’85 J-Hawks stars to talk about Joe Blume Saturday

We are less than three weeks away from the 6th Annual Rockford Public Schools Champions Ball and Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony and Saturday morning the Stateline Sports Hour will be highlighting Jefferson football coach Joe Blume.

Blume is the coaching inductee this year. He'll be joining this list of past coaching inductees:

• Alex Saudargas, West basketball coach
• Jim Laude, Rockford and Rockford East basketball coach
• Gene Cassioppi and Don May, Guilford swimming
• Roger Lindeman, Guilford golf coach

Blume, who died in 2012, coached the J-Hawks from 1976 to 1993, compiling a 100-63 record. His teams made the playoffs eight of his last 10 years. Jefferson has not made the playoffs since he stepped down.

He coached a string of players to Division 1 college football careers, including one player, Leonard Bell, who went on to play briefly in the NFL.

The J-Hawks tied for the NIC-10 title in 1984 and his 1985 team won the NIC-10 with an 8-1 mark. Those J-Hawks were the last District 205 school to win the football conference title until Auburn in 2015.

Two players from the 1985 team, wide receiver and defensive back Steve Brown and quarterback Chris McAlister, will be on the show Saturday morning along with retired Rick Schmitz, who coached under Blume, to talk about Blume's legacy.

The Champions Ball and Athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held Feb. 24 at the Radisson, 200 S. Bell School Road, beginning at 5 p.m. Click here to learn more about the event and to purchase tickets at $50 each.