Taylorville is back in the win column after a gritty win away to Effingham, 28-21.  Four different Tornadoes found the end zone as the purple-and-gold broke the Hearts of Effingham on the latter's homecoming.

The home side struck first as Lexton Roberts took advantage of good blocking downfield for a sixty-yard score on the right side.  The touchdown gave the team in red the edge late in the first quarter. 

Offenses through much of the second quarter struggled to get going, thanks in part to several penalties, mostly against Effingham.  Late in the second quarter, as Taylorville drove down the field, Repscher threw what appeared to be an interception returned for a touchdown.  However, the officials adjudged the junior quarterback to have been roughed.  Repscher then engineered a quality drive, ending with a perfect 7-yard touchdown pass to Malique Pearce in the corner of the end zone.  The dime levelled the scores when Taylorville could instead have trailed by two touchdowns. 

In the third quarter, the Tornadoes forced their opponents into a three-and-out before driving themselves up the field with smashmouth football accompanied with big passing plays.  Spencer Brown capped it off with a 14-yard drive to give his side the lead.  They doubled the advantage less than two minutes later with another defensive three-and-out followed by a 73-yard pass from Repscher to Wyatt Younker.

Effingham needed big plays in the fourth quarter and got one early.  Jaxon Bridges found Maxx Kistler for 29 yards just minutes into the quarter.   Taylorville responded by driving methodically for a touchdown of their own.  Owen Mateer capped the series with a three-yard run into the end zone.  Less than a minute later, Bridges and Kistler connected again for a score, this time from 78 yards.

That was the last time they touched the ball as the Tornadoes turned to the running game to drain the clock.  Isaac Repscher paired good decision-making in the pass with good gains on the ground to bring his team to victory and earn the title of Nicole Patrick Country Financial Player of the Game.

Taylorville moves to 2-3 as they host Mattoon next week.  For Effingham, the defeat ends a three-match winning run as they turn their attention to Mahomet-Seymour on the road. 

As heard on Genuine Country 94.3 WMKR…

LeRoy – 35 vs. Central A&M – 17

Seitz Funeral Homes Player of the Game: #1 Ace Spinner

The first half was relatively quiet for the Raider offense as they struggled to convert on 4th down even in short yardage situations. The Raiders would find 3 points on the leg of Jamesly Jesse in the first quarter for the lone first half score. On the opposite side, LeRoy ran the triple option to the tune of the three rushing touchdowns. A 26 and 52 yard touchdown on the legs of Jack Bogema, with a 75 yard rushing touchdown on a quarterback keep for junior Brett Helfrich.

Halftime score: 21 – 3

The Central A&M defense stood tall forcing two turnovers in the third quarter but the offense continued to stall out. The Raiders would fail to capitalize on any of the forced turnovers. The score would remain 21 – 3 through the end of the third quarter.

The LeRoy Panthers found the endzone twice to close out the game with fullback Stephon Williams carrying the rock for a pair of rushing scores. Kadyn Higgins would find paydirt with a 7 yard receiving touchdown before Ace Spinner hauled in a 20+ yard reception for an additional 6.

Final score: 35 – 17
Next week: Central A&M vs. Tuscola (Homecoming) – 10/03/2025
Central A&M – 2 – 3 overall
LeRoy – 2 – 3 overall

The Taylorville Tornadoes held on to first place in the Apollo Conference with a hard-fought three-set win over Mt. Zion Tuesday night.

Taylorville took the opener 25–20 behind a balanced attack from Robyn Ward and Alayna Vincent, before the Braves answered in a wild second set. Mt. Zion rallied late to force extra points and edged the Tornadoes 28–26 after a pair of controversial calls at the net.

The decisive third set looked a lot like the second—Taylorville jumped out to a quick lead, Mt. Zion clawed back, but a booming spike from Ward sealed a 25–21 victory and the match two sets to one.

Head Coach Kim Peabody said despite the win, the Tornadoes made things difficult on themselves.

Peabody added that the team needs to stay aggressive when playing with a lead.

With the win, Taylorville improves to 16–2 overall and stays perfect in conference play at 6–0. Mt. Zion drops to 12–8 and 3–2 in the Apollo. The Tornadoes hit the road Thursday night to face Lincoln.

The Taylorville Tornadoes opened strong Friday night but couldn’t keep pace after halftime, falling to the Mahomet-Seymour Bulldogs 49–27 in an Apollo Conference road matchup.

Taylorville struck first as quarterback Isaac Repscher led an early drive capped by a 42-yard touchdown run from Owen Mateer. The extra point missed, but the Tornadoes led 6–0. Mahomet answered quickly with a 29-yard wildcat run from Wade Manuel, then grabbed the lead on a 20-yard touchdown pass from Cade Ashby to make it 14–6.

