By Greg Halbleib
At least a share of the top of the new Illini Prairie Conference is on the line as Central Catholic visits Monticello in a battle of 4-0 teams to highlight Week 5 of the WJBC Friday Night High School Football Extravaganza.
Central Catholic coach Mike Moews said Monticello is a good example of the new and tough competition the Saints face in the Illini Prairie.
“They were in the semifinals last year and they have a good program,” Moews said of Monticello. “We’re looking forward to this year because we’ll play some teams we haven’t played before. It should be an exciting game.”
Moews said the Sages will run an up-tempo offense.
“They aren’t overly big,” Moews said. “They do a lot of different formations out of a no-huddle set and try to outman you. For us, it’s about reading and recognizing and lining up and just playing, and not overthink it and just get where you’re supposed to be.”
U-High (1-3) takes on a Central State Eight Conference co-leader for the second straight week as the Pioneers travel to Decatur MacArthur (4-0).
Normal Community coach Wes Temples is working on continuing the season’s momentum with a 4-0 record in Friday’s home game against Richwoods (3-1) after last week’s Chili Bowl win over Normal West.
“After such an emotional game last week, it would be easy to fall into complacency, kind of a letdown-type week,” Temples said. “Our kids have heard about it, and obviously, we’d be very disappointed if that comes into play. We’ve got great kids and they work awfully hard, and they’ve worked too hard to have a letdown.”
Normal West (3-1) looks to rebound as they host Danville (4-0) in a crucial Big Twelve Conference tilt.
Bloomington (3-1) visits Peoria (2-2) one week after the host Lions captured a record-setting 82-80 overtime win over Peoria Notre Dame. The visiting Purple Raiders staged an improbable comeback Homecoming win last Friday over Kankakee.
Heyworth (1-3) visits Tri-Valley (3-1) to round out the Extravaganza lineup.
The Livingston County Game of the Week on 98.9 FM WJEZ in Livingston County is in Flanagan as El Paso-Gridley takes on Flanagan-Cornell-Woodland. The game can also be heard on WJEZ.com with pre-game at 6:55.
Scores from the area are featured throughout the evening with reporters going around the horn with updates every quarter hour. Pre-game scene-setters begin at 6:10 on AM 1230 and WJBC.com and post-game continues until 11 p.m. Follow Twitter (@SportsWJBC, #WJBCHSFB) and feel free to contribute your reports, photos and videos.
Greg Halbleib can be reached at [email protected].
