Shutter to Think: Fall 2024 high school sports season draws to a close

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Oregon goalie Deryk Withers and Michael Jacinto stop a shot on goal Dixon Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024, at EC Bowers field in Dixon. (Alex T. Paschal)

Once again, sports in the Sauk Valley have gone into overtime.

After last Friday’s eight-man football championship game between Amboy and Milledgeville, the fall sports season has come to an end. The area has another champ (meet the new boss/same as the old boss), with Amboy repeating as top of the heap once again.

But, personally, it felt a bit different this year as far as local sports go.

The big story had to be Dixon football running (and passing) their way to the quarterfinals in the 4A football class. Their epic eighth-week clash with Byron is a game that will long live in the memories of the hundreds who poured into AC Bowers Field at Dixon High School. It was an incredible season that I’m not sure anyone in Dixon has seen before.

And just across the gymnasium, in my opinion, the criminally under-seeded Duchesses’ volleyball team reeled off three games, besting two high-powered opponents easily to take the regional crown.

Even though it was a first-round loss, Sterling football willed its way into the playoffs again and also saw two standout players break passing and receiving yards. Erie-Prophetstown’s volleyball team advanced to the sectional championship, the first time the co-op has advanced that far.

Geneseo was not kind to our soccer teams, as both Sterling and Dixon met semifinal regional losses down there. The lights were not kind either, as Dixon’s game saw two lengthy delays when the lights blinked out.

On Friday, Nov. 29, I’ll be down in Bloomington covering 1A and 2A football games for Shaw Local Sports; sadly, no Sauk Valley teams could cross that end zone. If you plan on watching the game, look for me. I’ll be the one muttering on the sidelines because I’m not ready for the cold.

On to the winter season!

Alex T. Paschal is a Shaw Local News Network photographer.