matchup at Argenta-Oreana up next in non-conference high school boy's football action. 

Lincoln shut out the Maroons 28-0 but second-year coach Ron Bass says there were a lot of positive things to take away. For Clinton, there was a lot to improve on coming out of the defeat. 

Coach Bass felt like his linebackers played well, getting several tackles for loss. The Maroons need to get healthier in the secondary.

Tonight the Maroons travel to Argenta to take on the Bombers. Hear the action on The Big 1520 AM/92.3 FM/106.5 FM WHOW and on all the WHOW digital platforms. Game time is 7 pm.

After week one's 21-14 loss to St. Joseph-Ogden, Monticello football Coach Cully Welter took a lot of positives away from the performance but noted they would need to approach the remainder of the season like the postseason because of the balance of the Illini Prairie Conference.

Heading into this week's matchup at IVC, Coach Welter felt like his team left a lot of opportunities on the field last week and a slow start didn't help much either.

In year's past, Coach Welter may have dialed more in on self-improvement in practice rather than get too wrapped up in strategy for an opponent, that shifts a little bit as the Sages find themselves in a bit of an early hole. 

Monticello takes on Illinois Valley Central tonight in Chillicothe. Hear all the action around 7 pm on 95.9 FM WEZC and online at dewittdailynews.com. 

Illini Prairie Conference matchups tonight:

Prairie Central at Pontiac

Rantoul at Bloomington Central Catholic

Tolono Unity at St. Joseph-Ogden

Apollo

Effingham at Mahomet-Seymour

Lincoln at Charleston

Mattoon at Mt. Zion

Big Twelve

Champaign Central at Normal Community

Normal West at Bloomington

Peoria  at Danville

Peoria Manual at Champaign Centennial

Peoria Notre Dame at Urbana

Central State Eight

Chatham-Glenwood at Decatur MacArthur

Decatur Eisenhower at Rochester

Springfield Lanphier at Jacksonville 

Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin vs. Springfield at Springfield Southeast

Springfield Southeast at Normal U-High

Heart of Illinois 

Tri-Valley at Dee-Mack

El Paso-Gridley at Fieldcrest

Eureka at Tremont

Fisher at Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley

LeRoy at Heyworth

Sangamo

Auburn at Maroa-Forsyth

Non-Conference action tonight...

Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond at Meridian

Limestone at Woodstock

Althoff Catholic at Decatur St. Teresa

Reed-Custer at Arcola

Cerro Gordo-Bement at Carlyle

Dunlap at Rock Island

East Peoria at Aurora Central Catholic

Elgin St. Edward at Taylorville (Sat.)

Blue Ridge at Edwardsville Metro-East Lutheran

Fithian-Oakwood at Iroquois West

LaSalle-Peru at Metamora

Central A & M at Marshall (Sat.)

Pekin at Belleville East

Peoria Richwoods at Morton

Shelbyville at Bridgeport Red Hill (Sat.)

Sparta at Paxton-Buckley-Loda

Sullivan-Okaw Valley at Nokomis

Toledo-Cumberland at Tuscola

Villa Grove vs. Ridgeview

Warrensburg-Latham at Sangamon Valley

Washington at Kankakee (Sr.)

8-Man Football 

Flanagan-Cornell-Woodland at Champaign St. Thomas More

Pawnee at Decatur LSA (Sat.)

Illinois football coach Bret Bielema wanted a nonconference game before opening Big Ten play. 

Athletic department officials obliged, and the Illini beat Wyoming convincingly last week. Bielema now hopes the expected improvement between the first two games comes to fruition. 

Indiana, meanwhile, opens against a conference opponent for the fourth time in six years. The last time the Hoosiers won their opener, in the 2020 pandemic season, they went 6-2. This time they’re trying to snap a nine-game losing streak in league play.

Hoosiers coach Tom Allen hasn’t announced whether Jack Tuttle or Missouri transfer Connor Bazelak will start. Either way, the challenge will be facing what appears to be an improved Illinois defense. A year ago, the Illini allowed 215.2 yards passing per game. But they yielded only 30 yards last week for their lowest single-game total since 2012. The Cowboys also converted just one of 12 third downs.

After topping the 1,000-yard mark last season, Illinois RB Chase Brown opened 2022 with a bang. His 151 yards rushing rank fourth in the nation and his three touchdowns — two on runs, one on a catch — are tied for the national lead.

