Prep Sports

At 3-3, with three regular season games left to play, as Newman enters a Week 7 Three Rivers Mississippi showdown against Hall in Spring Valley on Friday night, the sense of urgency is high for the Comets, as a playoff berth is on the line the next few weeks.

The Newman volleyball team clinched the Three Rivers East title with a two-set win over Hall, while Rock Falls downed Rockford Christian and Oregon defeated Stillman Valley in straight sets in Big Northern Conference road matches.

The Streator girls tennis team swept all three doubles matches against Kewanee at the SHS Athletic Fields courts during Wednesday’s 3-2 senior day victory.

After dominating the six-team UT Sprint Invite on Saturday, the Sterling girls swimming team came back with a solid performance Wednesday night at the Byron triangular, led by strong individual efforts from Madison Austin and Sammie Knox.

After four road games in the past five weeks, the Sterling Golden Warriors are more than ready to return to Roscoe Eades Stadium this week for Homecoming.

Even though a new chapter of the old rivalry will have to wait a few more days, here’s a dive into history and a recounting of some of those interesting Cavaliers-Pirates matchups in years ending with “2,” viewed a decade at a time:

After losing 63-0 to reigning Class 3A state champion Byron last week, Rock Falls takes its 0-6 record on the road to Poplar Grove for a Week 7 Big Northern Conference matchup with 1-5 North Boone.

The Rock Falls and Dixon volleyball teams both cruised to straight-sets wins in Big Northern Conference road matches on Tuesday, while Oregon rallied to win a BNC match at home. Sterling lost in three tight sets in a Western Big match in Rock Island.

A roundup of sports action across The Times area for Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022.

The Streator boys soccer team found the back of the Coal City net just 49 seconds into the match in a 5-0 Illinois Central Eight Conference victory at SHS Athletic Fields on Tuesday afternoon.

Emma Highland's late serves lift Woodland past Seneca in a Tri-County Conference showdown.

The Neman Comets served 10 aces Tuesday night against Mendota, and coupled with 14 hitting errors by the Trojans, rolled to a 25-9, 25-11 victory to clinch at least a share of the Three Rivers East title.

Facing a 12-point deficit late in the game last Friday, the Dixon Dukes finally found something they’d been looking for. Two touchdowns in the final 10 minutes led to a win – and might have provided the spark the Dukes need for the final three weeks of the regular season.

Sports briefs from around the area for Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022.

More from the sideline in Week 6 from across The Times area, including notes on Seneca, Marquette, Ottawa, FCW and Streator.