08/28/2023
BY JACK BULLOCK
CARBONDALE - The Southern Illinois River-to-River Conference will have a different look to it this season as some schools have changed divisions.

Benton and West Frankfort have moved from the Ohio Division to the Mississippi Division and Carterville went from the Mississippi to the Ohio.

Most of the confusion in this conference came about two years ago when Sparta left the SIRR to join an expanded Cahokia Conference, leaving the SIRR with just 11 schools and lopsided divisions at 6/5.

It has made it difficult for scheduling.

There was talk of adding a 12th team to replace Sparta but nothing came of it so 11 teams it is for now.

The conference now has more of a North/South look to it.

The way things are trending in enrollments in southern Illinois, you could see more changes soon.

Most issues with leagues get back to football and nearly all of them could've been solved by the state staying with its plan of going to districts.

But that story is for another day.

Carterville made a major run into the postseason last season, winning 11-consecutive games before bowing out.

Coach Diel will have some new kids and a different sort of schedule this fall with the division change.

Murphysboro also made a 4A playoff run last year, also reaching the quarterfinals before dropping a game at Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin.

The Red Devils, like Carterville, lost a bunch of talent to graduation.

But Coach Gary Carter knows how to prepare as Murphysboro should be in the playoff picture late in October.

On the revamped Mississippi side, Nashville has been a powerful football program, like the rest of the sports there, and that won't change.

Coach Stephen Kozuszek is 48-15 in his previous six seasons leading the Hornets, which included two state championship game appearances in 2019 and 2021.

Pinckneyville has perhaps the best player in the conference who is headed to the U of I next year but the Panthers have struggled getting the gridiron gang on par with their hardwood program.

The same can be said for Massac County.

The Patriots have a new head coach with Jacob Collins taking over a club that had just a single victory on the field in a 2-7 season (Ballard County (KY.) game was a forfeit win) last fall.

DuQuoin will have a new head coach (Ryan Lott) trying to get the Indians back into the playoff chase after a sub par 3-6 finish last fall.

Harrisburg also made a run to the playoffs, ending up 5-5 after a 24-0 smack from Tolono Unity in the 3A first round.

West Frankfort might be the surprise of the SIRR football campaign as head coach Brian Beery looks to get his club back into the playoff conversation.

The Redbirds haven't been to the playoffs since 2019.

Benton has been very good lately with playoff appearances in each of the last two seasons for head coach Justin Groves.

Herrin ended up just 3-6 last fall and they, too, have a new head coach (Taylor Perry) in place.

Anna-Jonesboro ended up just 2-7 last fall, dropping its final three games of the season.

For the Carterville Lions, mentor Brett Diel has seen a lot of quality athletes come and go in his four season tenure leading the Lions.

But it had to bring a bit of sorrow watching 17 players leave the program after its special run last fall.

Carterville won its first 11 contests, going 9-0 in the regular season and winning its first two playoff games at home with relative ease.

However a perennial powerhouse from Rochester rolled into town and ended the campaign, handing the Lions a 41-28 defeat.

Most of the players from that team are now gone but their part of the legacy of the program will live on.

Senior quarterback Andrew Hellriegel has departed along with defensive end Jordan Cores.

Both were all-state selections.

Hellriegel ended up with 166-of-250 passing for 1,897-yards and 21 touchdowns.

Defensive tackle Riley Bradford and running back Bryce Smith were also huge parts of the run.

Record receiver Blake Burkey and receiver Peyton Bittle graduated as well.

Coach Diel does have some important players returning with experience, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

Top defender Zechariah Miller, a 5-10 senior linebacker, was a force last season and is getting college attention.

Five-eleven senior Brandon Skelcher will be the Lions' quarterback when the season starts.

He didn't have many snaps last season but he completed half of his passes in a reserve role.

Luke Johnson and Payton Van Horn are returning players who will be able to set in.

Johnson is a middle linebacker and Van Horn is on the offensive line.

One of the few returning starters on defense is 6-3 senior defensive back Braden Wakey.

Nikolas Bisching, a 5-8 defensive back, also can play in the offensive backfield.

Coach Diel mentioned Jaxon Smith, a sophomore who started on the freshman team a year ago, who will move into the offensive line.

“We have a very young and inexperienced team. Knowing that, we challenged them this summer with a pretty competitive schedule of events. We placed in the top 4 (16 teams) of the IHSFCA 4A-6A 7/7 tournament. We also made the Quarterfinals (16 teams, all classes) at the SIU 7/7 tournament. We participated in three joint practices/scrimmages, two with Marion and one with Carbondale. We were very competitive in those events,” said Coach Diel, who is 26-11 in heading into his fourth season coaching his alma mater.

It's a new season and a new head coach with work to do at Massac County as Jacob Collins takes over a program that hasn't been successful in a spell.

