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Miners lose in final seconds on Homecoming

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Face off against Carlinville Friday

Michael Henderson barely gets the pass off in time. Henderson passed for 233 yards Friday evening.

The crowds on both sides of the football field were painted in black and orange, decked out in orange and black gear, and were cheering throughout the entire game. Neither team led by more than 7 points throughout the entire game as the Miners faced off against the Hillsboro Hilltoppers on Homecoming Friday, September 21.

It was a see-saw game during the course of all four quarters. The Hilltoppers posted the first points on the board with 2 minutes left on the clock in the first quarter, but the Miners came right back and had tied the game as the buzzer sounded to halt the first quarter.

Jason Whitlock rushes the ball toward midfield. Whitlock led the team in rushing yards with 124.

Jason Whitlock scored first for the Miners on a 30 yard touchdown and after Aaron Semplowski’s extra point, the game was knotted at 7. Back and forth it continued in the second quarter. Hillsboro scored within 2 minutes of the second quarter to lead by 7, 7-14. But seven points was a piece of cake as Michael Henderson and Derrick Tiburzi teamed up for a 37 yard touchdown reception to even the game out at 14.

After the first series in the second quarter only lasted 1 minute and 39 seconds, the second series was a bit lengthier enduring nearly 4 minutes. Nonetheless, it was the same result and the same player, in fact. Derrick Tiburzi, again, posted his second touchdown of the game on a one yard touchdown rush and put the Miners up by 8 points after the snap to Michael Henderson was fumbled. Failing to get the extra point kick off, Henderson was able to run the ball around the corner to get the conversion the hard way.

Hillsboro fought right back downfield with less than 3 minutes on the clock before halftime. It was enough time though and they posted another touchdown with just 37.9 seconds on the clock. The Toppers opted to kick the extra point and after it was successful, they still trailed by a point: 22-21.

Leading at halftime 22-21, the Miners had 24 minutes left before they could achieve a Homecoming victory. It felt like the forever as the ball changed possessions nearly 10 times in the second half. It didn’t take long for the Hilltoppers to regain the lead in the third quarter. After the Miners turned over ball on their opening possession, the Toppers were fighting to get back into the end zone.

They reached in with 8:03 minutes left on the clock in the third quarter. Their extra point attempt was no good, but they still led by 5 points: 22-27. The Miners then used most of the third quarter after the Topper touchdown to regain the lead, but came up short and were forced to turn the ball over on downs once more.

Hillsboro finished out the third quarter with the ball and opened the fourth quarter with it as well. Their 5 point lead, 22-27, from the third quarter stood for almost all of the fourth quarter. The Miners opened their first possession in the fourth quarter on the 49 yard line and were just 14 yards away from pounding it in the end zone until Michael Henderson and Derrick Tiburzi fumbled the handoff to leave Hillsboro with the ball and in charge of the click with almost 6 minutes left in the game.

The crowd was on their feet the entire night despite a cold wind. Over 200 Gillespie fans/alumni were in attendance for the Homecoming game.

But with the strong Miner defense, the Toppers did not have the ball for long. Not even two minutes, in fact. The Miners regained possession of the ball with 3:29 minutes left in the fourth quarter. Not only were they still trailing by 5 points, but they also had 90 yards of field to cover to reach the end zone to regain the lead.

It seemed like a daunting assignment, but it only took about 2 minutes with Chris Halpin as a receiver. After rushing the ball for 9 yards and Jason Whitlock being sacked in the backfield for a loss of 4 yards, the Miners were faced with a fourth down and 5 yards to go. This was the do-or-die scenario of the game for the black and orange squad.

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With four receivers out wide, it was recognizable this play has been practiced before. Michael Henderson’s pass went Chris Halpin and Halpin not only caught it, but ran for nearly 75 yards after the reception. The reception cashed in for 6 points for the Miners after the 85 yard touchdown pass. The two point conversion was unsuccessful, but the Miners still led 28-26 with less than 2 minutes on the clock.

As most Miner fans left the field in full faith of a victory, the Toppers battled back once more. Hand off after hand off, the Toppers were within 20 yards of the end zone with 20 seconds on the game clock. The Toppers lined up for their last play of the game with 18.4 seconds on the clock, four yards to go on third down, and 19 yards away from the end zone.

All it took was one play and the Toppers scored for their fifth touchdown of the game. The 19 yard rushing touchdown took 7 seconds off the game clock. Hillsboro’s extra point conversion was unsuccessful after a series of penalties, so they led 33-28 with 11.2 seconds on the clock.

The Miners had one last shot at the endzone. After the kickoff reception was caught, the Miners were nearly 60 yards out of reach. Henderson back pedaled to pass to start the series. Tiburzi caught it and ran out of bounds for a gain of 9 yards, but only 3.9 seconds remained on the clock. Henderson was then sacked for the second play to result in a 28-33 loss for the Miner squad on Homecoming.

Chris Halpin led the team with his speed and hot hands as he received for 176 yards Friday evening. Michael Henderson passed for 233 yards and rushed for 24 while Jason Whitlock took majority of the snaps for the team and tallied 124 yards on the ground. Derrick Tiburzi and Jason Whitlock did equally well on the defensive end as each recorded 9 tackles a piece. Logan Cooper and Brady Anderson logged 5 tackles each.

