08/24/2023
BY JACK BULLOCK
CARBONDALE - The Cahokia Conference Mississippi Division football division appears to be ripe for a new team to assume command.

While being a very competitive division in most of the league contests in the two seasons since the conference expanded in 2021-22, the Breese Central Cougars have reigned supreme in both of the Mississippi races.

However Roxana might be the club that dethrones the defending champs this fall.

The Shells got things together late last season with a playoff appearance and a first round win at Hillsboro.

Roxana ended up 7-4 overall with a second round loss to Prairie Central in the 3A playoffs.

Coach Wade DeVries has some talent returning that have the playoff experience.

Four of the six division teams made it to the postseason in 2022 and those same four could end up with a 10th game this autumn.

Columbia and mentor Scott Horner qualified for the 4A playoffs last fall against a tougher than average non-league schedule.

The Eagles were eliminated in the first round by Murphysboro.

East Alton-Wood River hadn't made a playoff appearance in three seasons but made it to the dance in 2022, dropping a road game at Coal City in the 4A playoffs.

The Oilers graduated one of the best players in the school's history and must regroup.

Salem suffered through a tough campaign last fall, losing five games in a row during one stretch and finished 2-7.

The Wildcats look to rebound with a better run in 2023.

Breese Central will always put a good product on the field or the court, so expect the Cougars to be right there battling for another title.

Head coach Wade DeVries and his Roxana Shells showed that they belong in the tough Cahokia Conference Mississippi Division as they ended up with a couple of big wins last season.

Roxana beat playoff teams Robinson and East Alton-Wood River and played Breese Central close in a 20-13 loss.

They added a 13-7 playoff win over former South Central Conference rival Hillsboro before falling the the 3A runner up Prairie Central 41-20.

The Shells lost some good kids to graduation from a year ago but they have sever key players returning.

Starters Nik Ward and all-conference lineman Kaden Bloemker left the program, as did five defensive starters (Ashton Noble, Chase Allen, Jackson Harris, Rolen Ross and Paxton Osmoe.

All were part of the 7-4 season of improvement coming off of a 2-7 mark in 2021.

Quarterback Chris Walleck, a 5-11 senior who threw for just over 600-yards as a junior.

Two running backs, who were both all-conference selections, are back after splendid junior seasons in 2022.

Six-three junior Evan Wells is back as is 5-11 senior Terrell Graves.

Graves rushed for 1,062-yards last fall on just 111 attempts (9.6 average) as he bulldozed through opponents.

Wells notched 874-yards on 187 tries.

That tandem will once again be difficult to defend.

Coach DeVries has other weapons to choose from with duel threat juniors Andruw Ellis and junior Zeb Katzmerak.

Ellis and Katzmerak are top defensive backs for the Shells but they managed to help out on offense.

Katzmerak only had six rushing attempt last fall for an even 100-yards.

However one of his rushes produced a 66-yard game-breaking touchdown run in the Shells' 13-7 playoff win.

Ellis caught 23 passes for 425-yards and three TD's.

Catching passes from Walleck this season will be 6-0 junior tight end Kael Hester and senior wide receiver Aidan Briggs, the son of Roxana's long-time basketball coach Mark Briggs.

Roxana rushed for just over 2,900-yards a season ago and more could be in store for 2023.

Top Roxana defensive players include 6-0 senior linebacker James Herring and 5-10 senior Braden Johnson.

Another linebacker for Coach DeVries will be Nick Newton, a 6-1 senior.

The schedule looks like it will one that will make the Shells better and more prepared for another spot in the playoffs.

Tough games at home against Jerseyville and Red Bud open up the slate of games along with a road contest at Civic Memorial.

Five straight weeks of Mississippi Division clashes follow with a key matchup at home against Breese Central as one that should be circled on the calendar.

“We have to continue to be hungry. We cannot be content with winning a couple of games and qualifying for the playoffs. If we can improve upfront on both sides of the ball, we have an opportunity to be hard to beat,” said Coach DeVries.