Illinois and Indiana are squaring off for just the second time since 2013. 

The Illini have held five of their last six opponents to 20 points or 

Indiana lost its final eight games in 2021 but has won three straight in the series. 

Illinois QB Tommy DeVito will make his conference debut just six days after going 27 of 37 with 194 yards and two TDs in his first game since transferring from Syracuse.

In a game heard on WHOW, Rocky Lombardi threw for 192 yards to six different receivers and Northern Illinois used a balanced running attack to hold off Eastern Illinois 34-27 in a season opener Thursday night.

Eastern Illinois scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter and threatened at game’s end. Northern Illinois’ Josh Richardson missed a 43-yard field goal to the right with 58 seconds left, killing a chance for a 10-point lead.

Eastern Illinois quarterback Jonah O’Brien then led a six-play, 39-yard drive to get the Panthers to Northern Illinois’ 44-yard line before time ran out. A sophomore, O’Brien threw for 276 yards and three scores and two interceptions.

The Huskies never trailed. 

No. 18 Wisconsin is trying to start on a better note after dropping three of its first four games last season, including a 16-10 home loss to Penn State in its opener. 

Illinois State, meanwhile, is attempting to have a two-game winning streak over Big Ten opponents after winning 9-7 at Northwestern in 2016. The Redbirds have lost all eight of their other matchups with Big Ten teams.

Illinois State’s chances of staying in the game depends on whether it can avoid getting rolled over by Wisconsin’s high-powered rushing attack. Braelon Allen is an Associated Press All-America second-team selection who rushed for 1,268 yards and 12 touchdowns last season. He’s joined by Chez Mellusi, who ran for 815 yards in nine games last season before tearing his anterior cruciate ligament. Isaac Guerendo, also back from a season-ending injury, brings breakaway speed to Wisconsin’s backfield. 

Illinois State’s defense is led by linebacker Zeke Vandenburgh, a preseason first-team all-Missouri Valley Conference selection.

Illinois State RB Cole Mueller rushed for 977 yards last season and ranked 20th among all FCS players with 88.8 yards rushing per game. He ranked second in MVC freshman of the year balloting last season.

Illinois State has three wins over FBS teams under Brock Spack, who is entering his 14th season as the Redbirds’ coach. Illinois State beat Eastern Michigan in 2012 and Colorado State in 2018 as well as producing that 2016 upset of Northwestern.

Andrew Vaughn and A.J. Pollock each cracked a two-run homer and singled, and the Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals 7-1 on Thursday.

Leury Garcia and Elvis Andrus added two hits and an RBI apiece for the White Sox, who won their second straight following a five-game slide to climb back within a game of .500 (65-66).

Chicago improved to 2-1 under bench coach Miguel Cairo, who is filling in as manager while Tony La Russa is on indefinite leave to undergo tests for an unspecified health issue.

The defending AL Central champions, who began the day five games behind first-place Cleveland, held a players-only meeting before the game. Chicago is seeking its third straight playoff appearance.

The White Sox have 31 games left, starting with a three-game home series against second-place Minnesota.

Kansas City rookie infielder Michael Massey had a double in his first three-hit game. The 24-year-old Illinois alum, who made hit major league debut on July 13, finished 3-for-3 with a walk.

 Davis Martin (2-4, 4.62) faces visiting Minnesota's Sonny Gray (7-4, 3.04) in Friday's series opener.

The Chicago Bears are set to unveil conceptual plans for a suburban stadium and entertainment complex next week, the next step as they mull a move from their longtime home, Soldier Field.

The Bears announced Thursday they will hold a community meeting Sept. 8 in Arlington Heights, Illinois, to discuss the potential purchase and development of a new stadium and entertainment complex on the site of a former horse racing track. The organization signed a purchase agreement last year for the 326-acre tract of land in the town, about 30 miles northwest of Soldier Field.

The Bears said the session is “informational only and should not be confused with an official public meeting” hosted by Arlington Heights. They said public meetings would be scheduled later “if the project were to move forward.”

Team president Ted Phillips has said a deal likely wouldn’t close until early 2023, at which point the team would decide whether it’s “financially feasible to try to develop it further.”

