Featured

Gillespie Football Takes First Loss to Staunton

Published

13 years ago

September 13, 2011

BenGil Staff

Cameron Tucker steps out of bounds after he reaches a first down.

About the only thing more the Gillespie Miner football team could have wanted out of its game against Staunton was a win.

The Miners led the game at halftime 7-6, but tried to battle back from a deficit the entire second half. The momentum swung their way against a powerful offensive team, and came within a late fourth quarter touchdown by the Bulldogs of notching a win Friday night on September 9. But the Bulldogs had just enough firepower, including a huge performance by quarterback Jake Bruhn, to knock off the Miners 19-15 in Staunton.

Staunton’s touchdown run with 5:10 minutes remaining proved to be the game-winner, and the Miners’ last-second push fell just short after quarterback Cam Tucker was intercepted with just 1:58 minutes left in a game that had seemingly endless twists and turns.

The Miners opened the game on the defensive side. The Miner defense was tough in the first quarter, allowing the Bulldogs only a handful of first downs. The defense recovered a fumble that came with 4:55 minutes left in the game and also forced the Bulldogs to turn the ball over on downs one other time. The defense however spent most of their time on the sideline as the Miner offense attempted to get on the scoreboard first. Cam Tucker, quarterback, was 1 for 1 in the first quarter with the one pass being a short 5 yard gain. The rest of the snaps were handoffs. The Miners rushed for 75 yards in the first quarter, but it was not enough to amount to a touchdown as the scoreless first quarter came to an end.

Johnny Cox dives up the middle for a short gain.

With the score tied at zero, the Miners opened the second quarter with the ball. The Miners opened shop at the 25 yard line, but the offensive drive was halted shortly with a turnover on downs. With less than 10 minutes to play in the second quarter, the defense took the field for the first time in the second quarter, but it wouldn’t last long. Within 4 minutes, the defense forced Staunton to turn the ball over yet again and the Miners were on their way to the end zone. Johnny Cox, who ended the game with 82 yards, had 3 consecutive handoffs on the scoring drive along with one pass reception from Cam Tucker for a gain of 23 yards. The second offensive drive of the quarter set the Miners one yard away from the end zone. Freshman, Derrick Tiburzi, powered his way to the end zone for a 1 yard touchdown run that brought the first points to scoreboard as the Miners led 7-0 after Aaron Semplowski’s extra point field goal was successful.

The Bulldogs battled back, as they capped a seven-play, 60-yard drive with a rushing touchdown run with 4:03 minutes left of play before halftime. However, the Miners were still in control of the scoreboard after Kole Billing’s extra point field goal was unsuccessful. With plenty of time to score again, the Miners were fighting their way down field. The offensive drive fell short of the red zone, as an incomplete pass attempt and negative rushing gains led to a turnover. With less than 2 minutes to play in the second quarter, the Bulldogs had a chance to take over the lead before halftime, but the Miner defense had a different plan as they stuffed the Bulldog on fourth and one with 20.8 seconds left. With not enough time left to score, the Miners led the game 7-6 at halftime.

Graham Cooper tries to juke the defender as he runs for 8 yards on the play.

The Miners opened the second half with the football. The offensive drive stalled after the Miners were in possession of the ball for about 5 minutes, but not before Tiburzi and Cox were able to rush for a combined 21 yards. Staunton took little time to score, as quarterback Jake Bruhn found Ward over the top of the defense for a 27-yard gain. The gain was followed with short Bulldog running gains and was consequently followed with a rushing touchdown with 2:22 remaining in the third quarter. A bad throw from the quarterback on the two point conversion attempt left the score 7-12.

With less than 2 minutes of play in the third quarter, the Miners had time for 4 plays. Junior, Jason Whitlock opened the drive with a 20 yard rush and was followed by 2 gains from Graham Cooper that totaled 20 yards. An incomplete pass from Tucker intended for Cox sent the Miners into the fourth quarter as time expired.

Trailing by just 5 points, the Miners were on their way to the end zone to open the fourth quarter. The Miners motored down the field as Cameron Tucker, who passed for 32 yards in the game, completed a 14 yard pass to Michael Bussmann. The completed pass set the Miners less than 40 yards away from the end zone and it proved to be no trouble as the Miners backfield set Cox about 10 yards away from the goal post. With 8 minutes left in the game, Cox rushed for the second Miner touchdown of the game. Leading 13-12, the Miners decided to attempt the two point conversion. The pass from Tucker to Bussmann was successful and the Miners were again in control of the lead, 15-12.

In contrasting style, the Bulldogs churned out a 60 yard drive that led to a rushing touchdown from quarterback Jake Bruhn with 5:10 minutes left in the game to make it 18-15. After the successful field goal, the Bulldogs led 19-15 and the Miner offense was back on the field after the short kick off return from Austin Semplowski, who had 4 returns for the amount of 68 yards. Cox opened the second offensive drive with a 9 yard rush and was followed by a 3 yard gain from Tiburzi, who rushed for 24 yards on the night. 2 incomplete passes and a short running gain from Cooper set the Miners on fourth and one with 2:59 minutes left. The failed fourth down conversion tallied the first turnover in the fourth quarter for the Miners.

Johnny Cox leaps for the reception.

The Miner turnover gave Staunton another potential scoring chance, but the offense was back on the field within one minute after a Bulldog turnover. Not giving up, the Miners (2-0) had a chance for a last minute touchdown as they trailed 19-15. With 1:58 minutes left, quarterback Cameron Tucker threw his first interception of the game and the Bulldogs sealed the victory as the Miners took their first defeat on the season and in the Prairie State Conference.

