Braidwood Journal

Coalers, 'Cats to play soccer regional championship

Published by admin on Thu, 05/11/2023 - 11:49am

Coal City and Wilmington soccer teams will get a shot on winning a regional trophy on Friday by advancing through the semi-final round.

The championship match in the Herscher regional will be between the hosting Tigers and Wilmington at 4:30 p.m. Friday. The Lady 'Cats edged Reed-Custer 5-4 on Wednesday while Herscher romped Momence 10-0 to get to the final.

At Manteno, Coal City will taken on Bishop McNamara at 4:30 p.m. Friday. The Lady Coalers beat Beecher 2-1 while Bishop Mac got by Manteno 5-1.

Comets giving Coach Porter a final run

Published by admin on Tue, 02/21/2023 - 5:23pm

The Coalers needed a miracle Saturday while playing at Reed-Custer for the opening round of the regional.
And they almost got it, coming back from a 15-point deficit to close within five before the Comets held on to win it 70-61.
“Survive and advance, it’s that time of year,” said Reed-Custer coach Mark Porter. “That's what you want to do and we were able to do that. We played extremely well offensively, especially in the second quarter. We attacked the basket how we wanted to and gave ourselves a nice lead.”

First round state bodes well for 11 of 21 area wrestlers

Published by admin on Thu, 02/16/2023 - 6:55pm

Eleven area wrestlers won during the first round of the IHSA Class 1A finals.

Coal City had eight of 14 state qualifiers win their preliminary match on Thursday, advancing to the quarterfinals on Friday. Winning were Brody Widlowski (113), Aiden Kenney (120), Jake Piatak (132), Buddy Widlowski (138), Mataeo Blessing (145), Derek Carlson (170), Braiden Young (182) and Joey Breneman (195).

Coalers, Comets to battle Thursday for ICE title

Published by admin on Sun, 01/15/2023 - 4:38pm

It will be a clash of titans on Thursday when Coal City travels to Reed-Custer to likely decide who will be the Illinois Central Eight Conference wrestling champions.
Both teams are undefeated in the ICE and have full rosters to boot.
The Coalers are 37-2 overall and are formidable, having won the 60-team Abe’s Rumble dual team challenge in Springfield, IL last month and claiming the esteemed Princeton Invite Tournament Jan. 7, with enough individual wins for first by a 57-point margin.

Surpises were few during first week of playoffs

Published by admin on Mon, 10/31/2022 - 1:17pm

And then there were 16. That’s how many teams are left in each of the eight classes of the IHSA football playoffs as winning teams move on to the second round.
Wilmington (2A), Reed-Custer (3A) and Coal City (4A) all advance to the second round after winning on Saturday. The Wildcats (9-1) will host Tri-Valley Downs (8-2) at 6 p.m. Saturday, Reed-Custer (10-0) will play saturday at 5 p.m. against visiting Pecatonica - Du-Pec Coop (8-2) while the Coalers (7-3) have a four-hour drive to Carterville (10-0) near Marion, IL for a 1 p.m. kickoff Saturday.

Comets, Coalers and Wildcats get to host in football playoffs

Published by admin on Sun, 10/23/2022 - 1:44pm

There won’t be any Friday Night Lights turned on for three area teams entering the first round of the IHSA football playoffs as Coal City, Reed-Custer and Wilmington will play on Saturday.
All three programs get to host teams in the first round, although they are all in different brackets.
Braidwood will host the Chicago Carver Challengers (5-3) at 2 p.m. Saturday. The Comets (9-0) are the #2 seed in the Class 3A bracket. They are among three other teams who are undefeated.

State Champions!

Published by admin on Wed, 09/28/2022 - 4:23pm

For the first time in school history, the Reed-Custer Middle School softball program has earned a state trophy.
The Lady Panthers returned from Champions Field in Normal, IL Saturday night with a Class 2A Eighth grade state championship.
It took 12 innings to decide the best in state with Reed-Custer scoring three runs in the top of the inning to win 4-1 over Metamora Grade School. They finish the season with a 17-3 record, upsetting Metamora who was 25-2.

Comets vs Wildcats: A clash of titans

Published by admin on Wed, 09/28/2022 - 4:20pm

Fans know all the numbers.
24. Wilmington's current win streak, tying a school record.
5-0. The records of Reed-Custer and Wilmington for the second straight year.
15. The years it's been since the Comets beat Wilmington.
There's little doubt this is R-C's best chance to beat their crosstown rivals in recent memory.
"Obviously they haven’t lost since before the pandemic hit so they'll be going for their 25th win in a row. The nice thing is it's at our place this year," said Comet coach Gavin Johnston.

Lady Panthers rally to advance to state

Published by admin on Tue, 09/20/2022 - 6:08pm

For the first time in school history, Reed-Custer Middle School will be sending a softball team to state.
The 8th grade Lady Panthers edged Beecher 4-3 on Saturday during the Bishop McNamara sectional to advance to state.
RCMS will play Westville JHS at 4 p.m. on Friday at Champion Fields in Normal. If the Lady Panthers (14-3) beat Westville (14-2) they will advance to the semifinal at noon on Saturday against the winner of Stronghurst West Central (21-2) vs. Pleasant Plains (16-4).

Comets must target Arcola's quarterback

Published by admin on Tue, 08/30/2022 - 5:38pm

Now that the football Comets have broken in the new synthetic turf at home, it’s back to the natural stuff as they travel to Arcola to face a team that finished 10-2 a year ago.
The Purple Riders had a tough go at Tuscola, their rival, during Week 1, losing 30-13.
Arcola didn’t pack up the buses after falling behind by 21 points against Tuscola. Instead, the Purple Riders kept the ball for roughly eight of the first half’s final 10 minutes over the course of two drives.