You have to go back to 2009-10 since the Patriots' last playoff appearance.

Since then MC is 20-94 with four 0-9 finishes.

Coach Collins takes over a 2-7 team that lost some seniors but, according to the new coach, the kids have shown a new attitude and intensity which he hopes will translate into better play.

Quarterback Brody Smallman graduated last spring.

Smallman threw for 1,222-yards on the season with 10 TD's but the Patriots' defense gave up a lot of yardage and points.

Running back Tyrus Riley, lineman Jase Stewart, and defensive backs Michael Conners and Ryan Cohoon also graduated.

Part of the good news for Massac County is that the top two rushers from a year ago return.

Dylan Fairchild (66-carries, 217-yards) and Jacob Smith (62-carries, 177-yards) return.

The yards per carry for those two and the rest of the Patriots will need to increase a bunch this fall.

Kris Garnett, a junior wide out, was all-conference last season caught 33 of the Smallman passes for 848-yards and five TD's.

The quarterback for the Pats this season will be Britton Towery, a senior who played tight end last season.Senior linebacker Maurice Zabala and senior lineman Nathan Meyers return after playing well as juniors.

Coach Collins mentioned senior Kyle Williams and junior Logan Glidden as other linemen with experience.

Senior Clara Elliot is the place kicker for the Patriots as she made 7-of-10 extra points last fall.

Rylan Jackson, Alex Burnett, Lewis Willams, Mason McDaniels, Owen Dumpprope and Eli Jacobs are all senior holdovers from last season.

Five very important players graduated from the Murphysboro Red Devils' program last spring and they will be sorely missed.

Running back Devon Clemons, running back Ethan Finke, quarterback Drew Caldwell, lineman Franklin Eovaldi and wide receiver Grayson Guthman were a part of consecutive 4A playoff runs in the past two seasons.

Clemons rushed for 1,903-yards last season and Caldwell threw for 1,631-yards.

That's a lot of land covered that will need replacing.

This season look for the strength of the team to be upfront as the Red Devils have returning starters in most spots.

The offense will consist of new quarterback Gibson Fager, a 6-2 senior, with senior running back 5-11 Sam Herring.

Senior wide receiver Karmelo Abernathy also is back for another year.

Abernathy caught 19 passes as a junior for 273-yards and a touchdown and he also ran a kick off back for a touchdown.

Murphysboro will have linemen John Voss, Wyatt Eovaldi and Dorian Liggins along with tight end Josh Cano (four catches, 107-yards) returning.

Defensively the Red Devils have eight kids who have experience.

Senior defensive end Lane Mills and nose guard senior Emanuel Wells are strong up front while defensive lineman Adrian Williams help clog up the middle.

Cornerback Ethan Sunny, safety Zach Naas and linebacker Trey Gillespie will help form one of the strongest defenses in the division.
“We will need to find our offensive identity as the season progresses, we lost good players to graduation,” said Coach Carter.

Head coach Ryan Lott enters his second season leading the Pinckneyville Panthers but someone will be missing from the team that was very important to the success achieved.

Senior fullback Chase Schneider weathered a lot of storms (tackles) last fall, as he averaged almost five yards per carry for the Panthers.

Schneider carried the ball a whopping 231-times for 1,145-yards and 14 TD's, becoming the first player in program history to go over 1K.

His 35-carry, 235-yard finale against Massac County set the record.

Pinckneyville went just 3-6 a season ago but Coach Lott is looking to build something special at a school that is a mecca of high school basketball in southern Illinois.

The Panthers have a lot of returning pieces, included a highly touted and highly recruited senior tight end.

Six-six senior Karsen Konkel, who was also a first-team all ABV basketball standout last season, has sign a letter of intent to play football at the University of Illinois next fall.

Although he didn't put up a lot of numbers a year ago, his upside of being athletic with good hands got the attention of a ton of college coaches.

Pinckneyville also has its quarterback returning, senior Jace Lee who has been in the program for the last three seasons.

Lee only threw 39-passes last season but completed 13 of them with four TD's for a predominantly running offense.

Six-five senior Jonah Tanner, a fullback/linebacker, returns for the Panthers along with 5-9 senior back Jaedon Kellerman.

Five-seven wide receiver Talan Benbrook, 6-2 lineman Jacksen Weatherford, 5-10 junior defensive back Brayden Cleland, 6-0 junior lineman Ian Crawley, 5-8 running back Vincent Deering, 5-10 junior Marshawn Fisher and 6-0 junior linebacker Ian Hulsey return.

Coach Lott mentioned that Hunter Smith, a senior who didn't play football last season, will be a part of the football team this fall.

“We will be as good as our senior class allows us to be. If we can stay healthy we can compete with most teams on our schedule. We have a solid nucleus of players returning that played last year and will continue to build on the success we had last year,” said Coach Lott.