Tuesday, Oct. 07, 2008

Small athletes play big for Columbia

Edwardsville on the brink of missing playoffs

Two of the Columbia Eagles' high-impact players, Alex Quinn and Kyle Breitenstein, are also among their smallest.

Quinn (5-foot-9, 170 pounds) starts at safety and receiver, while Breitenstein (5-8, 155) starts at receiver and linebacker for the state's top-ranked Class 3A team.

"They're 5-foot-9, but they don't play like that," Columbia coach Scott Horner said Friday after watching them help his 6-0 squad to a 49-7 victory over Freeburg. "It's a credit to them being aggressive. It's credit to them studying the game, understanding where they're supposed to be and what they're supposed to do."

Breitenstein had one of the school-record three interceptions returned for a touchdown in the first half Friday and caught a 39-yard touchdown pass. He also had a team-high 13 tackles on defense.

"We call him an animal," Horner said. "He's an outside linebacker in our 3-5 defense, which is like a strong safety."

Breitenstein is the team's second-leading tackler with 39 and is tied for the team lead with three sacks. He also has two interceptions and a fumble recovery.

Quinn has 22 catches for 250 yards and four TDs this season and is the starting free safety.

"I don't know that we've had a free safety as good as this kid, he runs the alley like no other kid I've ever seen," Horner said. "They've both got great knack for the game and that's stuff you can't teach. They love contact and they love to play -- and they prepare themselves."

Quinn wasn't even a starter until Game 3 of his junior year in 2007, when a shoulder ailment was bothering Brian Winters.

"Quinn came in and he never left the spot after that," said Horner, forever indebted to Quinn for a key blocked extra point against Greenville in a 40-39 double-overtime playoff semifinal win that sent the Eagles to the 2007 3A state finals.

Tigers cutting it close

Edwardsville (4-2) must win two of its final three games to secure a berth in the playoffs. It won't be an easy task: the Tigers' opponents are Belleville East (4-2), Granite City (3-3) and East St. Louis (5-1).

"It's a must-win situation for us," first-year Edwardsville coach Mark Bliss said of his team's 7 p.m. game Friday against visiting Belleville East. "We've got to put ourselves in position to at least get a look at making the playoffs."

If the Tigers win just one of the games, they likely won't have enough playoff points to qualify. Their first two opponents, Springfield Southeast and Chicago Corliss, haven given Edwardsville just one playoff point. Southwestern Conference foes O'Fallon and Alton has thus far provided only three.

"If we don't go a minimum of 6-3, we're not going to make it," Bliss said. "Our backs are against the wall.

"Our biggest focus now is to regroup and make sure we don't lose these kids. I don't want any of these kids to think, 'Here we go again,' and let it grow into something that took place last year. We've got to find a way to get some wins under our belt."

The Tigers struggled mightily on defense Friday in a 40-27 loss to Belleville West, which racked up 514 yard rushing.

"Once they got to the edge, we just couldn't contain their speed," Bliss said. "That's sort of been our downfall all year long. We have trouble containing speed on the edge. You can only work on pursuit angles so much in practice."

West on roll

Belleville West's win over Edwardsville was the Maroons' eighth in their last nine games dating to last season. West (5-1) needs one more victory to guarantee a playoff berth; it will play at 7 p.m. Friday at O'Fallon.

"These guys are setting themselves up for something they can be proud of for a long time," said Maroons coach Ric Johns, in his second season.

"I think we're ahead of schedule," he said. "I have a great coaching staff here. These kids are coached up. We've got some hard-working young guys that really are dedicated to this craft. The bar is getting raised here. I would say we are just a little bit ahead of schedule right now."

Junior quarterback Jodeci Mack led the Maroons' ground game with 180 yards on 11 carries. Junior Jarvis Patterson had 126 yards on seven carries, senior Dustin Heggemeier had 123 yards on seven carries and senior Sean Lewis had 73 yards on 17 carries.

"It was a great offensive performance," Johns said.

Cahokia rolls on

The Cahokia Comanches improved to 6-0 overall and 3-0 in the South Seven Conference on Friday with a 54-0 thumping of Centralia.

Junior quarterback Patrick Ivy threw four touchdown passes in three quarters to lead the way for the Comanches who have outscored their six opponents 235-37 and have yet to play their starting lineup in the fourth quarter of any game.

"I hope we don't have to play the starters in four quarters all year. That would be just fine with me," Cahokia coach Antwyne Golliday said. "I just can't see taking any chances of getting somebody hurt just for the sake of statistics. It's just not worth it to me and these younger kids who are getting some playing time now need to be ready next year and the year after."

Ivy, who has thrown for over 1,269 yards and 16 touchdowns this season, wore senior quarterback Darien "Doc" Donald's jersey No. 9 in tribute to the all-state quarterback who is out for the season after suffering a knee injury during a summer football camp. Ivy usually wears jersey No. 4.

"Patrick came up to me last week and asked if he could wear Doc's jersey, and I told him he had to ask Doc," Golliday said. "He wore it and the first play from scrimmage he ran like 60 yards. The public address announcer said it was Donald who carried on the play. I guess he couldn't tell the difference."

The Comanches head into the toughest part of their schedule this week with a battle for the conference lead at Mount Vernon (4-2, 3-0). Cahokia also will play at Althoff and will play host to Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin.

"I told the kids that I hope they enjoyed the first six weeks of the season because for us the postseason starts this week," Golliday said. "(The conference) is important to us because at the start of the season it's always one of our goals to compete for the title."

Contact reporter Dean Criddle at 239-2665 or dcriddle@bnd.com. Contact reporter Norm Sanders at 239-2454 or nsanders@bnd.com. Contact reporter David Wilhelm at 239-2661 or dwilhelm@bnd.com.