Featured

Miners beat Nokomis for Playoff Seat

Published

13 years ago

October 10, 2011

BenGil Staff

Chris Halpin and Austin Nieder join together to make the tackle.

The Miners clinched the playoffs after beating the Nokomis Redskins 34-14 in a Prairie State Conference match-up and on Nokomis’ senior night.

With the win, the Miners extend their record to 6-1 on the year and 5-1 in the conference, with the only loss coming from Staunton.

The Miners were on the scoreboard within 90 seconds of the first quarter after they kicked it off to start the game. On the opening kick off, the Miners were able to force the Redskins to fumble it and the Miners were able to set themselves 34 yards away from the endzone after the fumble recovery. After freshman Derrick Tiburzi gained 30 yards on the opening drive, Graham Cooper was able to punch it through the middle for the first touchdown for Gillespie. With 10:42 minutes left in the first quarter, the Miners led 7-0 after Graham Coopers successful extra point field goal.

Graham Cooper was the foot for the Miners since Aaron Semplowski was participating in the soccer regional game.

The Miners held the 7-0 lead in the first quarter for the next 8 minutes, but after a turnover on downs, the Redskins were able to replace the zero on the scoreboard with a six. The Redskins’ scored on a 7 yard pass from Fox to Pavolka, but Gillespie was still in control of the game after a failed extra point field goal. With 2:40 minutes left in the first quarter, the Miners started their third offensive drive. The Miners were able to rush for 50 yards on the ground before the first quarter came to an end.

The Miners opened the second quarter with a 7-6 lead and the ball fifteen yards away from the endzone. The hopes for finding the endzone quickly disappeared after Nokomis recovered the Miner’s offensive fumble. With the ball on the 10 yard line, Nokomis was able to start their offensive drive with 11:35 minutes left before the end of the half.

Nokomis was forced to punt it away after the Miner defense shut them down. But, the turnover provided no spark for the Miner offense as the Miner’s second offensive drive and third offensive drive resulted in turnovers. The Miners recorded 3 turnovers in the second quarter with only one being a turnover on downs. The other two turnovers were fumbles in the red zone, 10 yards within the endzone. After the second fumble in the quarter was recovered from Nokomis, the Miner defense again geared down to prevent the Redskins from taking the lead.

Jessie Smith doesn't let anybody get through on his side of the line.

The second fumble was answered by Cort Hellmann, defensive safety for the Miners, as he intercepted Fox with 6 minutes left in the quarter and returned the interception for a 7 yard touchdown. Hellmann’s interception and Graham Cooper’s successful field goal extended the Miner’s lead by eight as the Miners now led 14-6. The Miners were unable to find the endzone again in the second quarter and closed the first half with a 14-6 lead.

The Miners would receive to start the second half. The kick landed in the hands of Austin Semplowski and Semplowski was able to return the kickoff for a 80 yard touchdown return. Semplowski, who is a state record holder and an asset to the Miner track team, recorded his first touchdown return in his high school career. After Semplowski’s return, the Miners were well in control of the game with a 20-6 lead with 11:30 minutes left in the third quarter.

The Miner’s weren’t done yet as Cort Hellmann recorded his second interception with 10:25 minutes left and set the Miners 39 yards away from the endzone. Again, Derrick Tiburzi set Graham Cooper up for the rushing touchdown. Tiburzi gained 32 yards on three plays while Graham Cooper capped Tiburzi’s gain with a 7 yard touchdown. Cooper, who had two rushing touchdowns in Friday nights game, extended the lead to 27-6 with 8 minutes left of play in the third quarter.

With time for one more offensive drive, the Miners had one more chance to find the endzone after the defense forced Nokomis to turn the ball over on downs. The Miner’s did just that, as Tiburzi was able to gain 24 yards on the drive to set the Miners 7 yards away from the endzone. With 3:53 minutes left in the third quarter, quarterback Cort Hellmann was able to find Michael Bussmann in the corner of the endzone for a 5 yard touchdown. Bussmann, who persistently brags he doesn’t drop a pass, was able to tally his first touchdown reception in his record books. After Hellmanns pass to Bussmann, the Miners led 34-6.

Derrick Tiburzi gains a first down.

The Redskins were unable to find the endzone, let alone a first down marker, in the remaining minutes of the third quarter and the Miners led 34-6 to start the final quarter of play.

The Miners did not stir up much action in the fourth quarter as many junior varsity players found playing time. The Miners were able to find just a few first down markers in the fourth quarter, but also produced 3 turnovers as well. The Redskin’s still struggled in the fourth, but did end up scoring in the final minutes to decrease the defect to twenty points. Taylor was able to rush for a 6 yard touchdown, which was followed by a successful two point conversion to trim the Miners lead down to 34-14. The Miner offense stalled the remaining minute on the clock to capture their sixth victory on the season and improve their record to 6-1.

With the win, Gillespie improves its record to 6-1 on the season and 5-1 in the conference. The Miners will return home next week to confront the Pawnee Indians in a conference outing on Friday, October 14. The Indians will come to town with a record of 7-0. Pawnee beat Bunker Hill 59-14 on Saturday’s game on October 8.

All pictures featured in the articles and more are available for purchase through Halpin Photography, click here to buy yours today for an ultimate keepsake!

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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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