Fans enjoying what could be IHSA football tournament's final ride in Champaign
Nov. 25—Close
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Players celebrate after St. Teresa won the 2A State Football Championship at Memorial Stadium on Friday, Nov. 25, 2022.
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Bryson Oliver(15) and Salvador Lampley(45) after St. Teresa won the 2A State Football Championship at Memorial Stadium on Friday, Nov. 25, 2022.
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St. Teresa poses for a team picture on the field after they won the 2A State Football Championship at Memorial Stadium on Friday, Nov. 25, 2022.
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Fans and cheerleaders after St. Teresa won the 2A State Football Championship at Memorial Stadium on Friday, Nov. 25, 2022.
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Bryan Burcham(56) celebrates after St. Teresa won the 2A State Football Championship at Memorial Stadium on Friday, Nov. 25, 2022.
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Members of the Champaign County Chamber of Commerce watch the 2A State Football Championship from hospitality tent at Memorial Stadium on Friday, Nov. 25, 2022.
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The champaign county chamber of commerce hospitality tent at Memorial Stadium on Friday, Nov. 25, 2022.
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Fisher White, 12, Williamsville, falls off the bull in the hospitality tent at Memorial Stadium on Friday, Nov. 25, 2022.
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Members of the Williamsville band play in Tent City at Memorial Stadium before their game on Friday, Nov. 25, 2022.
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Fans enter and leave through Grange Grove in the IHSA Football Championships at Memorial Stadium on Friday, Nov. 25, 2022.
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Williamsville cheerleader Avery Hamm, 16, in the IHSA Football Championships at Memorial Stadium on Friday, Nov. 25, 2022.
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Williamsville's Mason Lyttaker (11) tries to stop IC Catholic Prep's JP Schmidt (13) after Schmidt picked off a pass intended for Lyttaker in the IHSA Football Championships at Memorial Stadium on Friday, Nov. 25, 2022.
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Unity's Teegan Davis,left, and Hunter Duncan pose with their plaques as members of the All State 3A Team before the 3A game at the IHSA Football Championships at Memorial Stadium on Friday, Nov. 25, 2022. St. Joseph-Ogden's Ty Pence was also on a the team.
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PHOTO GALLERY: IHSA Football Championships: Day 1
Day 1 of the IHSA Football Championships at Memorial Stadium in Champaign on Friday, Nov. 25, 2022.
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IHSA football gallery 1.JPG
Players celebrate after St. Teresa won the 2A State Football Championship at Memorial Stadium on Friday, Nov. 25, 2022.
* Robin Scholz/The News-Gazette
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IHSA football gallery 2.JPG
Bryson Oliver(15) and Salvador Lampley(45) after St. Teresa won the 2A State Football Championship at Memorial Stadium on Friday, Nov. 25, 2022.
* Robin Scholz/The News-Gazette
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St. Teresa poses for a team picture on the field after they won the 2A State Football Championship at Memorial Stadium on Friday, Nov. 25, 2022.
* Robin Scholz/The News-Gazette
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IHSA football gallery 4.JPG
Fans and cheerleaders after St. Teresa won the 2A State Football Championship at Memorial Stadium on Friday, Nov. 25, 2022.
* Robin Scholz/The News-Gazette
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IHSA football gallery 5.JPG
Bryan Burcham(56) celebrates after St. Teresa won the 2A State Football Championship at Memorial Stadium on Friday, Nov. 25, 2022.
* Robin Scholz/The News-Gazette
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Members of the Champaign County Chamber of Commerce watch the 2A State Football Championship from hospitality tent at Memorial Stadium on Friday, Nov. 25, 2022.
* Robin Scholz/The News-Gazette
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The champaign county chamber of commerce hospitality tent at Memorial Stadium on Friday, Nov. 25, 2022.
* Robin Scholz/The News-Gazette
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IHSA football gallery 8.JPG
Fisher White, 12, Williamsville, falls off the bull in the hospitality tent at Memorial Stadium on Friday, Nov. 25, 2022.
* Robin Scholz/The News-Gazette
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IHSA football gallery 9.JPG
Members of the Williamsville band play in Tent City at Memorial Stadium before their game on Friday, Nov. 25, 2022.
* Robin Scholz/The News-Gazette
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Fans enter and leave through Grange Grove in the IHSA Football Championships at Memorial Stadium on Friday, Nov. 25, 2022.
* Robin Scholz/The News-Gazette
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Williamsville cheerleader Avery Hamm, 16, in the IHSA Football Championships at Memorial Stadium on Friday, Nov. 25, 2022.