Head coach Scott Horner has made the Columbia Eagles' program what it is today by playing a tough schedule each year which gets the club ready for what the postseason might bring.

With the conference set up the way it is, there are not many nights off in any sport, let alone football.

Columbia got into the playoffs with some quality wins over Breese Central and Roxana by identical 28-27 final scores.

The losses were to larger schools Mascoutah and Jerseyville along with a road loss at East Alton-Wood River.

Murphysboro ended the Eagles' playoff stay with a first round road loss in 4A.

Coach Horner lost some key players from last year, including starters quarterback Dom Voegele, lineman Tom Koenigstein, wide receivers Brennan Weik and Zach Wetzel and tight end defensive end Carter Hicks.

Voegele put up some huge numbers; 1,350-yards rushing and 1,130-yards passing, in leading Columbia last season.

The passing yards almost all went to Weik (350), Wetzel (568) and senior Nick Janik (132).

Mason Voegele, a 5-11 junior, assumes the quarterback duties after the graduation of his brother as the Eagles move forward with some key returning players.

Logan Hicks, a 5-11 junior, is back as a running back threat.

Five-eleven junior Cameron Janik, like Hicks and Voegele, received some important varsity playing time last fall.

Janik had 177-yard rushing.

Coach Horner has outside threats with wide receivers 6-0 senior Sam Denny, 5-10 senior Dalton Rainwater and 5-10 senior Lucas Riebeling all capable of catching passes from Voegele.

Brandon Jackson, a 5-11 linebacker and tight end, returns along with 6-0 senior lineman Joe Kish.

Maddox Stephan, a 5-11 senior running back, an 6-0 senior running Peyton Andrews give the Eagles more options on both sides of the line of scrimmage.

“We only have 17 total upperclassman, so we will be young and inexperienced especially on the line of scrimmage,” said Coach Horner, who heads into his 23rd season as head coach at 157-69. “A new quarterback with only one year of experience will prove to be a challenge but confident he will do a great job.”

The Cougars have 10 playoff appearances in that run, including two-consecutive appearances in the past two campaigns.

Not counting the Covid19 spring, BC has been in 2/3rds of the playoff tournaments since Coach Short arrived on the scene.

Last fall the season ended as did the previous year, with a loss to a big-time 4A powerhouse program.

In consecutive playoffs, the Cougars fell to Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin 55-14 in 2021 and to Rochester 42-0 last November.

The Cougars are missing some pieces from last year's 8-3 club.

Senior Conner Freeze, the BC QB, has departed along with WR Braden Revermann, WR Conner Becker and running back/linebacker Chase Lewis.

All were vital to the Cougars previous two playoff runs and conference titles.

But Coach Short has some kids to turn to this fall.

Preston Baker, a 6-0 junior, is the new quarterback for the Cougars.

Also in the backfield look for 5-10 junior Kaden Rakers.

While Baker didn't take a snap last season in varsity games, Rakers helped out on the ground for Central with 262-yards on 51 carries with a touchdown.

Running back Anthony Attaway, a 6-1 senior, also got the ball last fall with 43 attempts for 214-yards and a pair of scores.

Six-two senior Griffen Becker is one of the Breese Central wide receivers who caught passes a year ago and return.

Tight end Dawson Kuper, a 6-1 senior, also returns for BC.

Nate Behrman, a 5-8 sophomore, Cater Deien, a 5-8 junior, are wide receivers while Andrew Jansen, a 6-3 senior, is a tight end for Coach Short.

Jackson Kampwerth, a 6-1 sophomore, is also a wide receiver for BC.

Maximus Rogers, a 6-0 senior, also returns for Breese Central as a running back.

All of these kids will play defense as well as the Cougars look to continue the norm of winning football.

Up front the line on both sides of the ball will be a factor.

Linemen Dylan Johnson, a 6-6 senior, 6-0 senior Cole Kapp, 5-9 senior Griffin Thomas, 6-1 senior Logan McDonald, and 6-0 senior Dylan Poettker round out a veteran senior bunch.