Austin Dillon passed Austin Cindric with three laps to go after a 3 hour, 20 minute red flag rain delay season finale at Daytona and earned his way into the playoffs with his first victory in 79 races.

The race, moved from Saturday to Sunday because of rain, was stopped with 21 laps remaining after the rain came and produced a 15-car crash. 

Ryan Blaney earned the only spot in the playoffs for a non-race-winner by three points over Martin Truex Jr. 

Dillon was the 16th unique race winner of the season. But Kurt Busch, who won in May at Kansas, won’t contend in the playoffs after 23XI Racing withdrew the medical waiver that was holding his spot as he recovers from a concussion. 

Brad Keselowski’s string of making the playoffs nine straight years ended; it was the longest in the series. 

Only five of 37 cars at Daytona avoided crashing.

Denny Hamlin won after starting second in the playoff race last year. 

Practice and qualifying is at noon on Saturday and the green flag drops at 5 pm on Sunday evening. 

Jeremy Clements passed Austin Hill on the third and final overtime restart to win at rain- and crash-plagued Daytona, his first victory in five years and one that assured him a spot in the XFinity Series playoffs.

Clements only other career victory came on Aug. 27, 2017, or 164 starts ago. He became just the eighth series regular to win a race this season with three events remaining in the regular season. 

Eighteen of the 38 cars that started the race were already in the garage when the race, delayed nearly three hours at the start, ended around 1:30 a.m. 

With eight of the 12 playoff spots accounted for, the four non-winners in position to make the postseason are Riley Herbst, Sam Mayer, Daniel Hemric and Landon Cassill.

Noah Gragson won after starting eighth last year in the fall race. 

Practice and qualifying is at 9 am on Saturday morning and the green flag drops at 2 pm on Saturday afternoon. 

The Camping World Truck Series resumes it's playoffs next Friday night at Kansas.

Throughout the month of August, Regional Radio listeners and readers heard from high school sports coaches across central Illinois.

A theme among those conversations seemed to be that the number of athletes playing sports at younger grade levels was increasing and didn't seem to be headed to a drop-off. 

LeRoy football coach BJ Zeleznik says he has noticed this trend too and feels, at least for his community, they are taking measures to ensure they don't burn their young kids out on a sport too early and make it fun before getting to the high school level.

For Zeleznik, having kids play flag football doesn't prevent a varsity football coach from teaching kids the things they will be doing when they reach his program when they are teenagers. He believes there's still the opportunity to teach your offensive and defensive systems.

After a disappointing 21-14 loss to start the season against St. Joseph-Ogden, the Monticello Sages fell out of the week one top 10 Class 3A high school football polls. 

Ranked no. 9 in the preseason, the Sages fell behind early and could not capitalize on opportunities late to get past the Spartans and did not receive any votes in his week's poll.

Fellow Illini Prairie Conference rival Tolono Unity also fell out of the poll with its week one 34-12 loss to Prairie Central. 

The Hawks of Prairie Central used a big week one win to enter the poll this week at no. 7.

IC Catholic is the no. 1 team in 3A followed by Reed-Custer, Williamsville, Princeton and Byron. Mt. Carmel and Eureka fall ahead of Prairie Central at 6-7, respectively. 

Newcomers to the 3A poll Durand-Pecatonica and Hillsboro round out the top 10.

The Central Illinois Conference's Tuscola jumps into this week's Class 1A poll while Central A&M jumped a spot to no. 3. Lena-Winslow remains the top team followed by Athens. Ridgeview and Forreston round out the top 5. 

Camp Point Central jumps from no. 10 to no. 6 followed by Fulton at no. 7 in the 1A poll. Iroquois West fell from no. 7 to no. 9 this week and Hope Academy and Jacksonville Routt tied for tenth in this week's poll. 

Class 2A is headlined by Wilmington, Decatur St. Teresa, and Tri-Valley remaining strong at one through three. Maroa-Forsyth jumped from no. 7 to no. 4 this week and Nashville jumped from no. 8 to no. 5. 

Bismarck-Henning went from no. 10 to no. 6 and 7-10 were all newcomers to this week's poll. Vandalia, Mercer County, Sterling Newman, and Knoxville round out the top 10 in 2A.

In Class 4A, with its big win over Rochester, Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin ties with Joliet Catholic for no. 1.

Rochester dropped from no. 3 to no. 5. St. Francis and Richmond-Burton came in at no. 3 and no. 4, respectively. 

