Rock Island Loses Shot
at outright consecutive
win Mark in Big 6
Rock Island's last-second, upset loss to United Township last Friday meant more than
dropping out of Monday's state rankings to the Rocks.
Instead, when UT's Wade Adamson booted a 26-yard field goal as time expired, that cost
Rocky an outright Western Big 6 record for consecutive league victories.
The Rocks had a conference-tying, 16 straight wins heading into the ballgame. Rocky
remains tied with Alleman's teams from 1988-91.
Ironically, UT athletic director Mike Tracey coached those Alleman clubs.
And, the last time Rocky lost in conference play, it was at the hands of a
Tracey-coached UT team in 1999.
The five-time defending Big 6 champs are 26-2 in league play since the start of the
1997 season.
``All of our goals are still in front of us,'' Rock Island coach Vic Boblett said about
the importance of the rare loss. ``I hope this team responds as well as the last group
did.''
That would mean a state quarterfinal berth is in order. The Rocks went 10-2 in 1999,
the season they tied UT and Moline for the conference crown.
``I always say you learn more from losing than you do from winning,'' Boblett said.
``Losing makes you re-evaluate what you're doing as a player and as a coach.
``You get comfortable winning and you're always fearful of changing things. Not now.
The kids tend to listen better when you lose, too.
``And losing now is better than losing in the ninth (end of the regular season) or 10th
week (start of the playoffs). At least now, we can get better from it.''
Most significantly, of course, the setback suddenly made the Big 6 a race with four
teams at 2-1 in league play, too.
Rocky's destiny is in its own hands. Two of those 2-1 teams -- Galesburg and Alleman --
are Rocky's final two foes in league play.
The Rocks beat the other 2-1 team -- Moline. That means if the schools involved in the
state's oldest rivalry each finish league play with two more wins, they tie for the
conference crown, but Rocky wins the league's automatic playoff berth by virtue of the
head-to-head victory.
-- Sir Lawrence: Incomplete records make it impossible to say for sure whether
Moline's Larry Turner set a school record last Friday.
However, with a 328-yard performance at Quincy, Turner did one thing for sure -- the
senior set a Western Big 6 Conference mark.
Turner's big night against the Blue Devils surpassed by a yard the league record set by
Rock Island all-stater Alonzo Wise in a 1997 blowout at Galesburg.
The Q-C Metro career rushing record-holder at 4,397 yards, Wise rolled up a
school-record 327 yards on just 11 carries with four TD runs of 46 yards or more against
the Streaks.
Ironically, Turner often receives comparisons to Wise by Rocky's Boblett.
``We're going to save that game tape for a long while,'' said Moline coach Joel Ryser.
``It was amazing. All of the kids were surprised he had that much, it was such a
workmanlike effort.''
Turner finished with three TDs -- one of them a 5-yard burst -- on his 25 carries.
Turner did break scoring runs of 83 and 59 yards.
Quincy's radio station actually had Turner finishing with 344 yards. That discrepency
will likely force a review of the game tape before submitting the effort for the state's
300-yard club.
``Whatever he had, he had an amazing game,'' Ryser said. ``Larry was not to be denied.
He's definitely going to have a nice highlight tape at the end of the season.''
By the way, the state record for rushing yards in a single game is an amazing 498 set
in 1996 by Maroa-Forsyth's Billy McClure.
-- Now, there's a streak: If Geneseo beats Ottawa this Friday, the Maple Leafs
will secure a winning record for the 40th straight season.
The streak started in 1963, the season after College Football Hall of Fame Coach Bob
Reade took over the program.
``I don't know if anyone else in the state can say that,'' Geneseo athletic director
Travis Mackey said about the streak earlier this season. ``No matter what, that's quite an
accomplishment. That's a testament to all of the people who have come through our program
and made it great.''
Copyright 2001, Moline Dispatch
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