Five-ten junior Dugan Schweikert and 5-9 junior Will Sander will be a part of what should be a solid defensive unit along with the others previously mentioned.

Five-nine junior's Jack Sterkis and Benny Lehman are also two-way players who will be part of the scheme along with 5-8 junior Kyle MacDonald.

This appears to be a deep, talented bunch that should put the Cougars back on the prowl for conference honors and another playoff run.

Senior do-everything running back Seth Slayden and boat load of yards has left the port via graduation.

His 2022-23 football season produced 1,624-yards on 224-attempts and a whopping 20 touchdowns on the ground.

He also led the club with 51 solo tackles and 111 overall.

The next two players on the rushing yardage stat sheet are also gone.

Senior quarterback Miguel Romero and senior running back Ryan Morton-Burch combined for 726-yards on the ground and seven TD's.

Senior Jakob Gerber caught 12 Romero passes for 170-yards last fall and a TD.

That's a lot of crooked numbers to replace.

Coach Garry Herron will need some kids to step forward as they hope to reach another playoff eligible win-total.

One of the strengths of the Oilers last season was their front line on both sides of the ball, especially defensively.

But a newer group will need to replace the seniors who departed from the front line as sixteen total 12th graders left the building.

Senior Dillon Gerner is a defensive and offensive tackle returning from last season.

Junior middle linebacker Drake Champlin, returns for the Oilers, as he was involved in a lot of defensive plays in 2022-23.

Both will be key cogs in the EAWR season.

Offensively junior Nick Winchester takes over the quarterback duties this fall.

Senior running back Kiyu Stilts returns after getting some major experience last season (34-attempts, 122-yards, 1 TD).

Junior running back Travis Skinner will get one of the spots in the backfield for the Oilers.

Coach Herron is looking at an all underclassman offensive and defensive line corps.

Junior Aiden Wright, junior Isaac Thornton, Junior Reese Thompson and sophomore Malachi Carter will represent a new group for the EAWR trenches.

The Oilers will have junior Tyler Adams, sophomore Alex Johnson, sophomore La'Twon Everage, junior Tah'jaun Smith, and sophomore Isaiah Smith will all have multiple roles to fill on both sides of the ball.

“The 2023 version of the EAWR Oilers will be junior heavy, with only three seniors. I believe we can win some games and be competitive with this young group. We have had a good summer with good attendance and hard work in the weight room,” said Coach Herron, who saw his club win its first four games last fall. “This team as a whole has not had a lot of varsity experience, we will have to execute and be fundamentally sound to have success this season.”

Although they played some teams close (EAWR loss 42-34, Charleston loss 14-13) the other five defeats were kind of brutal.

The Wildcats dipped to 2-7 on the season with wins over winless Alton Marquette and 2-7 Freeburg.

Senior tailback Kason Sullens (156-carries, 655-yards) is a major missing piece from last fall.

Coach Kevin Greene will look to get things moving forward with a slew of returning players.

Skill position players will need to be better this season, and that includes the coaches' son Samuel Greene, a 5-11 senior quarterback.

Greene combined for 1,545-yards of offense (775-yards passing, 770-yards rushing) and he is back for his final prep season.

The backfield will be mostly new without Sullens, with some newcomers with limited experience set to take those slots.

Senior Caleb Smith, a 5-11 running back/linebacker, enters the picture as he will be one of the opening night starters for Coach Greene.

Jeremiah Rinehart, a 5-8 junior running back, is also part of the new-look Wildcats backfield.

The receiving crew appears to have some depth with Lyric Black, a 5-8 junior, 5-9 junior Miking Ettress and 6-1 senior Connor Tennyson.

All of those players will have defensive assignments as well.

Coach Greene mentioned defensive back Cooper Lobek, a 6-1 junior, and 6-1 freshman Trey Clark being part of the backfield.

On the defensive line Salem will have 6-1 junior Frank Podergois, 5-8 senior Chandler Sill, Brenan Richardson and 5-10 junior Jimmie Hays.