Genoa-Kingston, Stillman Valley, Wheaton Academy, Breese Central, and Carterville round out the top 10. 

In Class 5A, Mahomet-Seymour stayed at no. 3 as LaGrange Park Nazareth and Kankakee swapped spots for no. 1 and no. 2.

Morris and Sycamore round out the top 5 this week. 

Peoria, Rockford Boylan, Chicago St. Patrick, Sterling, and Chicago Morgan Park round out the top 10 in 5A.

Chatham-Glenwood enters this week's poll in 6A at no. 7. East St. Louis is no. 1 this week in 6A.

In Class 7A, Pekin enters this week's poll at tied for ninth with Moline. Normal Community continues to receive votes. 

Loyola Academy is no. 1 in this week's 8A poll. 

Albert Pujols hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the 13th inning, Lars Nootbaar added a two-run homer and the St. Louis Cardinals twice used five-man infields to stop the Cincinnati Reds and pull out a 5-3 win on Wednesday night.

In his final game in Cincinnati, Pujols shook off going hitless in five at-bats to deliver against Chase Anderson (0-2), driving in automatic runner Paul Goldschmidt with one out. Nootbaar went deep two batters later.

The NL Central-leading Cardinals first used an extra infielder in the 11th with Colin Moran on third and nobody out. Moran held up on Jose Barrero's groundout and Jake Fraley grounded to shortstop Tommy Edman, who threw Moran out at the plate - a call that survived a replay review.

The Cardinals went to five infielders again with one out in the 12th and Edman threw out Austin Romine trying to score on Alejo Lopez's grounder, helping Andre Pallante (6-4) get the win. Pallante worked the final three innings, allowing Fraley's RBI single in the 13th.

The Cardinals have won four of their last five games.

Nolan Arenado tied the game with a two-run homer off the left field foul pole in the fourth.

Reds left-hander Mike Minor was denied in his bid to win a third straight start for the first time since 2019 for Texas. Minor lasted 4 2/3 innings, allowing four hits and two runs with two walks and one strikeout. He also hit a batter.

Quintana also went 4 2/3 innings. The Reds reached him for seven hits and two runs with a walk and a strikeout.

Buck Farmer, Cincinnati's third of five relievers, came in with one out in the seventh to strike out Corey Dickerson and get Goldschmidt to ground out with runners on second and third.

Jordan Montgomery (7-3, 3.28 ERA), Friday's scheduled starter against the Cubs, pitched a complete-game, one-hit shutout in his last start against Chicago on Aug. 22 at Wrigley Field.

Reds RHP Luis Cessa (3-2, 5.36) is scheduled to make his fourth start since being moved from the bullpen when Cincinnati opens a series against Colorado on Friday.

In a game heard here on WHOW, Lance Lynn pitched four-hit ball through seven innings, Elvis Andrus hit a tiebreaking home run in the fifth and the Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals 4-2 Wednesday night to snap a five-game losing streak.

Lynn (4-5), who was reinstated from the bereavement list before the game, didn't walk a batter and struck out eight for the fifth time this season. The Royals had scored 24 runs in their previous two games.

Chicago (64-66) won for the first time under bench coach Miguel Cairo, who served his second game as acting manager while Tony La Russa is on indefinite leave while he undergoes tests performed by his personal doctors in Arizona to address an unspecified health issue.

The Royals (53-78) lost for the third time in five games. Rookie Bobby Witt hit his 19th home run off Lynn in the fourth, a shot to center that traveled an estimated 441 feet.

Witt's homer was the 58th hit by a Royals rookie this season, extending the franchise record of 56 set in their inaugural season in 1969.

The Royals didn't score again until two out in the ninth on a triple by Michael A. Taylor and a single by Michael Massey. Chicago's Liam Hendriks struck out Hunter Dozier to earn his 29th save.

Lynn retired the first 10 batters before Witt's homer, and he immediately loaded the bases before coaxing Dozier to ground into an inning-ending double play.

That turned out to be the break the Sox needed, as AJ Pollock led off the bottom of the fourth by poking a low, outside pitch over the right field fence to tie the game.

Lynn is 2-0 with a 1.82 ERA in his last four starts.

