Five Week 1 games to watch in the 2023 high school football season
Jun. 27—With the opening night of the 2023 high school football season almost two months away, News-Gazette
preps coordinator COLIN LIKAS offers five area Week 1 games worth keeping an eye on before Aug. 25:
Monticello at St. Joseph-Ogden
There's plenty of hype going into this Illini Prairie Conference rivalry game's 2023 version. Shawn Skinner's Spartans won the matchup last year against Cully Welter's Sages, for the first time in seven years. SJ-O also plans to debut a turf-covered Dick Duval Field on this evening. And these two schools' athletes like to defeat one another whenever possible. Illinois State baseball commit Luke Teschke is a dynamic playmaker on the football field for Monticello. Spartans quarterback Logan Smith and wide receiver Coy Taylor are a stellar duo, too.
Urbana at Centennial
The biggest hope with this Big 12 Conference tilt is that it can occur in a varsity capacity. Urbana hasn't fielded a varsity roster for an entire season since 2019, but second-year coach Curtis Blanden is trying to change that for the Tigers. Meanwhile, coach Kyle Jackson's Chargers have reached the Class 6A playoffs in two consecutive seasons. Quarterback Kellen Davis and defensive lineman Jack Barnhart are leaders for Centennial. The Tigers are attempting to build their leadership from relative youth. Either way, it's good to see this game at Tommy Stewart Field on the schedule.
Westville at Salt Fork
Want to see some hard-nosed, hard-hitting high school football? Head over to Byerly/Hageman Field in Catlin for this game because coach Guy Goodlove's Tigers and coach Joe Hageman's Storm are likely to deliver a bruising style of play. Both Vermilion Valley Conference teams are coming off winning regular seasons last fall that saw them both reach the IHSA playoffs, but both are needing to fill vacancies created by key graduations. Westville's Drew Wichtowski is likely to shine at quarterback, and Salt Fork's Jameson Remole will try to do the same.
Sullivan/Okaw Valley at Villa Grove
This would have been a nonconference game last year. Not anymore. Sullivan is entering its first year in the Lincoln Prairie Conference starting with the 2023-24 school year, and coach John Bertetto's squad will be tested in its first LPC game. Coach Heath Wilson's Blue Devils cracked the Class 1A playoffs last year and return quarterback Layne Rund. S/OV, meanwhile, missed the 2022 postseason by a single win, despite Cooper Christensen stepping up at quarterback to produce some impressive numbers for a program that seems to be on the upswing.
Blue Ridge/DeLand-Weldon at St. Thomas MoreWant to catch some 8-man football? Look no further than North Mattis Avenue in Champaign under the Saturday night lights, as coach Matt Schubert's Knights and coach Nathan Watson's Sabers try to get started on the right foot this season. This is as good a chance as any for area fans to better understand the game between two playoff teams from 2022. Lineman Matt Schumacher and quarterback Joey Cole are key Blue Ridge/DeLand-Weldon players. STM running back Peace Bumba and linebacker Brody Cuppernell can say the same for their team.
