By FRED KRONER
fred@mahometnews.com
Mahomet-Seymour’s boys’ cross-country team opened its season on Saturday at Charleston with a double victory.
The Bulldogs captured team honors, scoring 46 points, and had the individual winner in Mathias Powell.
Powell covered the 3-mile course in 15 minute 30 seconds.
One teammate also secured a top 10 finish. Kyle Nofziger was ninth in 17:20.
Other team leaders were Jonah Singer (18th), Joseph Scheele (28th), Bryson Keeble (46th), Nate Douglas (82nd) and Joe Taylor (119th).
Nofziger, Singer and Scheele are all freshmen.
Powell, Keeble and Douglas are all seniors.
Taylor is a sophomore.
The M-S team, ranked 13th in Class 2A in the state pre-season poll, returns to action on Saturday at the Lanphier invitational in Springfield.
Girls’ cross-country
For the second week in a row, the Bulldogs earned team honors. M-S totaled 34 points en route to the championship trophy at the 11-school Charleston Invitational.
Mount Zion was second with 110 points and Urbana (113) took third.
M-S freshman Elizabeth Sims was the individual race champion, running the 3-mile course in 18 minutes, 57 seconds.
Brisa McGrath (sixth in 19:44) and Madi Balbach (14th in 20:25) were also top 20 finishers for the Bulldogs.
Other team leaders were Delaney King (23rd), Klein Powell (34th), Grace Lietz (46th) and Emily Bednar (61st).
The Bulldogs, ranked ninth in the state’s preseason poll, return to action on Saturday in an invitational at Peoria’s Detweiller Park.
Football
The Bulldogs regrouped from a season-opening loss and started the home portion of their schedule with a 49-20 triumph over Charleston on Friday.
The win came in the team’s Apollo Conference opener.
The first five M-S touchdowns were scored by different players. Overall, six Bulldogs reached the end zone.
Jordan Veldman provided the home team with a lead it would never lose, returning the opening kickoff 85 yards for a TD. Dylan Gates ran in the two-point conversion.
The two reversed their roles later in the quarter, with Gates scoring a TD and Veldman adding on the conversion.
Cole Barnhart scored a TD that helped M-S (1-1) gain a 22-14 halftime cushion.
For the second week in a row, Clay Hubble scored a Bulldog TD. Connor Thomason returned an interception 51 yards for six more points.
Nico Cosimini converted extra-point placements after the Hubble and Thomason TDs. Overall, he hit three placements and for the season is 4-for-5 on his attempts.
By game’s end, Veldman added a second TD and Gage Granadino scored one.
Veldman rushed for a team-high 137 yards and — counting returns — amassed 328 all-purpose yards. He was the team’s top receiver, turning four receptions into gains of 88 yards.
Quarterback Dawson Finch completed 8 of 14 passes passed for 148 yards, helping the Bulldogs amass 528 total yards of offense. Finch also rushed for 69 yards.
Jack Koller had two receptions for 50 yards.
Defensively, Dallas Carnell had nine tackles and Hunter Berg had seven. Totaling five stops apiece were Ethan Carlson and Zach Travis.
The Bulldogs return to action on Friday with their final non-conference game, traveling to Mascoutah (1-1), which upended Mattoon 42-7 on Friday.
Volleyball
In a Thursday road match, the Bulldogs opened Apollo Conference action with a win at Lincoln, 25-13, 25-17.
Savannah Matthews (nine), Lauren Minick (six) and Ainsley Ranstead (five) led the offensive outburst, teaming up for 20 kills.
Kayin Garner handed out 16 assists and Ashley Wheeler had four assists and three service aces.
Josie Hess had nine digs and two aces. Matthews also contributed seven digs.
Amber Yeakel and Chloe Henkel each registered two blocks.
On Saturday, the Bulldogs (4-4) placed seventh in the Centennial Invitational.
Both M-S losses in the tournament were in three-set matches. The Bulldogs defeated Lake Forest and then swept Monticello (25-22, 25-11) in the seventh-place match.
The team’s next match is at home on Tuesday against Mattoon.
Boys’ soccer
Goals continue to come with difficulty for the Bulldogs (3-2-2), who took second in the eight-team Urbana Invitational on Saturday.
The Bulldogs advanced to the finals after consecutive wins in matches that were settled by penalty kicks.
The team scored a season-high two goals in a 2-2 draw with Bremen and followed up with a 1-1 tie against Urbana.
In the finals, Champaign Central handed the Bulldogs a 5-1 setback.
In the season’s first seven matches, M-S has scored seven goals.
Joah Moore and Austin Carr scored against Bremen. Both goals were assisted by Kadyn Jones.
Moore scored against Urbana, with an assist from Marc Majeres.
The Bulldogs’ representatives on the 11-player all-tournament team were Majeres and Moore.
The team’s next match is Thursday at Charleston.
Boys’ golf
Mahomet-Seymour finished 13th in the 14-team Danville Invitational on Friday.
The Bulldogs’ leader was Alek Strube, who fired an 18-hole score of 90 and tied for 36th individually.
Sawyer Daebelliehn shot 99 and tied for 56th. Teammate Grant Harvey finished with a 100.
The Bulldogs’ other entries were Brandon Collins (102), Jameson Drinkwalter (104) and Josh Sullivan (105).
The team’s next match is Tuesday at Lake of the Woods against Monticello.
