1 • Wednesday, August 22, 2018 - The Scoop Today/Shopper’s Guide
Serving the communities in Jo Daviess County
the
Scoop Today
VOL. 84 • NO. 34
YOUR FREE HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER
LAW OFFICES OF
• Car Accidents
Rosenberg, Eisenberg • Slip / Trip & Fall & Associates, LLC • Medical Malpractice
Personal Injury • Wrongful Death Workers Compensation Nursing Home Abuse & Neglect • Personal Injury No Charge Unless Recovery is Made
• Job Accidents • Product Injuries
E. North Ave. 815-947-3445 841 Hwy 20 East Stockton, IL WWW.RICHARDROSENBERGLAW.COM
220357
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2018
Stockton 39er Football The annual Gatorade Bowl is the traditional opening of the Stockton 39er football season.
TONY CARTON PHOTO The Scoop Today
Stockton athletes ready to climb Upstate REPORTER
The summer seems like such a drag to many athletes at Stockton High School who can’t wait to get back on the field. To fill their summer schedule, weight training appointments are met. Exercise regiments are implemented and new experiments in diet selections are made. Being in perfect condition before the season starts is the goal of each athlete and their respective coaching staffs. In the NUIC, that’s the way it has to be. There are a lot of good teams that look at Stockton as one of the “teams to beat” in the fall. They are getting ready. The Lady Blackhawks had a great season in 2017. Fans could see something special had been built and Stockton athletes worked together to find new levels of success on the gymnasium floor. Many Regional Crowns have been collected by the Lady Blackhawks, since this year’s group of seniors first suited up for high school action. There is now a clear picture of some of the challenges that wait. Stockton will have to keep a step
ahead of many of their area rivals such as Galena, Scales Mound and Lena-Winslow. The Lady Blackhawks get things started on Thursday night, Aug. 23, as they welcome in their friends from south of town. The River Ridge Wildcats help tip-off the 2018 fall sports season. Lena-Winslow closes the first month of games on the Stockton volleyball schedule. They will face off in a Friday match at the Oregon Invitational, on Aug. 31. The Lady Blackhawks open month two on the fall calendar against West Carroll. The Lady Thunder are in on Tuesday, Sept. 4. Stockton heads back out on the road for important head-to-head matches with the Pearl City Lady Wolves on Thursday, Sept. 6 before turning their attention east for a showdown with the 2017 State Championship, Third-Place capturing, Durand Lady Bulldogs. Stockton returns home Wednesday, Sept. 12 for an expected appearance by one of the NUIC-Title challenging programs. Eastland is in and will bring an opportunity for the Lady Blackhawks to see how well-prepared there are for the con-
PR SRT STD US POSTAGE PAID ROCK VALLEY PUBLISHINGLLC
By Chris Johnson
ference battles waiting. On the football field, things look good for a strong opening stretch for this year’s Stockton athletes. The IHSA schedule sees the Blackhawks home for their first three games and five of nine, overall, this year. The Blackhawks will close the season at home on Friday, Oct. 19. Game one, this Friday night, features an interesting opponent for Stockton. Warren is in for the season opener and they are “going it” alone this year. They face a major challenge and will need a lot of fortune to maintain game action this season. The Warren Roster features 17 players on the pre-season list. There is no junior-varsity program. Fatigue will be a factor for the Warriors and they are expected to struggle with Stockton’s power sets and strong line formations. It looks favorable, with a lot of numbers considered, that the Blackhawks will get the quick 1-0
start they need. Week two provides another shot at a win and dominance could again be the eventual outcome. South Beloit was 2-7 in the Northeastern Athletic Conference. The offense wasn’t able to generate as well as it had hoped and struggled with programs such as State Semi-Final representative Ottawa Marquette. 2-0 could be in the books. Week three wraps up the early-season home-advantage for the Blackhawks and brings the first true challenge to the pursuit of an Upstate Crown. Milledgeville visits and is coming off a 2017, 8-3, second-round advancing season. Milledgeville can score a lot of points in a hurry. The Blackhawks face another 2017 playoff-participant in week four as they take their first steps off home turf. West Carroll advanced to round two in the 2A Tournament last season.
Week five is a road game for Stockton and a shot to either get back above the .500 mark or improve to at least a 4-1 mark. The River Ridge Wildcats play host in the Sept. 21 match. The final third of the season is the toughest stretch for Stockton. They open at Polo in week seven and then travel to face Aquin in week eight. The Bulldogs were 9-3 last year and got their peek at the 1A Semi-Final in the 2017 post-season. Polo was 5-4 and just missed its chance to enter post-season play. They didn’t have the playoff points. Orangeville had the playoff points last year and did make it into the post-season with its 5-4 mark. They fell in the opening round. The Broncos visit in week nine to close the 2018 regular season and give Stockton a glimpse at what the playoffs might look like, beginning in week ten.
MPCI Revenue Protection Winter Wheat-Forage Coverage 240 W. Main St., Suite A, Lena, IL 815-369-4225
Deadline is September 30, 2018 324595
Postal Customer **ecrwss