Royals left-hander Kris Bubic (2-10) threw 26 pitches in the first and loaded the bases before getting Pollock to pop to first and Yasmani Grandal to line out to right. Grandal returned from his rehab assignment at Triple-A Charlotte and was reinstated from the 10-day injured list before the game.

Bubic walked three of the first seven batters he faced, but was undone by the homers. Andrus hit his home run two pitches after missing a pitch on a hit-and-run play that resulted in Romy Gonzalez getting thrown out at second.

Bubic has allowed four homers in his last two starts after pitching 24 consecutive innings without allowing a homer. He is 0-4 lifetime against the Sox, despite posting a 2.76 ERA in nine games.

Royals C Salvador Perez (back tightness) was scratched from the lineup and is listed as day to day.

White Sox CF Luis Robert (left wrist soreness) missed his fifth consecutive start and remains day to day, Cairo said. Robert entered in the ninth as a defensive replacement.

The Royals will start RHP Daniel Mengden (0-0, 2.08) to face Chicago in Thursday's series finale. Mengden will be promoted from Triple-A Omaha, where he is 6-5 with a 4.55 ERA in 21 appearances.

The White Sox will start RHP Johnny Cueto (6-6, 2.98). Cueto allowed a season-high seven runs in five innings Friday in a loss to the Diamondbacks.

Franmil Reyes homered, Nico Hoerner drove in a pair of runs and the Chicago Cubs beat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-5 on Wednesday night to avoid a three-game sweep.

Ian Happ and Zach McKinstry each had two hits as the Cubs snapped a five-game losing streak north of the border. Chicago went 15-15 in August, its first non-losing month since going 19-8 in May 2021.

Cavan Biggio hit a two-run home run and Alejandro Kirk added a three-run blast for the Blue Jays, who are in position for the third AL wild-card spot but went 13-14 in August, their first losing month of the season.

Toronto has a two-game lead in the playoff race over division rival Baltimore. The Blue Jays have 33 games remaining, 10 against the Orioles.

Cubs right-hander Luke Farrell made his second start and third appearance of the season, giving up two runs and two hits in two-plus innings. Farrell retired the first six batters in order but Teoscar Hernandez singled to begin the third and Biggio followed with a drive into the second deck, his fourth.

Farrell is the son of former Blue Jays and Red Sox manager John Farrell. His older brother, Shane, is Toronto's amateur scouting director.

Manuel Rodriguez (1-0) replaced Farrell and retired all six batters he faced.

Mark Leiter Jr. pitched one inning, Erich Uelmen got two outs, Michael Rucker got three and Brandon Hughes worked 1 1/3 innings before Rowan Wick, the seventh Chicago pitcher, worked the ninth for his ninth save in 13 chances.

Happ opened the scoring with an RBI single in the first and Cubs catcher Yan Gomes made it 2-0 in the second, scoring from third when Alfonso Rivas attempted a two-out steal of second. Rivas was thrown out.

Hoerner hit a two-run double in the third and scored on Rafael Ortega's bloop single to left.

Willson Contreras (left ankle) was held out of the starting lineup. Contreras left Tuesday's game in the sixth inning.

Adrian Sampson (1-4, 3.97 ERA) will be activated off the restricted list to start at St. Louis Friday. 

Bubba Wallace will drive the No. 45 Toyota for 23XI Racing the rest of the season instead of his usual No. 23. The team announced the move Wednesday. The switch was made because the No. 45 car, previously driven by the injured Kurt Busch, is competing for the Owner’s Championship.

Ty Gibbs had been subbing for Busch the past several races. Gibbs will move to Wallace’s No. 23 for the rest of the season.

Wallace will continue with his crew chief Bootie Barker while Gibbs will keep working with Billy Scott. Other than the numbers, 23XI said there will be no changes to the primary partners on either car.

Jordan, who owns the team with racer Denny Hamlin, famously switched from No. 23 to No. 45 when he returned from his first NBA retirement with the Chicago Bulls in 1995. Jordan eventually returned to No. 23 during that year’s playoffs.

Busch had qualified the No. 45 for the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs with his win at Kansas this past May. But he suffered a concussion in a crash during qualifying at Pocono and missed the final six regular-season races.

Busch, who was not cleared to race at Darlington to start the playoffs, on Sunday withdrew from the postseason.

23XI team president Steve Lauletta said they consulted with NASCAR and agreed the switch was in the best interest of the organization.