Ohio and LaMoille enjoying ride in Amboy Clippers’ co-op

Ohio and LaMoille have not had their own football teams for decades.

Ohio last fielded its own program in 1980. LaMoille’s run on its own ended after the 1988 season.

Both schools have found a good thing as part of the Amboy Clippers co-op.

LaMoille joined forces with Amboy in 2003, having formed its first co-op with Walnut as the Warhawks in 1989 and later with DePue and Ohio.

Ohio came aboard in 2017 after teaming up with Princeton for a few years.

It’s been a fun ride for all three communities with the Clippers (10-2) advancing to the Illinois 8-Man Football Association state championship game Friday night. They will face Biggsville West Central (12-0) at 7 p.m. at Monmouth College.

It’s created much excitement around both Bureau County towns.

“Going to state is a big deal for our small town,” Ohio junior Troy Anderson said. “Ohio only went to state for basketball once almost 40 years ago (1986). I think that it’s really cool to see the town come together and decorate and get really excited.”

“Feeling a whole town behind you is an amazing feeling,” Ohio junior Vinnie Zembruski said. “But it’s not just one town, it’s all three. I’m from Ohio and they have shown nothing but support for our team and have let me and Troy know how much they truly support us.”

LaMoille’s seven players share the same feelings.

“It has brought a lot of school spirit back to both the town and the schools,” LaMoille sophomore Tate Sundberg said.

“Going to State is exciting to me and has brought a lot of excitement to my school and to the town,” LaMoille junior Ian Sundberg said.

“Going to State means a lot to the team and the community,” LaMoille freshman Cody Winn said. “It’s been a while since we got an opportunity like this so it’s definitely brought a lot of excitement and attention to our team and now we just have to go out there and get the job done.”

“It’s an amazing feeling in the way the town shows great support and excitement, school also has a great environment in how it has brought back so much school spirit,” LaMoille sophomore Brayden Klein said.

“State means a lot to me and its been a goal for the past two years and its brought a lot of happiness, excitement and spirit back in all the towns,” LaMoille sophomore Edward Fry said.

Assistant coach Kenny Shrimplin, who was a senior for the first year of the Amboy-LaMoille co-op, said he’s never seen so much excitement in his hometown LaMoille.

“It’s really nice to see little LaMoille succeed in sports,” he said. “The community is awesome. They are backing the kids 100%. They are out decorating non stop. We painted the town red. It’s really cool to see it.”

Clippers tradition

Of course, winning football is no surprise in Amboy. The Clippers have a rich playoff history, making three state finals appearances in Class 2A from 1979-84, capped by a state crown in 1984. The Clippers reached the semifinals two years later and made four more quarterfinal appearances in a 10-year stretch from 2003-12.

“Amboy’s been a traditional powerhouse in football for the longest time,” Shrimplin said. “A lot of people say, ‘What’s the big deal with Amboy Clipper football?’ I say, ‘You don’t understand. Come to a game and you’ll see.’ They come to a game and say, ‘Now I know what you’re talking about.’ ”

But the time came with dwindling numbers that the Clippers had to turn to the eight-man game after leaving its longtime home in the Three Rivers Conference in 2016 in favor of the NUIC. Amboy went to full eight-man schedule in 2021 with a JV schedule before that.

“It was much needed for the kids to be competitive,” Shrimplin said. “I think at the time we only had 21 kids in the program. It’s hard to play 11-man football in the NUIC. In 1A and 2A, that’s a powerhouse football conference. Hard to go against teams like Lena-Winslow, Forreston every year and trying to keep the spirit up. Going to eight-man was a very great move.”

Ready for battle

After losing in the semifinals last year to Orangeville, 34-12, the Clippers went to work to take the next step.

“State means a lot to me because I was on the team last year when we lost in the semifinals to Orangeville. We set our goal last year that we are going to state,” Tate Sundberg said.

“Going to State really is showing me and all the other guys where hard work can get you,” Zembruski said. “We have worked extremely hard and it has all paid off. We have changed the expectations for Amboy football and we hope to uphold those expectations this Friday.”

“I hope we win that ring. That would be awesome,” LaMoille freshman Connor Deering said.

Shrimplin had a good feeling about this team this summer.

“I was telling a lot of people at the beginning of the season, this year is going to start something good for Amboy-LaMoille-Ohio football,” he said. “We never dreamed it, but knew it was possible with what we had coming back from last year’s team.”

Familiar foe

The Clippers will face a familiar foe in West Central, which beat ALO 68-30 with a running clock in Week 9 at The Harbor. ALO quarterback Tucker Lindenmeyer still was recovering from a Week 4 hamstring injury and did not play.

Lindenmeyer returned for all three playoff wins over Blue Ridge, Milford and St. Thomas More last week.

West Central needed a last-second touchdown to survive a 50-48 nail-biter over defending Illinois 8-Man Association state champ Polo in last week’s semifinals.

The Heat are coached by former Bureau Valley coach Jason Kirby, who led the Storm to a Class 3A state runner-up finish in 2004. He has bounced around several schools before landing at West Central where his day job is high school principal.

Lions history

LaMoille made three playoff appearances in school history, winning its first round-game each year. The Lions won their very first playoff game in 1974 under coach Blake Oleson, defeating Princeville 18-12 in overtime.

In their past two appearances, the Lions were knocked out by Walnut in 1986 (14-7) and in 1987 (26-0), whom they would join forces with shortly after. The Walnut-LaMoille Warhawks had one playoff berth as co-op partners in 1993, losing in the first round in overtime to Cambridge.

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LaMoille, like Ohio and Amboy, is showing its community support for the Clippers football team which will play in Friday's 8-Man Football Association State finals. (Hal Adkins)