1994 Football
1994 Football
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The 1994 Taylorville Football Team coached by Scott Alberssen in his second year as head coach, not only gave Taylorville their first winning season in seven years, but they also won a share of the Central State 8 Conference Championship, became eligible for the state play offs for the first time since 1979, and knocked off the state’s number one ranked team in one of the most exciting games in Taylorville football history.
The season began with a 42-6 win over Charleston with quarterback Jeb Odam throwing for 154 yards and four touchdowns, two each to Mike Flynn and Chad Mileham. Joe Norris and Matt Repsher each had a rushing touchdown in the lopsided victory.
The Tornadoes traveled to Springfield the next week to play a strong Lanphier team. With a first quarter pass being intercepted and returned for a touchdown, Taylorville had to play catch up against a very good defensive team. Even though they gained 277 yards of offense, the Tornadoes were only able to get into the end zone once and lost their first game of the season 27 -9.
The following week, Coach Alberssen took his squad to Chatham and the defense rose to the occasion, holding the high powered Titans to only 99 total yards in a hard fought 16 – 3 win.
The Springfield Senators were next on the schedule and came to Taylorville hoping to upset the surprising Tornadoes. One of the more exciting games of the seasons, the lead changed hands four times and ended with Jeb Odam breaking up a pass in the end zone to preserve a 26 -21 victory and setting the stage for a Homecoming game with the Southeast Spartans.
While the score of the Southeast game showed the Tornadoes winning 34-7, the offense scored only one touchdown and that was with less than three minutes left in the game. However, Troy Helton returned an interception for a touchdown only four minutes into the game and Shane Stork recovered a fumble in the end zone for a score, but it was Mike Flynn‘s record setting four field goals that set the scoring tone for the day and… was possibly an indicator of how important Flynn’s foot would mean to the remainder of this successful season.
A trip to Jacksonville would give the Tornadoes their fifth conference victory as they beat the Crimson 30-14. Jeb Odam continued leading the high powered offense completing 15 -24 passes for 181 yards and a pair of touchdown. The win also set up a showdown with conference leader and the number one ranked team in the state, the Sacred Heart Griffin Cyclones.
While the team had many highlights, it was the win over Sacred Heart-Griffin that placed this team in the football history books. Behind 13 -6 with less than a minute to play, Joe Norris broke into the end zone to make the score 13-12 with 37 seconds remaining in the game. Coach Alberssen chose to go for the win in attempting a two point conversion, but a pass to Chad Mileham failed. A successful onside kick was recovered by Mileham at the 49 yard line. After quarterback Jeb Odam was sacked, he tossed two incompletions, but he then connect with Chad Mileham at the five yard line where Mileham step out of bounds to stop the clock with only one second remaining. Mike Flynn then connected on a 23 yard field goal to seal the upset victory.
Not giving in to an expected letdown following the victory over SH-G, the Tornadoes finished the regular season on an emotional high, defeating the Paris Tigers 34-6. The defense only allowed 148 total yards and 8 first downs. The Tornadoes racked up 311 yards and finished the season with their first 8 -1 in 19 years.
The 1994 finished the regular season ranked 10th in the state and were going to play in the IHSA playoff for the first time since 1979. Their opponent would be the only team to beat them, Springfield Lanphier. While the playoff game against Lanphier was exciting to watch , with 58 points being scored, the Tornadoes could not stop the Lanphier ground attack as the Lions rushed for 290 yards in a 37 -21 victory that ended one of the greatest seasons in Taylorville football history.
Winning 8 and losing only 2, both to conference co champion Lanphier, the Tornadoes were lead by seven All Central State 8 Conference players: Joe Norris, Don Spears, Troy Helton, O.J. Kohl. Chad Mileham, Mike Flynn and Jeb Odam along with honorable mention players Doug Camatti, Shane Stork, Matt Repscher and Kacy Reiss. Coach Scott Alberssen was selected Decatur Herald and Review Coach of the Year.