* Robin Scholz/The News-Gazette
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Williamsville's Mason Lyttaker (11) tries to stop IC Catholic Prep's JP Schmidt (13) after Schmidt picked off a pass intended for Lyttaker in the IHSA Football Championships at Memorial Stadium on Friday, Nov. 25, 2022.
* Robin Scholz/The News-Gazette
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IHSA football gallery 13.JPG
Unity's Teegan Davis,left, and Hunter Duncan pose with their plaques as members of the All State 3A Team before the 3A game at the IHSA Football Championships at Memorial Stadium on Friday, Nov. 25, 2022. St. Joseph-Ogden's Ty Pence was also on a the team.
* Robin Scholz/The News-Gazette
CHAMPAIGN — Memorial Stadium once again opened its gates — and surrounding lots — to high school football fans on Friday afternoon.
Its future as the host of the IHSA's football state title games is unknown. Those on hand were content to live in the present as Champaign hosted its first state final weekend since 2018.
"We're kind of like a 'takes a village' type place," said Shelly Seman, a Williamsville parent who was helping set up the Bullets' post in Tent City across the street from Memorial Stadium.
"Everybody just kind of came in and took over setting it up and everything's purple and gold (with) food and fun, it's kind of a big family for us."
Fans arrived early — and often — for Friday's slate of games, which began with Lena-Winslow winning its sixth state title since 2010 over Camp Point Central in the Class 1A finale.
While that game was playing out, Tri-Valley and eventual Class 2A champion St. Teresa partied on across the street at Tent City.
"The biggest one so far has been St. Teresa," said Mike Koon, sports, events and film director for Visit Champaign County. "They had a trailer out here; they served — I don't know how many hot dogs or burgers — it was in the hundreds. It was standing room only in their tent and outside their tent."
Even after watching the state title slip from its grasp, Camp Point Central's contingent returned to its tent and partied on, fans and players posing for pictures as organizers unloaded a Hickory River catering trailer.
The sting of a 30-8 loss was present, but smiles were still easy to find in a sea of black and gold.
"It's your home state school," Panthers head coach Brad Dixon said. "It's not too far for us, we get tons of fan support; I mean, our crowd was huge. They're all sticking around here for this. It's just a great experience for our kids in our community."
While the Panthers' tent nursed heartbreak back to happiness, Williamsville's fans exuded unfiltered optimism a few tents down the line.
The other export from the Bullets' tent was the aroma of burgers, hot dogs and pork chops, which Rick Weise was preparing nearby on a blacktop grill.
Weise — whose daughter, Emma, is a Williamsville cheerleader — brought all of the meat left in the school's concessions stand to prepare for a gathering of purple and gold.
"We're keeping it simple," Wiese said as he sprinkled Lawry's Seasoned Salt atop an array of sizzling meats.
"We don't know exactly how many people we're going to feed today. We're really just trying to keep it simple and make sure everybody's fed before we go in and bring home a state title."
IC Catholic parents and students were a stone's throw away preparing to cheer against Weise's Bullets.
"I think it's awesome," junior volleyball player Lucy Russ said before the Knights won 48-17. "I think we really get to, like, live it up before we actually watch our football team play."
Because the pandemic canceled the IHSA's fall 2020 season, Memorial Stadium's spot in a yearly rotation with Northern Illinois' Huskie Stadium was skipped over.
That was supposed to be the year the contract expired, but an additional year was added to ensure Memorial Stadium's involvement didn't end on a sour note.
"Being the university and the uptick in the success of the football program here, I think has made it more exciting about being here," IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson said.
"The support from (Illinois head coach Bret) Bielema (and) Josh Whitman at the university and Jayne DeLuce at the CVB, they're so welcoming and accommodating to whatever our needs are here."
The fate of the state title games will likely become more clear when the IHSA's board of directors discusses the topic in December.
Champaign has submitted a bid to keep the games as they are currently hosting them, while other venues could offer more flexibility to host the event on a more consistent basis.
"There are a number of things to look for," IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson said. "Stadium size, hotel availability for teams traveling, you know, the additional things that they can bring to the table. Here they've been great about Tent City and having something for spectators and fans to get together prior to."
Koon noted Memorial Stadium checks a number of other boxes that work in its favor.
"We feel like we've done a really good job of hosting," Koon said. "The IHSA likes coming here. The one thing that we can't provide for them is being able to host it every year, but beyond that, everything that they need is here.
"Support from (the Illinois athletics department) and from the community, we've got the locker room space, the parking, everything that they need is here."