The Miners now hold a 2-3 record. They take the field next when they travel to Carlinville for a South Central game on Friday, September 28 at 7 o’clock. The Cavaliers are coming off a 58-37 win over Staunton while their record stands at 4-1.

 

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Gillespie man injured in DUI accident

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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

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Treasurer Dan Fisher addresses the council.

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.”

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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 13th 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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Elementary School News

Elementary school releases supply lists for fall

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School Supply 2

Kindergarten

  • 5 boxes CRAYOLA brand crayons (24 count)
  • 1 box CRAYOLA brand broad-line markers (classic)
  • 1 backpack
  • 1 box of water paints
  • 1 pair FISKAR brand scissors (children’s)
  • 6 large glue sticks
  • 1 small plastic school box
  • 4 pocket folders
  • 4 large erasers
  • 20 pencils (#2, lead, plain yellow)
  • 2 boxes of Kleenex
  • 2 rolls of paper towels
  • 2 containers of anti-bacterial wipes
  • 1 large box of sandwich size ZIPLOC bags (girls)
  • 1 large box of gallon ZIPLOC bags (boys)
  • 1 clipboard
  • 1 highlighter
  • 1 spiral 1-subject notebook (wide ruled)
  • Extra set of clothes to keep at school
  • Tennis shoes for P.E.

First Grade

  • 1 plastic school box
  • 3 packs of pencil top erasers
  • 2 large pink erasers
  • 5 packs of Ticonderoga brand pencils
  • 2 yellow highlighters
  • 2 boxes of CRAYOLA crayons (24 count)
  • 12 Elmer’s brand glue sticks
  • 1 pair of FISKAR brand scissors
  • 1 spiral 1-subject notebook (wide ruled)
  • 2 plastic 2-pocket folders
  • 1 8ct classic CRAYOLA fine line markers
  • 2 dry erase markers
  • 1 roll of paper towels
  • 2 boxes of Kleenex
  • 3 containers of Clorox Anti-Bacterial Wipes
  • 1 box of sandwich size ZIPLOC bags (girls)
  • 1 box of gallon ZIPLOC bags (boys)
  • Tennis shoes for P.E.
  • Extra set of clothes to keep at school

Second Grade

  • Handheld pencil sharpener
  • 8 large Elmer’s glue sticks
  • 1 large zippered pencil bag
  • 24 – #2 pencils
  • 1 wide ruled spiral notebook
  • 1 package wide ruled loose leaf paper
  • (2) 1” three ring binder
  • 1 pack of pencil top erasers
  • 1 pair of FISKARS brand pointed scissors
  • 1 yellow highlighter
  • 1 box broad line classic CRAYOLA markers
  • 2 boxes CRAYOLA crayons (24 count)
  • 2 plastic pocket folders
  • 1 CRAYOLA watercolor paints
  • 1 box of Kleenex
  • 1 roll of paper towels
  • Large Ziploc bags
  • Sandwich size Ziploc bags
  • 2 containers of Clorox wipes
  • 1 box of CRAYOLA colored pencils
  • 2 dry erase markers
  • Extra set of clothes to leave at school
  • Tennis shoes for P.E.

Third Grade

  • 1 small school box
  • 4 packages of pencils (#2, plain yellow)
  • 2 boxes CRAYOLA crayons (24 count)
  • 1 box CRAYOLA colored pencils
  • 1 highlighter
  • 1 pair pointed scissors
  • 6 ELMER glue sticks
  • 2 pocket folders
  • 3 boxes Kleenex
  • 2 containers of CLOROX wipes
  • 1 roll of paper towels
  • 1 package of loose leaf paper (wide rule)
  • 2 notebooks (wide rule)
  • (2) 1” binders
  • 2 packs of pencil top erasers
  • Gallon-sized Ziploc bags (boys)
  • Sandwich-sized Ziploc bags (girls)
  • 2 packages of post-it notes
  • Tennis shoes for P.E.

Fourth Grade

  • 2 packages of wide rule loose leaf paper
  • 48 pencils
  • 3 packs pencil top erasers
  • (1) 2” binder
  • 1 box 24 or 48 count CRAYOLA crayons
  • 1 pair FISKAR scissors
  • 1 box of colored pencils
  • 1 single subject notebook (wide rule)
  • 3 folders
  • 2 packages of white index cards
  • 4 highlighters
  • 4 packages of post-it notes
  • 2 boxes Kleenex
  • 1 container of Clorox wipes
  • Hand held Pencil Sharpener
  • Dividing tabs for binder
  • Tennis shoes for P.E.

Fifth Grade

  • Art Box
  • Pencil Pouch
  • 36 pencils (mechanical preferred)
  • 12 pencil top erasers
  • Crayola crayons
  • Markers
  • Crayola Colored Pencils
  • Red or Blue Pen
  • Scissors
  • Clear Ruler
  • Clear Protractor
  • 1 Bottle of Elmer’s Glue or 2 Glue Sticks
  • (1) 3 Ring Binder (2 inch)
  • 2 notebooks (one subject-wide ruled)
  • 1 package of loose leaf paper (wide ruled)
  • 3 folders
  • 2 highlighters
  • 2 boxes Kleenex
  • Girls-Antibacterial Wipes
  • Boys-4 pack of post it notes
  • Hand Held Pencil Sharpener
  • Pocket Dictionary
  • Tennis shoes for P.E.

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