100000000000% Just not sold on nor am I ever on the BDC.
Small School Classes
- Thread starter 1A Football Guy
- Start date
Pretty confident they are heading north
I have gotten mix reviews. Some say Heyworth others say Tuscola. Have heard the QB is better for Tuscola than he was last year but still very hard to trust him. Heyworth gave stockton a challenge early on last year in the 2nd round but never really threatened. I lean Heyworth. But if Tuscola beats tri-valley eyes will be opened
Just as an aside... the Okaw should have never disbanded. I understand feelings got hurt, but, for example, look at where Argenta Oreana is now. Last year of the Okaw, 2013, they beat DST and hung around with Monticello.
You had years where there were multiple representatives in 1a, 2a, 3a state finals.
2009 - 1a Tuscola, 2a MF, 3a Tolono
2010 - 1a Tuscola, 2a MF
2012 1a - MF, 3a - Tolono
The CIC wasn't half of what the Okaw was, and the same hurt feelings eventually showed back up. Part of why the NUIC is enviable. Yes, it's great competition, but it's great competition because the teams up there rise to meet the challenge of Lena/Forreston/Stockton etc. They don't say "well Lena has won X titles, we need to kick them from the conference"
Yeah that situation never made sense to me. Just seemed like a lot of guys feelings got hurt. Granted I was in high school/fresh post graduation when all this silly stuff went down. It is wild how far some of those teams have fallen. Tuscola looks to be on the upswing again. But what they were? That I don't know
The WIVC and the NUIC are the sole reasons that 1A should be seeded 1-32! Having these teams meet early, against conference foes, is criminal!
Well Mighty Heyworth has to travel for a tough game this week even with Aurora CC being down this season... Still a large school with good athletes which will tell most how tough Heyworth is! Playin with house money I'm taking Heyworth -9 over Tuscola (barring any injuries in this week's game)!
Y'all be safe in your travels should you venture out tonight!~
ADs or Principals need to get 1-32 for all classes on a proposal to the IHSA.
The old Okaw with 2 divisions was a phenomenal conference and it was a sad day in IHSA football when it disbanded. At the beginning Tuscola was a 1A Powerhouse, MF was winning championships, SJO and Tolono were contenders in 3A, and Monticello was rising with the arrival of Welter.
The competition in the conference is what made these teams successful in the postseason. MF won in '06, 2nd in '09 and '10, then won 1A in '13. SJO had several deep runs and finished 2nd in '06 and possibly won in '13. Tolono was 2nd in '09, '12, and '15. Monticello was consistently making deep playoff runs.
It was truly a great conference and the football in the area was much better because of it. And you are absolutely correct on how far soe teams have fallen. Other than STT in '22, the teams that left haven't accomplished much and many have changed conference multiple times with little to no success.
It would be cool to see a conference with Monticello, SJO, Unity, MF, Williamsville, and BCC. But I would venture to guess no other schools would want to join and some in that list would probably be hesitant.
They agreed to it at one point then walked it back due to financial constraints. 9 dollar a gallon diesel isn’t going to help that argument.
Brown County 30
Camp Point 27
Final
Helluva game
Camp Point 27
Final
Helluva game
Feel like CPC learned more from this than BC. BC still very good. But the hype train with them made people believe this would be a runaway train. That wasn’t the case. Makes ya wonder.
Looks like Heyworth didn't struggle at all. I would say Heyworth will beat Tuscola after tonight. However, TV is a pretty damn good team to lose to in that fashion.
All..... Here is a bit of a surprise. Ratsy
Spartans Shock the Bullets for Sangamo Victory | Channel 1450
Spartans Shock the Bullets for Sangamo Victory | Channel 1450
I understand TV is good. But tuscola had to at least make it competitive and they did not.
To an extent... but ultimately Brad Dixon is far and away a better coach. BC had the better athletes tonight.
Holy speed! Olympia has some guys who can flat out scoot! Size up front, too.
Listened to A View from the West Podcast this week this week and they had Coach Dixon on as a guest. Terrific and insightful interview!
Lena-Winslow only beating Fulton 22-14 surprised me. The Steamers are much improved, but after seeing what Stockton did to Fulton the previous week I figured it would be a similar result.
Big shoutout to Anna-Jonesboro who ended a 24 game losing streak by beating Pinckneyville 54-29. Coach Dallas and the Wildcats last win before last night was Week 8 of 2023 when they beat the Redbirds of West Frankfort 34-22.
