By Bryan Bloodworth
WJBC 1230 AM kicks off another football season tonight when the High School Extravaganza hits the airwaves at 6 o’clock.
The five-hour show, hosted by Eric Stock, includes a one-hour pregame show followed by the featured broadcast of the Normal West at Belleville West game with Larry Duling and Gary Walter providing the coverage.
The Extravaganza also includes live reports from other games involving Intercity schools every 15 minutes and score updates throughout the night from games in the listening area.
Normal West is ranked No. 8 in the Class 6A preseason state rankings, while Belleville West is 10th in Class 7A. The Wildcats return many key members from last year’s 8-3 team that won five straight before falling in the second-round of the playoffs. Game time is 7 o’clock.
“We’re excited to see where we’re at against a great football program in Belleville West,” said West coach Darren Hess. “I think they are going to give us everything we need and more. I want to see us compete. I want us to be a physical team on both sides of the ball. I want us to push the pace and put pressure on them.”
Meanwhile, Normal Community also makes the trip to Belleville to face East at 7 o’clock. NCHS is ranked No. 7 in the Class 7A preseason poll. The Ironmen lost their first two games last season before reeling off eight straight wins and advancing to the second round of the playoffs.
“We have awful good kids, who work really hard,” said NCHS coach Wes Temples, whose team returns eight starters on offense and seven on defense. “The neat thing about a new year is that it brings a new group of kids who get to run out on that field. We’re excited to see what this year brings for us.”
University High also takes to the road when it travels to Urbana with hopes of extending its regular season winning streak to 29 in a 7:30 game.
“We really don’t talk about the streak,” said U High coach Mike Troll. “You always want to play a better team or a bigger team in that first game because you don’t want to get any false illusions going into the season. They did the same for us last year. They’ll give us a good test because they are going to be big.”
Bloomington begins its final season under the direction of Rigo Schmelzer, who is retiring after 23 seasons. The Purple Raiders have a tough opening opponent at home in defending Class 6A state champion Nazareth Academy of LaGrange Park in a 7:30 contest.
“Nazareth is an impressive football team,” said Schmelzer. “Fourteen games last year, almost 640 points, 40-some points a game and we were part of that last year (in a 42-7 loss). What we need to see is who steps up, who plays better than they actually practice and how well do the kids know what they are doing. It’s difficult for us to practice against the size and speed we’re about to face.”
Central Catholic is also at home in a 7 o’clock game against Washington, which is coached by NCHS graduate Darrell Crouch. The Saints will be out to avenge a 26-12 loss a year ago.
“They aren’t fancy,” said Central coach Mike Moews. “They do what they do, but they do it well. They’re well coached. They are very physical all the time. They did lose some starters up front, but with the size of their school they’re usually able to do a pretty good job of replacing them.”
Following the Extravaganza, WJBC 1230 AM will join the St. Louis Cardinals game at San Francisco in progress.
And on your computer or smartphone at wjbc.com, the Illinois State volleyball team’s season gets underway against host Miami (Fla.) in the Hurricane Classic at 6 o’clock, while the Redbirds’ women’s soccer team entertains Milwaukee at 7 o’clock and the Normal CornBelters play in Rockford at 7.
Bryan Bloodworth can be reached at [email protected]
