Coal City Courant

Coaler kickers fall in season opener

Published by admin on Tue, 08/27/2019 - 6:30pm

The Coal City soccer team opened its season Monday with a 2-0 loss to Kankakee.
Colin Hart did well in goal, collecting 11 saves while Keegan Johnson came so close on connecting in his three shots on goal.
Coal City travel Thursday to Manteno, who is 1-0 after their 2-1 win over Momence. The Coalers will have their hands full, trying to avenge a 4-0 loss last season.

Miners win three over Bradley Lions

Published by admin on Tue, 08/27/2019 - 6:29pm

by shawn long
staff writer
The youth football Miners had their hands full with a tough Bradley team, winning two of four games played Sunday.
The Superlights were victorious 14-0 over Bradley to start the day and remain undefeated.
The Lightweights were unable to get much of anything going against a talented Bradley team, suffering a 12-0 loss.
Bradley returned a punt for six and had an intereception later on in the game to give them the points they needed.

Mueller, Coalers scratch the Lions

Published by admin on Tue, 08/27/2019 - 6:27pm

by shawn long
staff writer
The Coaler golfers captured their first win of the season Thursday, beating Lisle 206-226.
Cade Mueller led the Coalers, scoring a 46. Mueller was medalist for the second straight match.
Tyler Johnson was only two strokes off the lead with a 48, while Cam Lander shot a 55 and Zach Gagliardo carded a 57 to round out the top four.
Newcomer Cody Hazzard scored 63 and Dylan Ludes shot a 71 to round out the starting six.
Coal City 182
Pontiac 166

Coalers ready to unleash best defense in the Central Eight

Published by admin on Tue, 08/27/2019 - 6:22pm

by shawn long
staff writer
The Coal City football team finished one game away from making state last year, led by a top-knotch defense. This year they’ll be right back where they left off, as half of the defensive personnel are returning.
The Coalers (10-2 a year ago), made it to Class 4A quarterfinal, losing on a last second field goal 17-14 to Richmond-Burton. Third year coach Dan Hutchings is back and looking to lead this team to yet another playoff appearance and his ultimate goal will be to make it to Dekalb.

Miners sweep the Junior Comets

Published by admin on Tue, 08/20/2019 - 6:18pm

by shawn long
staff writer
The Coal City Miners youth football program won all four games against the Junior Comets on Sunday.
The Miner Superlights started the day strong, cruising to a 19-0 shutout to improve to 2-0. The Miners racked up 167 yards rushing.
Early in the first half, Ryder Gill hit a seam and ran 28 yards for a Miner touchdown to put them up 7-0 with the extra point run by quarterback Connor Rodriguez.

Coaler kickers filled with depth, athleticism

Published by admin on Tue, 08/20/2019 - 6:17pm

by shawn long
staff writer
There are questions as to who will step up for the Coal City soccer team after losing a talented group of upperclassmen who have graduated.
The Coaler kickers finished the 2018 season seven games over .500 at 15-8 and 6-4 in conference play. They had their season come to an end on a 5-1 loss to a good Iroquois West team in the first game of the regionals.

Lady Coalers will be on the attack this season

Published by admin on Tue, 08/20/2019 - 6:16pm

by shawn long
staff writer
The Lady Coaler volleyball team returns six veteran hitters after an 18-11 season that had them on the verge of a conference championship.
Coal City coach Pam McMurtrey, back for her fourth year, has high hopes for this year’s team. Her goal is to win the conference this time and she wants her players to advance deeping into the playoffs.

CC Golf places 10th at Bobcat & Indian Invite

Published by admin on Tue, 08/20/2019 - 6:14pm

The Coal City golf team began its season on the road, competing in the Bobcat and Indian Invitational, featuring 15 teams.
The Coalers placed 10th with 48 points. Aurora Central Catholic (120), Woodstock (92), Burlington (92), Seneca (83) and Newark (74) were the top five teams.
Senior Tyler Johnson placed 15th individually with 18 points while Cade Mueller was 25th with 14 points and Cam Lander tallied 12 points.

Is football becoming less popular? Conference rivals having trouble fielding teams at high school, youth levels

Published by admin on Tue, 08/20/2019 - 6:12pm

by shawn long
staff writer
Is football losing its popularity among youth and high school athletes?
That’s a question athletic directors are asking after being confronted with last-minute schedule changes at the freshmen and junior varsity levels by conference programs lacking enough players.

Coaler golf looks to qualify for sectionals

Published by admin on Tue, 08/13/2019 - 5:16pm

by shawn long
staff writer
Half of the Coaler golfers who qualified for sectionals a year ago are back for another season.
Also back is Coal City Harlan Kennel for his third year of coaching the golf team. He will assisted by first year coach Joe Micetich.
“I think it’s going to be really good,” said Kennel. “I think Joe is going to have a good rapport with the players and he’s going to be able to bring a lot of knowledge to the staff. He came from Dwight so it’s going to be a good chance for him to get started into golf.”