Bureau County Sports Hall of Fame: 1995, 2001 Hall football teams take Red Devils to the top

In a stretch of 11 seasons, from 1991 to 2001, the Hall Red Devils put themselves on the state football map with nine playoff berths, including three state finals appearances, two semifinals and three quarterfinals.

Two of those gridiron greats sent the Red Devils all the way to the top.

The first to go all the way were the 1995 Red Devils, who made a comeback for the ages, scoring 16 points in the final three minutes to rally past DuQuoin 38-32 at ISU’s Hancock Stadium in Normal.

Six years later, after a state runner-up finish in 1996 and semifinals berth in 1998, the Red Devils finished on top again, riding the play of an unassuming backup quarterback to a 21-0 win over LeRoy to capture the Class 3A title at Memorial Stadium in Champaign.

Hall has made 14 playoff appearances since 2001, but has advanced to the quarterfinals just once with a 9-14 postseason record.

These two Hall greats of the gridiron are the newest inductees to the Bureau County Sports Hall of Fame for 2025.

Fantastic finish

The 1995 season looked to be a rebuilding season for Hall coming off two Class 3A quarterfinal appearances with not many starters returning.

However, tradition proved not to have graduated at Hall.

“We had a lot of kids who stepped up and made it real special season for us,” Hall coach Gary Vicini said in a 2019 interview for the team’s induction into the Illinois Valley Hall of Fame. “We did not have a lot of starters back. I think what made it a real special was they were bound and determined.”

Bryant said while winning the state title was a surprise to most people, it wasn’t to the team.

“That was always the goal because we had all the teams come before us had a lot of playoff experience,” he said. “They were second (round), quarterfinals, semifinals even. They took all those steps so the next step was the state championship. So as far as we were coached, it was the state championship. We’re trying to win the state championship. And when you take it game by game, the goal seems a little bit easier to accomplish.”

Hall went 8-1 during the regular season, but avenged that loss with a 28-7 win over NCIC rival Mendota 28-7 in the first round of the playoffs.

The Red Devils continued to roll in the playoffs, breezing past Coal City 34-7 and Normal U-High 30-6 by a combined 92-20 advantage before defeating Woodstock Marian 22-15 in the semifinals.

It was off to Normal for the state championship game and things did not look good late for the Red Devils.

DuQuoin took a 32-22 lead over Hall with 2:51 left to play and appeared headed toward the 1995 state championship.

Not so fast.

Hall senior fullback Nick Guerrini capped a five-play, 57-yard Hall scoring drive that took only 1:24 off the clock with a 1-yard touchdown and added the conversion to draw the Red Devils within 32-30.

The fun was just beginning.

Senior captain Eric Bryant recovered an onside kick to put the Red Devils in business on the DuQuoin 44. A 15-yard penalty for pass interference, and Jeff Turgilatti’s two-yard pass to Bryant and a 22-yard gainer to Nick Heuser, put the Red Devils at the DuQuoin 5.

Two plays later, Guerrini ran to pay dirt behind the Hall Hog Soldiers on the left side to grab the state crown, the first in any sport for Hall High School.

“We really regained momentum with a couple of big plays. Give credit to our kids. They didn’t say it was over,” Vicini said.

Thirty years later, Bryant still can’t believe they pulled it off.

“That’s kind of our mentality was. We always played one play at a time, one game at a time. Just having the mindset, you never know what can happen, right?’” he said. “You almost didn’t know you were out of it until the game was over.”

Bryant joked that his memory on his onside kick recovery is a little bit “foggy” after 30 years.

“There were a lot of things leading up to that, too,” he said. “If we don’t make the touchdown before that so we had to score that first part first just to get to that onside kick. We had some stuff and things happened along the way. I guess it all plays out. It played out in a really cool way.”

The Red Devils would return to the title game the next year, falling to Carterville 23-20 in another triller.

Chiado shines under pressure

The defining moment that November night in Champaign in the 2001 title game came when starting quarterback Brant Baltikauski was knocked out of the game on a late hit while holding the kick for Doug DeSerf on Hall’s first touchdown, a 70-yard run by Derber, less than a minute into the game.

In came junior backup quarterback William Chiado to the rescue, who despite having only attempted five passes in the regular season, famously shined under pressure. While he only completed 2 of 9 passes, he connected on the one that mattered most with a 67-yard fade touchdown pass to Ryan Ferrari at the end of the third quarter to put the Red Devils up 14-0.

“I think we were put together well as a team, offensively, defensively. No matter what problem came, we could handle it,” DeSerf said in a 2021 interview when the team was honored on its 20th anniversary.

DeSerf said everyone on the team, including standouts Nick Slover, the Baltikauski brothers Brant and Reid, Levi Derber, Chaise Thomas, Nick Slover, Aaron Bogacz, Dan Fusinato, Steve Coutts, Cody Gualandi, Phil Villarreal, Jake Koch, Erik Golden, Jason Haskell, Ryan Ferrari and DeSerf, all of whom received first or second All-BCR recognition or honorable mention. had lots of dedication, pride and drive.

“That group was one of a kind. Every kid, from special teams to a starter, had a heart to play football,” Slover, a two-way First Team All-BCR and unanimous NCIC all-conference linemen, said in a 2021 interview. “They were all talented in their own way. And loved to win. I was grateful just to play with such a talented group of guys.”

Brant Baltikauski, the senior BCR First Team/unanimous NCIC all-conference quarterback, said the Red Devils had the perfect mix to be successful.

“We had a really tight group of seniors. We gained a lot of experience from playing time our junior year and had a handful of sophomores and juniors that filled our weak spots,” he said. “I think we were the first class that ran the same offense from youth football all the way through high school, which played a huge part in our offensive success. Our defense was really dominant throughout the year because we were fast and coached well.”

Along with winning the state championship, Brant Baltikauski said the two playoff games before that have always stood out to him, when the Red Devils beat tough Bloomington Central Catholic (27-0) and Stillman Valley (13-7) teams.

“I think we shut out BCC. Our coaches had us prepared to the point where we knew the plays they were going to run and our defense was able to execute,” he said. “The Stillman Valley game was the toughest of the year. They had the ball almost the entire second half, and we stuck together and stopped them late in the fourth quarter.”