By Bryan Bloodworth
BLOOMINGTON – In today’s installment of Countdown to Kickoff, we look in on a pair of Corn Belt Conference high school teams in Pontiac and Prairie Central.
For the second year in a row, the Hawks of Prairie Central will have a new head coach as seasoned veteran Kirk Brandenburg takes over for Aaron Hilgendorf, who is the head coach at Watseka this year. Brandenburg is certainly no stranger to Hawks’ football, though, as he has spent the last 11 years as an assistant in the program.
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And he’s certainly not a stranger to the head coaching position as he spent nine seasons in that capacity a Hardin-Calhoun High School where he compiled a 72-25 record and led the Warriors to the playoffs all nine years.
The Hawks finished with a 4-5 record a year ago, just missing the playoffs. It’s been three seasons since the Hawks have had a winning record or made the playoffs, so that’s obviously the goal this season, according to Brandenburg.
Brandenburg said Prairie Central fans won’t see much difference from last year as far as offensive and defensive schemes are concerned.
As has been a concern in the past, Brandenburg, a graduate of Normal Community High School, is concerned about the Hawks’ depth.
The opposite is true at Pontiac where third-year head coach Buck Casson says the Indians will be three deep in a number of positions. Pontiac is looking to return to the playoffs for the second straight year and third in the last four years.
Casson, a former standout player at Pontiac, has a 16-13 record in three seasons at the helm after guiding the Indians to a 7-3 mark last season. He said he likes the mix of returning starters on the Indians roster.
The season begins Aug. 26 and finds Pontiac opening the season at home against playoff tradition strong Metamora – a challenge Casson says the Indians are looking forward to.
Bryan Bloodworth can be reached at [email protected]