“Our schedule overall is very competitive. I see the league being similar to years past, any team can beat anyone on any given night. Until proven otherwise, Breese Central, Columbia, and Freeburg are around the top with Roxana right there,” said Coach Greene. “We return some players this season who gained valuable experience last year. that doesn't automatically equate to wins though. We have to play better defense and take care of the ball better if we want to be competitive in the league.”

08/24/2023
CARBONDALE
BY JACK BULLOCK
The Illinois Division defending champion Chester got the league's automatic playoff berth with a 5-0 mark last fall.

However the Yellow Jackets didn't beat anyone else, losing all four of its non-league games and its first round playoff game to eventual state champ Decatur St. Teresa.

Red Bud picked up a playoff victory over Nashville and then were eliminated by Belleville Althoff in the 2A playoffs.

Dupo and first year head coach Zach Klaustermeier got some things done late in the year to squeak into the 1A playoffs before being throttled by eventual 1A runner up Camp Point Central.

Wesclin looks to get better after a rough beginning to the season for Coach Ray Kauling.

Following five consecutive losses to open the year, the Warriors won 2-of-4 to end up playing much better at the end of the season, which is something to build on.

Sparta, due to a numbers and safety issues, will not field a varsity team in 2023-24 as the Bulldogs program faces some problems moving forward.

Carlyle didn't send me anything, again.

His squad ended up 8-3 with a second round playoff defeat to Belleville Althoff, a game in which they led late but surrendered a couple of late scores in the 26-14 loss.

Red Bud beat four playoff teams last season (EAWR, Roxana, Dupo, Nashville) and hung in with eventual 4A qualifier and league champion Breese Central before losing 17-6 on the road.

A hiccup 12-7 loss at Chester kept the Musketeers from winning the Illinois Division title.

Eleven graduating seniors have moved after the successful 2022-23 run.

Quarterback Thomas Friess is a big loss as is senior tight end/running back Devin Hall.

Running backs Nick Gantner, Mitch Fleming and Ayden Shemwll, tight end Jarrell Nesbit, wide receiver Noah Gantner along with linemen William Chausse, Deshaun Porter, Kyle Loughner and Noah Tepe have left.

This season the Musketeers will have some new kids in the Maroon and White with more playing time as Coach Lucht is looking for his ninth playoff appearance at this program.

Five-eleven junior Dylan Oliver gets the nod at quarterback this season for the opener at Pinckneyville on August 25.

Senior Chase Lucht, a 6-0 running back, 5-10 senior Trace Wagner and 6-0 junior Lucas Schwartzkopf will fill in the rest of the backfield.

Six-two senior Corbin Lange is the tight end for the Musketeers while Owen Liefter, a 6-3 senior, is a wide out for Red Bud.

Senior's 6-0 Ty Carter and 6-1 Noah Krack will add strength to the defense.

Coach Lucht mentioned Trace Wagner, a 5-10 senior, as a running back/linebacker for the squad that are the favorites to win the division and return to the playoffs.

When Coach Zach Klaustermeier took over the Dupo Tigers' program he knew that there was work to do given the most recent history of the Tigers' football program.

Dupo hadn't reached the IHSA playoffs in football since 2012 before Coach Klaustermeier led them to a 5-4 regular season mark, including a big win in the final regular season game at Nokomis (36-30) that catapulted the Tigers into playoff eligibility.

The reward was a tough beat-down from a top tier 1A school in the opening round.

There are some kids missing from last season as Dupo lost nine senior, most of which were part of a solid upfront group that opened the holes for the backs and made the majority of the tackles.

The main missing player from a year ago is departed senior Logan Stevens, who was one of the top ground gainers and pass catchers in the area.

Stevens rushed 161 times for 1,183-yards and caught 27 passes for another 371 yards for a total of 17 touchdowns on the season.

Four of the five starting linemen for the Tigers are missing with just 6-3, 275 lineman Carter McMannis back.

Quarterback Deegan Prater, a 6-1 sophomore, returns after a fine freshman season for Coach Klaustermeier.

Prater passed for 823-yards and six TD's as a freshman while also rushing for 680-yards and another five scores.

