05/17/2026
BY JACK BULLOCK
CARBONDALE - In the most recent years of high school football in Illinois, the Dupo Tigers weren't exactly in the conversation about powerhouse football programs.

After a great deal of success back in the early playoff era of the IHSA sport, things got a bit bumpy for the program.

In the nine seasons before current head coach Zach Klaustermeier arrived, the Tigers went just 16-52 with zero playoff appearances.

Coach Klaustermeier stepped in the 2022-23 season and immediately made the program much more respectable.

Dupo slipped into the 1A playoffs for the first time in 10-seasons in the first campaign and again in his third season.

Each time the Tigers were a #16 seed playing the #1.

As one would expect, neither first round game was competitive with losses to both Camp Point Central (66-0) and eventual 1A champ Belleville Althoff (60-0).

But the fourth season brought the program's first playoff victory since 1994 with a first round triumph over Catlin Salt Fork.

There was another common denominator in the four-year turnaround success story.

The play of quarterback Deegan Prater.

Prater started at quarterback as a freshman and matured into the position of signal caller and team leader for Coach K in his four preps seasons.

Each year Prater improved and so did the players around him.

The totals were, to say the least, spectacular.

Prater played quarterback in 38 varsity games and produced significant numbers.

He completed 417-of-734 passes for 6,111-yards and 65-touchdowns with a completion percentage of .561.

Prater also put together a fine career carrying the ball.

He averaged nearly seven-yards per rushing attempt in his career and gained 2,442-yards on 371-attempts and added an additional 35-touchdowns.

This season the passing numbers were 134-of-239 in 11-games.

Prater threw for 31-touchdowns with a quarterback rating of 120.0.

The Catlin Salt Fork playoff win was followed by a heartbreaking lost to Carrollton in a game where the Tigers led 13-0 in the second quarter before an injury to Prater became a turning point in the contest.

The senior showed his determination when he came back in played in the second half of the loss.

His football career will continue this fall as he will be suiting up for The College of DuPage.

DuPage is a D III JUCO football powerhouse that just won it's fifth consecutive NJCAA Division III championship title last fall.

Richland County's Gavyn Cothern is the 3A/4A ASV “Player of the Year” for 2025 and is well deserving.

The 5-10 senior came up much bigger than his stature.

In his two seasons as the varsity signal caller, Cothern never lost a regular season contest.

The Tigers went 18-0 in its two LIC campaigns and finished 19-2 overall in his two seasons running the show.

In just his two seasons, Cothern managed to produce extraordinary statistics.

The quick lefty rushed 316 times for 3,205-yards and 41 touchdowns.

Passing was also a strong suit for Cothern, completing 141-of-218 attempts for 2,679-yards and 30-touchdowns.

Cothern's play helped Coach Luke Carmody and his Tigers turn a program around from an 0-9 2023 season to back-to-back undefeated regular seasons.

Last fall the Tigers went 9-1 with a first round playoff loss to Jacksonville.

Cothern finished the season with 164-carries for 1,639-yards and 30-touchdowns while slinging the ball around for 1,648-yards on 80-of-119 attempts and another 16-touchdowns.

An outstanding track athlete as well as football standout, Cothern hasn't pick a college as of this writing.

Head coach Jeff Fritchtnitch and his Casey-Westfield Warriors get the “Team of the Year” nod for 2025.

The Warriors regrouped after consecutive LIC losses to Richland County and Paris before making it to the third round of the 1A playoffs.

A home loss to unbeaten Hardin Calhoun, 28-21, ended the campaign at 9-3.