Prep Football 2020: 9 games to watch in the regular season Sport

Hopefully. Not deterred by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the IHSA released the regular season 2020 football schedules for teams across the state on Monday. Preps coordinator COLIN LIKAS dived into the local slate and pulled a game not to be missed from each of the nine weeks:

WEEK 1

Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley in Paxton-Buckley-Loda (Friday, August 28, 7:00 PM)

Ford County rivalry is an easy choice, even if each team has hit some very recognizable faces in recent years. The Falcons appear to be led by Aidan Laughery, who received an offer from Washington State in May, as well as dual threat Isaiah Chatman. The Panthers rolled in Year 1 under Josh Pritchard, the News-Gazette All-Area Coach of the Year, but will have to replace stalwarts such as Hunter Anderson and Alex Rueck after a run to the class 3A quarterfinals in 2019.

WEEK 2

Arcola at Villa Grove / Heritage (Friday, September 4, 7 PM)

This isn’t the Blue Devils home opener (that’s Week 1 against Fisher), but this Lincoln Prairie Cnference matchup is even more important as their football cooperative may not exist after the 2020 season. VG / H returns key pieces like quarterback Blake Smith and receiver / linebacker Logan Nohren. The Purple Riders look a lot different from their senior-loaded squad that reached the Class 1A quarter-finals in 2019, but quarterback Beau Jones and handy recipient Kacee Moore are still in the mix.

WEEK 3

Prairie Central at Unity (Friday September 11, 7pm)

Each team achieved nine wins in 2019, and many of the main names of those teams will return this fall as well. On the Prairie Centrals side, All-Area frontline lineman Josh Woodrey heads a roster that made the Class 4A quarter-finals last fall and also includes Connor Casner, Brandon Hoselton, Kaden King and Cooper Palmore. Unity graduated from more talent, but has not been robbed to move forward, while Hank Cain, Austin McDaniel, Nate Drennan and Grant Albaugh patrol different parts of the gridiron.

WEEK 4

Champaign Central in Urbana (Friday, September 18, 5 PM)

Wins have not been easy to come by for the Tigers in recent years, but a favorable schedule, combined with the return of many athletes who got a lot of game time as underclass, could make Urbana a potential Big 12 win against Maroons rebuilding. Watch out for returnees like Patrick Jordan, Emilio Kabakele and Dewan Ravanh. On the visiting side, the Tim Turners Central program plans to return to the playoffs after a disappointing 2019 miss, prompted by the great lineman Levontae Pelmore.

WEEK 5

Tuscola in Central A&M (Friday, September 25, 7 PM)

Tuscola needs no motivation before she arrives in Moweaqua. Central A&M handed Andy Romines program their first loss last season, dismantling Warriors 49-14 at Memorial Field in Tuscola in week 3. Granted, that was a loaded A&M team that finished second in class 1A and finished 13-1 last season. Falling back Grant Hardwick returns for Tuscola, who needs all of his big play potential if it wants to avoid a second loss to the Raiders in Central Illinois Conference action.

WEEK 6

Bismarck-Henning / Rossville-Alvin in Westville (Friday, October 2, 7 PM)

Over the past two seasons, the Blue Devils have rolled past the Tigers play at the Vermilion Valley Conference. Westville is likely a much more formidable foe this year with veteran veterans on both sides of the ball. Westvilles’ line of attack is a strong point, led by Bryce Burnett, Devin Richards, Chance Warner, August Balsamello and Rylee Edwards. Eric Watson, Weston Strawser and Brody Sexton, among others, will try to get BHRA to hum along.

WEEK 7

St. Thomas More in Schlarman (Friday 9 October, 7 PM)

Such 8-man football on the roll as fans are treated to an encounter that the Sabers in 11-man had not been able to do this season in recent years and the Hilltoppers had no team of their own until 2019. STM should be fairly accustomed to the 8-man style at this point, and athletes like Averi Hughes and Adonai Bumba are making the Sabers a threat. Schlarman did well in his first 8-man campaign, delivering seven wins and returning multi-sport star Rance Bryant.

WEEK 8

Prairie Central in Monticello (Friday, October 16, 7 PM)

The Hawks are returning with another high-quality Illini Prairie Conference road race, against a Sages team that experienced ups and downs in 2019 after earning a Class 3A state title in 2018. Veteran coach Cully Welter got quite a bit out of several underclasses in Monticellos six-win effort. Chris Brown is the attacking leader of Monticellos, who breaks through the tackles and strikes off opponents after a transfer or receipt. Kolton Knuffman, Cooper Mitze and Jared Lockmiller are other important gears for the sages.

WEEK 9

Champaign Central at Centennial (Friday, October 23, 7:00 PM)

For the first time since 2015, the Maroons and Chargers meet in the final of the regular season. Recent games in the series have been hampered by concerns about community-related violence, but let’s hope major impacts on the playoffs are the only attributes added in 2020. Central last made the playoffs in 2018, while Centennial is trying to get back into the win column after struggling under freshman coach Kyle Jackson. Montez DuBose and Brandon Harvey are important faces for Jackson’s second team.

Colin Likas is the preps coordinator at The News-Gazette. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @clikasNG.