Look for Ashton Stein, a 5-10 senior, to pick up some of the carries this season with the Stevens' departure.

He is also a linebacker on defense that will need to improve as four of the top tacklers have also left via graduation.

Five-eleven junior Teegan Hargrove, 6-3 junior Gavin Barlow and 6-0 sophomore Cole Hearty will be part of the defense that according to Coach Klaustermeier will need to gang tackle.

Stein, as well as 6-0 senior Colten Staggs, 5-10 junior Logan Lambert and 6-3 senior Thomas Asher will also provide defensive strength as the Tigers head north to Port Byron-Riverdale for their opening game on Saturday.

“Our team is very talented. Our challenge will be coming out every week and working to our potential. We have challenged each other to do so, and so far the results are what you want to see. We have some better buy because of our success last year. We really just want to replicate that success and try to make back to back playoff appearances,” said Coach Klaustermeier.

It was sort of a weird regular season for Chester as they won all five of their league games, including a division clinching win over Red Bud on October 14.

But the club proceeded to drop their final three games to end up 5-5.

Gone from the club last season are some important players that performed well in big situations.

Top defender and lineman Shane Bicket now holds the school record for career sacks.

According to Coach Belton, Bicket was the Yellow Jackets' top player.

Add departed senior running back/linebacker Koby Jany, running back/linebacker Will Shewrek, lineman Matt James and Trace Fricke and those are some big time jerseys to fill.

On offense eight players return, including 6-1 junior quarterback Zain Al-Jassim.

As a sophomore Al-Jassim connected on just over half of his passes for 1,057-yards and nine TD's.

Kolton Jany returns for the Yellow Jackets after he rushed for 295-yards a season ago.

Devante Palacio, a 6-1 junior, caught 43 passes for 663-yards and six touchdowns.

Coach Belton mentioned Cayden Brunkhorst, a 5-6 junior defensive back who is also a wide receiver on offense and Gage Hopkins, a 5-9 senior linebacker/running back.

Gavin Cowan, a 5-10 senior lineman, 5-11 junior lineman Alex Williamson and 6-0 junior lineman Nate Maes return.

Trenton Eggemeyer is a 5-9 linebacker while 6-0 senior Nate Heuer, 6-0 senior Aden Runge and 5-11 senior Braxton Conder help make up the defense that will be tested by a tough schedule.

Chester should have some depth as Coach Belton mentioned some kids ready to step in when needed.

Five-ten junior Gene Bicket, 5-8 junior Jack Heffenan and 6-0 sophomore Ethan Colvis will fill in.

“We have a very tough schedule. We Open with two SIRR teams DuQuoin and Benton and then Freeburg comes into town,” said Coach Belton. “To finish the year off we have Warrensburg-Latham Week Nine. I think we have a good mix of juniors and seniors this year. We have several juniors and sophomores start for us last year. I'm excited to watch them grow and get another year of varsity football. The key for us is to stay healthy.”

Coach Ray Kauling lost three important players to graduation last spring; linebacker Brett Heier, wide receiver Jamie Hendrix and running back Addison Wuebbles.

But nearly everyone else returns for the Warriors who would like to get back into the conversation for league honors and another spot in the playoffs, which would be the first one since 2017-18.

The most recent teams that have suited up for Wesclin have been young but now that experience is paying off.

Offensively the Warriors will have sophomore Christian Lopez at quarterback with 6-1 senior Tristyn Elling moving over to running back.

Wide outs include senior Cole Ritzheimer, senior Karter Sims, senior Harrison Rakers, senior Aiden Norbury, and senior Gavin Hollenkamp.

Running backs listed by Coach Kauling include Colten Robinson, Michael Kallvy and Marshall Partington.

The linemen are senior Adam Haas, junior Josh Ware, senior Evan Orr, senior Colby Buckles and senior Ayden Kahrhoff; all who bring experience into the season that could turn into a winning one.

“We have been young for quite a while it seems. We are excited to see where our senior class of 15 can take us this fall. Hoping to be more competitive throughout the season,” said Coach Kauling.