DECATUR — Football practice began across the state on Monday, with mild weather seeing players and coaches take to the field to prepare for the upcoming season.
The landscape of high school football changes rapidly from year to year, and whether you’re a fan who follows along every year or one who just stops by when a kid plays, it’s always a good idea to take a look back at last year and see what’s new this year.
Here are four things you should know:
What happened last year
For only the third time since 2009, no team from the H&R region reached the state finals in football.
But two teams were close – Maroa-Forsyth and Shelbyville.
The Maroa-Forsyth High School football team completed its first day of practice in Maroa on Monday. High school football team practices across the state began on Monday.
JOSEPH RESSLER, HERALD & REVIEW
The Trojans, who featured H&R Macon County Player of the Year Kaiden Maurer, a standout running back in Andre Harden, a senior-laden line led by Andy Munjoy and a strong receiver corps, ran undefeated through the Sangamo Conference and made it to the Class 2A semifinals before falling to eventual state champion Wilmington. Maroa finished 12-1.
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Shelbyville went undefeated in conference play and claimed the program’s first conference title since 1992. With an 11-2 record, the team reached its first semifinal appearance since back-to-back trips in 2016 and 2017. The Rams were led at quarterback by Brody Boehm, the H&R All-Area Player of the Year.
In Decatur, MacArthur rebounded from a disastrous 1-3 start to win five straight games thanks to the play of freshman running back Myson Johnson-Cook and a strong senior class led by Cam France, Sam Owens and King Smith. The Generals finished 6-4 and made the playoffs for the second consecutive year and the 10th time in Derek Spates’ coaching career.
MacArthur went 6-3 in the regular season last year. The Generals have lost many players from that team, but still expect to be in the running for the Central State 8.
CLAY JACKSON, THE PANTAGRAPH
Thanks to a strong passing game with quarterback Makobi Adams throwing to Brayden Trimble, Grant McAtee and JC Anderson, Mount Zion moved to 8-3 with a 21-12 playoff win over Effingham, avenging a regular-season upset of the Braves’ Apollo Conference rival. It was the fifth consecutive year the Braves made the playoffs.
Eisenhower finished 1-8 but showed signs of improvement, and St. Teresa struggled in its first year as an independent following its state title in 2023, finishing 1-8, its worst season since 1966, despite a strong run by Jacarrion Jones.
In the Lincoln Prairie Conference, Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond surprised the conference by going undefeated the year after Illinois sophomore Kaden Feagin graduated. Jace Parsons and Landon Waldrop led a run-heavy offense and an opportunistic defense, and the Knights jumped out to a 9-0 start before being upset by Quincy Notre Dame, 21-14, in the first round of the playoffs.
Sullivan-Okaw Valley’s only loss in the regular season last year was against ALAH, and the team made the playoffs for the second year in a row after losing its season one year. Cooper Christensen, Aian Fryman and Aiden Ballinger had great seasons, leading to a 9-2 year and the team’s first playoff win – 14-13 over Clinton – since 2001.
Argenta-Oreana ended a 22-game losing streak with a win against Arcola, but narrowly missed out on a place in the playoffs with a score of 4:5.
It had been a long 10 seasons for Charleston since Brian Halsey last led the team to the playoffs. But in his first season after leading the Trojans to 75 wins and seven playoff appearances between 2000 and 2014, Charleston returned to the playoffs with an 8-3 record.
Clinton returned to the playoffs last year for the first time since 2019 with a 6-4 record led by All-Stater Noah Bass.
After a 2-4 start, Tuscola won three games in a row and made the playoffs thanks to Jordan Quinn and Austin Cummings. Taylorville and Monticello also made the playoffs with 5-4 records.
What’s new
The Heart of Illinois and Central Illinois conferences have merged to form the Heart of Central Illinois Conference (HOCIC), two conferences (large and small divisions) that will expand to three next year.
The Small School Division includes schools with enrollments of 182 to 313 according to the Illinois High School Association and consists of Fisher, GCMS, Heyworth, LeRoy, Macon Meridian, Fieldcrest, Central A&M, Tuscola and Warrensburg-Latham.
The Large School Division, whose largest schools are Clinton (474.5) and Eureka (445.5), also includes Tri-Valley, EPG, Ridgeview-Lexington, Dee-Mack, Shelbyville and Tremont.
Small school teams will face all division opponents, with one non-conference game remaining. Large school programs will face all seven division opponents, with two non-conference games.
While most schools have designed their schedules outside of the league, there is still the possibility of playing crossover games.
In 2025, HOCIC will be divided into three divisions, with six schools in each of the larger enrollment divisions and five in the smallest.
Who to keep an eye on
Maroa is replacing his entire offensive line plus quarterback, running back and receiver, which sounds like a rebuild. But the Trojans have much of their defense back, including Kooper Mann and Mitch Williams, and Division I newcomer Grant Smith at tight end. And Maroa always has players waiting in the wings.
Few teams in the state will be as explosive on offense as Mount Zion, as Trimble, Jacob Harvey and Anderson all return as receivers.
MacArthur lost a great senior class and Johnson-Cook to transfer, but Nahjir Woods is a great athlete no matter where the Generals put him, and Spates-coached teams always have tough defenses.
Although Charleston has lost most of its talented players, Luke Bonnstetter is already in his second season as a starter and has the makings of a good offensive line with Marcellx Boling as the anchor.
Sullivan-Okaw Valley will be the favorite for LPC play, with Christensen as a junior and Fryman, Lucas Floyd and Demarkus Moore as seniors. But don’t expect ALAH to fall off, which returns Jacob Tighe and Mackenley Bowles to anchor the line and Maddix Stirrett to tackle everything in sight.
Warrensburg will be a surprise contender in the HOCIC Small with the return of Catrell Lee, Kris Lawson and Kaiden Gardner. Central A&M could fill the same role with the return of Evan Piersall and Gage McKinney.
Taylorville could take a step forward at the Apollo as Baron Odam begins his new season.
When to see
The first games of the season can be played on August 29, but in most of the state, week one will be Friday, August 30, week nine will be October 25, and playoff pairings will be announced on Saturday, October 26.
The first round of the playoffs will be held on November 1 and 2, with the state finals taking place on November 29 and 30 at Hancock Stadium on the campus of Illinois State University in Normal.
Once the season begins, be sure to check herald-review.com/sports/high-school on Friday nights for ongoing scoring updates and check back on Saturday and throughout the week for coverage, photos, videos and Player of the Week voting.
Justin Conn is sports editor at Lee Enterprises Central Illinois.
