:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/OL3YN3VYMLKPUNASI6FWDF2LWY.jpg)
Last year, the Flanagan-Cornell/Woodland/Roanoke-Benson football co-op welcomed 27 players to fall camp to prepare for the 2018 season.
By Week 3, the Falcons were down to 14 varsity players for a home game against Eureka and finished the season with their third straight 0-9 campaign.
There has been some change since the 2018 season came to a close, beginning when FCW announced that it will take part in the 16-team Illinois 8-Man Football Association (I8FA) and no longer co-op with Roanoke-Benson.
The schools also reached out to former Flanagan football player, Todd Reed, to be the head coach and lead the team as it prepares for the switch to 8-man football.
“I think playing 8-man will be very beneficial for us,” the new FCW coach said. “We are coming in as a new team with our numbers. We are trying to build our program back up, and I think small school football will fall in love with 8-man football system.”
When fall practice for the 2019 season commenced on August 12, Reed had 23 players report to camp. A couple days later, four more young men reported to bring the number to 27. Among those 27 on the roster, 10 come from Woodland High School.
Reed returns seven lettermen from last year's squad. Ten of the FCW players are seniors. Two are juniors, with the rest coming from the freshman and sophomore classes.
“There has been a lot of new excitement with the program,” Reed said. “The new coaching staff and I have been hyped up. We are all in rebuild mode for the season.”
Braden Wallace will be under center when the Falcons open the season on August 31st on the road in Elgin against Westminster Christian. Sophomore Dallas Hamilton will serve as Wallace’s backup. Look for Hamilton to line up at wide receiver if he isn’t taking snaps at quarterback. Senior Tyler Harms has also been getting some reps at quarterback as well.
In the backfield, Streator High School transfer Tavarre Phifer, a senior, will get carries at tailback. Reed is looking to freshman Jesse Simpson to help Phifer in the Falcons backfield.
A pair of sophomores, Will Weber and J.D. Ruddy, man the fullback spot.
Senior Kamron Tower joins Hamilton and the dangerous Harms in catching passes from Wallace.
“We have a lot of kids on this team that have great hands,” Reed said. “It’s going to be a hard decision on rotating guys in and who I want to stick with.”
Third-year Falcons player and junior Kyle Uhl returns to anchor the offensive line and will play center. He will be joined by sophomore Joey Jones. Senior Casey Earing will see some time in the offensive line. Reed is also counting on senior Shane Reynolds and sophomore Chris Stasko to help along the offensive line.
Defensively, Reed says that the team is a work in progress when it comes to that side of the football.
“We have a couple of formations that we can use,” Reed said. “We can use one linebacker and three down linemen with a cover 2 look with two safeties, or one with two middle linebackers with a strong safety. So we can go that way too.”
Reed said that coaching defense for 8-man football has been an adjustment.
“We are still playing with (the defense),” Reed said. “It is new to us. When we run our defense against our scout team offense, we are starting to see what gaps need to be covered and things like that.”
Reed is looking to senior Dameon Hunter to be one of the leaders from his defensive end spot.
“Dameon has incredible feet,” said Reed. “He is able to get the quarterback and wreaks havoc against our scout team. He can get pressure and is hard to block.”
FCW is young in the linebacking corps. Ruddy and Weber, both sophomores, will man the middle, while ninth-graders Jase Torrez and Ethan Schumm provide depth.
In the defensive backfield, seniors Tower and Mathe are in the mix with Hamilton, a sophomore, and Jesse Simpson, a freshman, fighting for playing time. Seth Meredith and Austin Barnes could see some playing time.
With 27 players on the roster, Reed likes having options to get as many players in the game as possible.
“In practice we have been giving the kids five plays before we rotate fresh bodies in,” Reed said. “We are figuring out where each player will play.”
--
ROSTER
Date Opponent Time
8/31 at Elgin Westminster 1 p.m.
9/6 PAWNEE (at F-C) 7 p.m.
9/13 ILL. SCHOOL FOR DEAF (at Wood.) 7 p.m.
9/20 at Jacksonville Metro-East 7 p.m.
9/27 at River Ridge 7 p.m.
10/4 at Milford-Cissna Park 7 p.m.
10/11 CHAMPAIGN JUDAH (at F-C) 7 p.m.
10/18 NORTH FULTON (at Wood.) 7 p.m.
10/25 at Rockford Christian Life 7 p.m.
--
ROSTER
No. Name Yr. Pos.
3 Tavarre Phifer Sr. RB/DB
5 Ethan Kane Fr. RB/DB
7 Braden Wallace Sr. QB
9 Kamron Tower Sr. WR/DB
10 Jackson Mathe Sr. RB/DB
11 Dallas Hamilton So. WR/QB
12 J.D. Ruddy So. RB/LB
14 Seth Meredith Sr. OL/DL
20 Jesse Simpson Fr. RB/DB
23 William Weber So. RB/LB
25 Chris Stasko So. OL/DL
28 Ethan Schumm Fr. OL/DL
36 Austin Barnes Sr. WR/DB
38 Ethan Isenberg Fr. RB/LB
40 Kyle Uhl Jr. OL/DL
45 Adam Heidenreich So. OL/DL
50 Shane Reynolds So. OL/DL
52 Casey Earing Sr. OL/DL
55 Dameon Hunter So. OL/DL
59 Joey Jones So. OL/DL
60 Damon Terry Fr. OL/DL
61 Connor Draper Jr. OL/DL
70 Jase Torres Fr. OL/DL
75 Trever Market Sr. OL/DL
80 Shawn Brinkmeyer Fr. WR/DB
81 Nolan Deats Fr. OL/DL
88 Tyler Harms Sr. WR/DL
Head coach: Todd Reed (1st season)
--
Flanagan
Flanagan was in just one conference during its 59-year history before the current co-op— the Midstate.
Midstate Conference (1949-2005)
Championships: 1949, 1961, 1968, 1970, 1974, 1984
Cornell
The Cardinals were in just one conference during their 22-year history — the Midstate.
Midstate Conference (1949-1970)
Championships: 1959
Woodland
The Warriors were in three conferences during their 52-year history — the Midstate, Northeast and United.
Northeast Conference (1956-1959)
Championships: 1958, 1959
United Conference (1958-1963)
Championships: 1959
Midstate Conference (1964-2005)
Championships: none
Flanagan-Cornell/Woodland
The FWC/FCW Falcons have been in two conferences during their 13-year history as a co-op— the Heart of Illinois and now the Illinois 8-Man Football Association.
Heart of Illinois Conference (2006-2018)
Championships: 2007
Illinois 8-Man Football Association (2019-present)
Championships: none
— Brian Hoxsey