Borgini was still proud of his players’ effort.

Offensively, Cameron Tucker completed 3 of 8 passes for 32 yards while Johnny Cox rushed for 82 yards. Other rushing totals were: Graham Cooper – 51 yards, Derrick Tiburzi – 24, Tucker – 15, Whitlock – 20, and Tiller – 6. Michael Bussmann received for 14 yards while Cox received 18 yards.

Defensively, Graham Cooper carried the team with 8 tackles and was accompanied by Eric Tiller and Adam Schmidt who posted 5 tackles each. Jessie Smith recorded 1 punt block.

In their next game, the Miners clash with North Mac Panthers in another Prairie State bout, which will take place on Friday, September 16 in Gillespie. Gillespie will attempt to recover from its defeat from Staunton and add another victory on its 2-1 season record. The Panthers enter the bout with a 1-2 record after their 56-14 victory over Bunker Hill.

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Featured

Gillespie man injured in DUI accident

Published

9 years ago

October 16, 2015

BenGil Staff

Genisio's Ford Mustang in the City of Gillespie's impound lot Tuesday morning.

A Gillespie man was taken to a local hospital after suffering injuries following a single-vehicle accident that occurred Sunday morning, October 11, after he drove off the roadway and into a deep ditch near the intersection of Route 16 and Charles Street in Gillespie.

Gillespie Police Chief Jared DePoppe reported that the police department was dispatched to the scene of the accident shortly before 3 a.m. Officers arrived to find Jonathan Genisio, 29, of Gillespie as the driver and only occupant inside the Ford Mustang vehicle.

Genisio was arrested, but give a notice to appear in court so he could seek medical treatment. He was charged with six different counts in addition to having his vehicle impounded. His charges include driving under the influence of alcohol, no insurance, improper lane usage, failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident, failure to notify SOS of an address change and failure to wear a seat belt.

At the time of publication on Thursday evening, the vehicle was recovered from impound and Genisio was discharged from the hospital. The extent of his injuries was unable to be released by medical personnel.

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Community News

Gillespie council discusses budget and meeting process

Published

9 years ago

August 1, 2015

BenGil Staff

Treasurer Dan Fisher (right) addresses the council.

The treasurer for the City of Gillespie had a lot to say about how city officials handle their subcommittees and how city funds are spent during the city’s committee meeting held Monday evening, July 27.

Dan Fisher, the elected treasurer for Gillespie, spoke to the council for over 30 minutes about how bills are paid and more importantly, how purchases are appropriated for and planned. During the city’s board meeting held earlier this month, Fisher suggested the council move their meeting dates to coincide with how the bills are paid.

He explained that many council members bring up issues or have questions about certain bills during the council meetings, but the questions are left to be answered by the city clerk who isn’t present at the board meetings. In addition to dragging out the meetings, Fisher said the questions should be taken care of before the meeting is held.

“We need to have a standardized process on how we buy things,” Fisher told the council Monday evening. “We need to spend more time on appropriating.”

We need to have a standardized process on how we buy things

Fisher distributed a “Budget Basics” packet to board members during the committee meeting held Monday and said the council should consider implementing a purchase order system to account for all purchases. “That way when the bills come in, we can match the form up with it and everyone knows what the purchase was for and what account it comes out of,” he clarified.

Council members agreed with what Fisher had to say to them. “We need to spend a lot of time when do our appropriation and it’s going to take a lot of time from everyone, including myself,” he continued. “We need to find a way to be collective in how we do things.”

Fisher closed by adding that the council also takes too long at their regular city council meetings, which are held on the second Monday of each month. Speaking of the city’s July meeting that lasted nearly 3 hours, Fisher said the council needs to be much more “business-like”.

“We take too long at our meetings,” he closed. “It’s been proven that people lose focus after 90 minutes and there is no reason why we shouldn’t be able to get a meeting done in 1 hour and 15 minutes.”

City clerk Frances Smith spoke up after Fisher referred to the council’s last meeting. She prefaced her statement by saying she didn’t intend to saying anything, but continued by saying that the council’s July 13^th meeting took her three days to transcribe. “It makes the clerk’s job hard – whoever it is,” she said. “There is a lot of side conversations and it’s very hard to hear on the tape.”

Ash Street Project

Alderman Steve Kluthe informed the board that he received the bid specifications back for the Ash Street Project which allows the council to advertise the specs to get an idea how much drainage project will cost.

Kluthe said the bid specifications cover everything including equal opportunity employer and prevailing wage information, but said the project could probably be handled by a local contractor. The project includes installing a culvert that will transfer the water to Cherry Street.

The council hopes the completed project will then alleviate the water that currently gets backed up north of Ash Street. “They are going to put a culvert underneath Ash Street to the north and grade the ground on the north side so the water flows to the culvert and down to the south end where there is a storm drain,” Kluthe explained.

TIF District

We should stretch the money out and begin to reinvest the money into community development

Fisher informed the council that the tax bills for the TIF district went out and the city can expect to receive close to $60,000. He reminded the council that even though the city made a big payment to United Community Bank last year in excess of $90,000, there will still be a payment made to UCB for their portion paid into the TIF until the TIF expires, which Fisher said is 12-14 more years.

After the city pays UCB, Fisher said the council can expect to still have somewhere north of $40,000 remaining each year. “I would like us to start to look at other projects that meet the TIF criteria that we could spend $20-$30,000 per year,” Fisher explained. “Long-range projects – projects that could last 10-12 years. We should stretch the money out and begin to reinvest the money into community development.”

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