Oh no doubt about that. Makes week 9 interesting BC Calhoun. Read the paper today. Calhoun had 424 yards of offense 6 trips to the red zone but only 14 points against GNW. Held GNW to 98 yards. Gotta think Calhoun can hopefully fix those issues if they wanna win week 9. Very tall task to do so
Imo though.
Lena is coming back down to earth and are not pounding opponents like they have in recent years but they are still winning games.
This begs the question....is 1A South better than 1A north?
2a south - Not saying they are a state champion by any means, but could put a team on upset alert depending on their draw, is Piasa. They are better than what their record would indicate at this moment. They pass the eye test on both offense and defense. #18, Holoman, listed at 6'3 185 seems to be bigger than that. Has been getting lots of snaps in the backfield and as a wildcat runner. Runs tough.
SJO Fans - The announcers mentioned that your LT #72 is 6'7" 330? I was under the impression they only grew those in ESL. I watched him on several snaps and he has really good feet. Has he committed anywhere yet?
Committed to Oregon.
I think the talent pool is in the decline at LeWin... This may be the last for the coach... And... No I don't have a source which is saying this but if you look on the sidelines LeWin's numbers and size are lacking compared to the varsity... We will see...
Good ole NUIC Football has said once the last dunker graduates you’ll see some changes from Lena. I think it’s just a year early they are being challenged due to some injuries and lack of depth atm. Still very much a player til they aint in my mind.
Wow, really? Any sort of idea on the “changes”? I assume you mean on their regression to the mean as compared to being, well, “Lena”
Ive watched Lena 3 times and they have been pushed around by teams with underclassman each time. Each game was close. Listening to a local radio station for the Lena area during the games, it has been said in each game that Lena does not have the speed they once enjoyed... So with a combination of a lack of speed and being a bit smaller than their opponents, Lena is in its decline... There's no doubt to this from what I have seen. In the past, the second string has always been big, fast and strong... Not any more. All good things come to an end right?
Yeah it’ll just be Lena not being as dominant. I’ve asked him what a “down year” looks like. He has said probably 5-4 and 6-3 lol. Galena has 60 kids 40 are frosh, Stockton is on the up, Fulton is on the up. Lena’s time is coming to an end. Not because of anything they are doing. But eventually that talent pool does run dry. We are seeing that start to happen this year.
This is the cycle for all small school football teams. Talent fluctuates and good programs are able to power through the down years and still have some sense of relevancy. My guess is this won't be the last time we hear about Le-Win but sounds like they might be quiet for a few years.
I didn't do a deep dive into all the loss that Lena and Winslow have faced but this is the tip of the iceberg...
The manufacturing and dairy processing industries have experienced significant declines and departures across Illinois, directly impacting small, rural communities like Lena and the broader Lena-Winslow area. [1, 2, 3]
Historically, Northwest Illinois was a thriving hub for local agricultural manufacturing and dairy/cheese production plants (such as the historic Kolb-Lena Bresse Bleu operations). Over the last few decades, corporate consolidation, rising state-level regulatory costs, and shifts to larger regional hubs have caused many of these blue-collar job providers to dry up or relocate. [1, 2, 3, 4]
The loss of these stable industries has hurt the Lena-Winslow towns by shrinking the local tax base that funds critical public services and school districts like Lena-Winslow CUSD #202. This industrial decline has left the area more vulnerable to economic stagnation, making it harder for the community to absorb major localized hardships
This can be true for many smaller schools... As I have preached before... Small towns are drying up and people are moving to larger cities... Look back the the past 40 years and see how many schools are not playing small town football as stand alone teams...
The manufacturing and dairy processing industries have experienced significant declines and departures across Illinois, directly impacting small, rural communities like Lena and the broader Lena-Winslow area. [1, 2, 3]
Historically, Northwest Illinois was a thriving hub for local agricultural manufacturing and dairy/cheese production plants (such as the historic Kolb-Lena Bresse Bleu operations). Over the last few decades, corporate consolidation, rising state-level regulatory costs, and shifts to larger regional hubs have caused many of these blue-collar job providers to dry up or relocate. [1, 2, 3, 4]
The loss of these stable industries has hurt the Lena-Winslow towns by shrinking the local tax base that funds critical public services and school districts like Lena-Winslow CUSD #202. This industrial decline has left the area more vulnerable to economic stagnation, making it harder for the community to absorb major localized hardships
This can be true for many smaller schools... As I have preached before... Small towns are drying up and people are moving to larger cities... Look back the the past 40 years and see how many schools are not playing small town football as stand alone teams...
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