The Tornadoes battled back when Malique Pearse hauled in a 20-yard scoring pass, and a two-point conversion evened the game at 14–14. Taylorville nearly took the lead before halftime, but a penalty wiped out a would-be touchdown, sending the teams to the locker room tied.

The Bulldogs seized control after the break. Cade Ashby and Cody Moen combined for two rushing scores, including one off a Taylorville fumble, sparking a 21-point third quarter that pushed Mahomet ahead 35–14. Quarterback Ryan Pruitt added another touchdown to extend the margin to 42–14.

Taylorville kept fighting, with Repscher connecting on a 60-yard strike to Blake Ladage and Maddex Havera adding a late score, but Ashby’s third touchdown sealed the Bulldogs’ 49–27 victory.

Blake Ladage was named the Nicole Patrick Country Financial Agent Player of the game, for a successful fake punt that helped the Tornadoes score first along with that 60 yard touchdown reception. 

Mahomet-Seymour improves to 2–2 overall and 1–0 in conference play. Taylorville drops to 1–3 and 0–1 and will travel to Effingham next week to face the 3–1 Flaming Hearts, who defeated Charleston on Friday.

As heard on Genuine Country 94.3 WMKR…

Central A&M – 48 vs. Madison – 24

Seitz Funeral Homes Player of the Game: #3 Aiden Sites

Central A&M came out firing in the first half putting up 35 points, while limiting the Madison Trojans to just a single score and two point conversion. The Raiders took that momentum in to half and the following third quarter with another Aiden Sites touchdown reception. Central A&M would end up causing a running clock in that second half helping shorten the game’s time. This was a get-right game for the Raiders and they seized the moment to help keeping the season together during this three game homestand.

Next Game: Central A&M @ Leroy – 09/26/2025
Central A&M Raiders – 2 - 2 overall
Madison Trojans – 0 – 4 overall

Malique Pearse raced for over 200 all purpose yards but Taylorville couldn't figure out how to slow down the run attack from the Freeburg Midgets who beat the Tornadoes in Taylorville 22-14. Freeburg took a methodical attack with a three pronged attack from Quarterback Joe Carmack, Running back AJ Vahlkamp, and RB Cooper Kisgen to dissect and pick apart the Taylorville defense, slowly wearing them down and capping off their opening drive with a 24 yard run from Vahlkamp.  

Taylorville's Pearse responded back with one play for 80 yards on a beautiful reception from quarterback Isaac Repscher and Taylorville tied them up 7-7. The Midgets added a 23 yard field goal from their kicker Dane Olmstead and Freeburg again took the lead 10-7. Taylorville had only 9 seconds of time of possession in that first quarter.  Vahlkamp added another eight yard touchdown run after another long drive but the extra point was blocked making the score was 16-7. 

Malique Pearse answered with another massive 82 yard touchdown reception and that cut the lead 16-14.  Taylorville had a huge stand at the end of the first half preventing the Midgets from scoring in the red zone as time expired with QB Carmack getting tackled at the 7 yard line.  

In the third quarter, Taylorville had plenty of opportunities but couldn't get anything going.  Freeburg had a bad snap on 3rd down with just over 4 minutes left, that Taylorville took advantage of forcing Freeburg to punt. The punt didn't go far and Taylorville started their drive from their own 45 where Spencer Brown got a quick first down, but on the second play Brown had his pocket picked from Colt Hess and Carmack had a 36 yard touchdown run to make the score 22-14.  

Freeburg would run the clock down in the fourth quarter, and Taylorville would not do anything else.  

Malique Pearse was named the Nicole Patrick Country Financial Player of the game.  Freeburg improves to 3-0.  Taylorville falls to 1-2. Taylorville will head to Mahomet next Friday for their first conference game. 

As heard on Genuine Country 94.3 WMKR…

Warrensburg-Latham – 35 vs. Central A&/M – 0

Seitz Funeral Homes Player of the Game: #53 Parker O’Dell

Central A&M allowed an opening drive score by the Cardinals trailing early at home. Brennon Bonds punched the rock in from a yard out to open the contest. On the ensuing drive, Central A&M would stall out deep in their own territory. During the lone punt attempt of the game, Central A&M would have it blocked and returned for a score from 8 yards or so. This allowed the Cardinals to go up by two scores in just around 5 minutes of the ball game getting it’s start.

Before the first quarter would come to a close, Eastyn McKenzie of Warrensburg-Latham scrambled for a 45 yard touchdown run in his time at quarterback. The first half would see one more Cardinal touchdown, this time a 40-plus-yard touchdown reception that was hauled in by the Cardinals’ Donnie Pratt.

The score at half would remain 28 – 0.

Central A&M’s offense continued to struggle with 4th and short conversions for several turnover on downs. The only points on the board in the second half for either team came on a 2 yard carry for Reed Cordts. Central A&M will look to simplify the offense in the coming weeks to reinvigorate that side of the ball.

