The News-Gazette.com Weblog

Prep Confidential

Palmer for President

Posted by: Marcus Jackson

Friday, October 10, 2008 11:54 PM

Running back Rob Renfrow has received a lot of attention in the last two years, and deservedly so. He was among the area's top five rushers last year and is having another stellar season

But quarterback Jacob Palmer is distinguishing himself as an all-star type player.

A sign made by VIlla Grove fans Fridayat Arcola read "Renfrow for Heisman". Palmer noticed it and thought it was great and after some pressing, he came up with a sign of his own: "Palmer for President". Has a nice ring to it and is appropriate with the presidential election less than a month away.

He won't get any argument from his teammate.

"Palmer for President, put it up," Renfrow said after Villa Grove pounded Arcola 45-13 Friday to move to 7-0.

Whether his mouthpiece was falling out or he was making the decision whether to hand the ball to Renfrow or keep it himself, Palmer was making life miserable for the Purple Riders. And with Renfrow, who ran for 237 yards and three scores, Travis Parsley and emerging sophomore back Jon Turner, the Blue Devils are going to be awful tough to game-plan for once the post season rolls around.

Up next for Chad Musselman's squad are dates with Cerro Gordo/DeLand-Weldon and Arthur-Lovington, both winnable games, and Villa Grove can go 9-0 for the first time in the playoff era which started in 1974.

"We've come a long way," Villa Grove coach Chad Musselman said. "We've come a long way."

Other observations from Friday:

— For the second straight year, Mahomet-Seymour went to Bloomington Central Catholic with an unblemished record and for the second straight year the Bulldogs were beaten pretty handily. Keith Pogue's squad is still in pretty good shape at 6-1 and needs to bounce back to finish 8-1 to avoid having to go on the road in the first round as it did last year when it was bounced by Quincy Notre Dame. No shame in losing to the Saint on Friday. They did enter the game ranked first in Class 4A.

— The Tuscola/Maroa-Forsyth matchup wasn't quite as good a battle as last year's game between undefeated defending state champs. The Trojans pounded the Warriors 31-0 on Friday in what might turn out the be the Okaw Valley Blue championship game. Tuscola has its work cut out next week, hosting Meridian before traveling to play Argenta-Oreana in Week 9 in a game that might decide its playoff fate.

— Not completely surprised that Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley got beat by Fieldcrest on Friday. But the 40-14 margin was eye-popping. I'm not sure if Fieldcrest has improved that much this season after losing 39-20 to Fisher in Week 1, but after what I saw from GCMS last week, I was sure the Falcons would head to rival Fisher in Week 9 unbeaten. Either way, it's going to be a great matchup.

— Speaking of Fisher, the Bunnies got back in the win column with a victory at home against Deer Creek-Mackinaw. Colten Unzicker was the focus of the Chiefs' defensive efforts, but still managed 144 yards. Quarterback Guy Kirby ran for 151.

— In the Sangamon Valley, St. Thomas More continues to be dominant, while St. Joseph-Ogden continues to slide. STM pounded Paxton-Buckley-Loda 52-6 on homecoming in Champaign to move to 5-2. SJO was beaten handily again, this time 47-14 by Watseka.

Be sure to grab a copy of The News-Gazette tomorrow to read all about the area's high school's games and listen to our Podcast Wednesday and ask Fred Kroner a question during Thursday's online chat.

mjackson@news-gazette.com