Football

Seneca 44, Sangamon Valley 7: At Niantic, the Fighting Irish (2-0) led 24-0 after one quarter and 44-0 at halftime in the road win over the Storm on Friday.

“Our guys came out fast tonight and capitalized on some Sangamon Valley errors and good field position,” Seneca coach Terry Maxwell said. “The starting defense really played downhill against Sangamon Valley’s rushing attack. It was good to see our guys handle their first long away trip well and show up ready to play.”

Seneca’s Gunner Varland had seven carries for 95 yards and four TDs (1, 5, 15, 55) as the Irish rushed for 307 yards on 37 tries. Cameron Shriey had 65 yards rushing and a pair of TDs (4, 37), while Brayden Simek carried the ball three times for 56 yards. The Irish defense allowed just 113 total yards.

El Paso-Gridley 49, Fieldcrest 6: At El Paso, the Knights trailed 28-6 at halftime in the loss to the Titans.

Zach Overocker (38 yards) and Lucas Anson (37 yards) led Fieldcrest in rushing, while Kash Klendworth threw for 75 yards, including a 12-yard score to Lucas May.

Wilmington 49, Sandwich 6: At Wilmington, the Indians (0-2) trailed 28-0 at halftime in the loss to the Wildcats, who rushed for 430 yards.

Nick Michalek led Sandwich with 55 yards rushing on 12 carries, including a 13-yard TD run.

Girls cross country

Seneca 3rd, Ottawa 4th at Twilight in the Woods: At the Seneca Land Lab, the Fighting Irish (87) finished behind champion Morris (51) and runner-up Manteno (68) while the Pirates (104) placed fourth and Fieldcrest ninth at the 31st annual Twilight in the Woods Invitational.

Seneca had top 40 finishers in Lily Mueller (7th, 20 minutes, 52.6 seconds), Talia Jenkins (17th, 21:56), Lila Coleman (19th, 21:59.6), Julie Mueller (27th, 22:48.5) and Ruthie Steffes (36th, 24:07.5).

Ottawa was led by Georgia Kirkpatrick (14th, 21:42.2), Ailey Harstad (26th, 22:43.2), Makenzie Blazys (28th, 23:08.1), Haley Sloan (29th, 23:11.8), Riley Thrush (33rd, 23:45.4) and Jazmine Adams (40th, 24:28.1).

Sandwich, which didn’t run as a team, had solid performances from Kayla Kressin (18th, 21:58), Emily Urbanski (20th, 22:07.9), Karlee Henkins (21st, 22:10.4) and Isla Stevens (25th, 22:39.6).

Fieldcrest’s Macy Gochanour (24:02.9) placed 35th, Somonauk’s Emma Rominski (24:12.5) 37th and Marquette’s Cecilia Reynolds (25:41) 48th.

Boys cross country

Sandwich 2nd, Ottawa 3rd, Seneca 5th, Somonauk 7th at Twilight in the Woods: At the Seneca Land Lab, the Indians (92) placed second behind champion Herscher (35), with Ottawa (97) third, Seneca (144) fifth and Somonauk (151) seventh.

The Bobcats’ Landin Stillwell won the event, running the course in 16:03. He was followed in the top 40 by Caden Hamer (12th, 17:20.3) and Gunnar Swenson (20th, 18:07.1).

Sandwich received solid runs from Nolan Minard (14th, 17:25.1), Alan Parkison (15th, 17:28.7), Alex Walsh (17th, 17:39.3) and Logan Trigg (19th, 18:05.3).

Connor Medina (6th, 16:43.6) paced the Pirates, followed by Kaleb Nimke (21st, 18:09.4), Grant Smithmeyer (23rd, 18:16.3), Atlas Brown (25th, 18:27.1) and Aries Brown (40th, 19:18.6).

For Seneca, Callum Wright (22nd, 18:09.8) led the way, followed by Liam Baima (24th, 18:24.9) and Brady Fort (30th, 18:41).

Streator’s Chase Lane (19:33.8) placed 51st and Marquette’s Mackinley Thompson (20:02.6) finished 61st.