Next Game: Central A&M vs. Madison – 09/19/2025

Central A&M – 1 – 2 overall
Warrensburg-Latham – 2 – 1 overall

The Taylorville Tornadoes are now 8-1 after picking up their first conference win at home, sweeping Effingham in straight sets, 25-20 and 25-15.

Taylorville set the tone early in the opening set, building a 16-9 lead and stretching it to 22-11. Effingham made a late push, but the Tornadoes held on for the win. Coach Kim Peabody was thrilled with the effort.

In the second set, Effingham grabbed the early momentum, but Coach Peabody called a timeout to settle her team down.

The Tornadoes responded with a dominant 15-3 run, cruising to the victory.

Taylorville travels to Charleston on September 11th.

The Taylorville Tornadoes finished Senior Night in style as they stunned the Canton Little Giants with a massive fourth quarter to win their home opener 42-27, after trailing 27-13..  Taylorville got the scoring in first as they raced in for a touchdown as Isaac Repscher raced down the field and the Tornadoes jumped to a early 6-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.  That lead would be short lived however, as Canton would go to work.  Much like Richland County the previous week, Taylorville struggled to slow down the Little Giants QB Lakon Otto who helped the Little Giants score and they jumped out front 8-6.  Canton would score again to take a 15-6 lead. Maddux Havera would score to cut the lead to 15-13 with 1:32 left in the second quarter.

With the score 15-13 coming out of halftime, Canton used a few quick plays to race down the field and score extending their lead with Gavin Otto running one in to make it 21-13. The last part of the third quarter was bizarre.  With 5:31 left in the third quarter, the Tornadoes stripped the ball and forced a fumble and Little Giants Fullback Zeke Zimmerman lost the ball with the Tornadoes taking over at their own 25 yardline. Taylorville couldn’t score and were forced to punt with 4:49 left in the third quarter. Gavin Otto couldn’t hold onto the ball and Taylorville landed on it. The officials conferred and penalties came in with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and Taylorville was forced to re-punt the ball. 

Canton scored again with 1:07 left in the third quarter to give themselves a 27-13 lead which they would hold until the end of the third quarter. Taylorville defense would take over in the fourth quarter. Wyatt Younker would catch a touchdown pass to make it 27-20. A kickoff return that was botched by Canton set them up to start a drive from their own ten after a penalty. A botched snap and Taylorville landed on Canton QB Otto in what appeared to be the endzone, but the officials would rule it down at the 1. Canton would get out of it, but have to punt and after a penalty, Dawson Jenkins would score on a 12 yard touchdown run to pull the Tornadoes within 1 as they missed the extra point giving the Little Giants a 27-26 lead with 8:09 left in the 4th quarter.

With a one point lead, Canton tried rolling time off the clock.  On 4th and 5 with 5:13 left in regulation.  Otto threw a pass that was intercepted by Lane Riva for an 85 yard td return gave the Tornadoes a 32-27 lead.  With the two point conversion successful, Taylorville led 34-27. Maddux Havera than picked off Otto with 2:23 left in the 4th and ran it in again for a touchdown but it was called back.  Spencer Brown would add the final score on a simple run play that gave the Tornadoes a 42-27 win.  

Lane Riva was named the Nicole Patrick Country Financial Agent Player of the game.  Taylorville (1-1) will host the Freeburg Midgets (2-0) on Friday night at 7 PM.  
 

As heard on Genuine Country 94.3 WMKR….

Shelbyville Rams – 34 vs. Central A&M – 20

Seitz Funeral Homes Player of the Game: #44 Jhett Smith

The Raiders jumped out to an early lead following an opening drive score off a 7 yard touchdown reception by Victor Revelo. Another receiving touchdown this time to Kadyn Higgins from 6 yards out put the Raiders up by two scores. Closing out the first half was a lofty 20 yard touchdown pass from Rams quarterback Austin Ulmer to Jaydon Vice with a failed two point conversion bringing the score at half to 14 – 6.

The beginning of the second half and through the entirety of the third quarter was when momentum really shifted the way of the Shelbyville Rams. Jaydon Vice, with additional assistance, would see paydirt again in the second half. Three rushing touchdowns, two for Jaden Meister and another from fullback Will Glick, helped the Rams seal the deal. The Raiders would score only once in the second half on a 1 yard receiving touchdown hauled in by Ace Spinner.

This Raiders team could not come up with plays even in excellent field position situations in that second half. The run game was stifled by the Rams front seven and the passing game struggled to set up short yard situations. The Raiders will now get ready to take on Warrensburg-Latham next week with a full week of practice ahead.

Central A&M: falls to 1 – 1 on the season while….
Shelbyville: improves to 1 – 1 with a win on the road.

Next Game: Central A&M vs. Warrensburg-Latham (09/12/2025)