September 19, 2024
Shaw Local
Illinois High School Football NewsPhoto GalleriesSubscribeAnalysisFeaturesPodcastNewsletterPhoto Store

Football: 5 storylines to watch in the NewsTribune area in 2024

Hall has a new coach; Princeton looks to break through

By Kevin Chlum
Hall football coach Logan Larson coaches his team during practice on Tuesday, July 9, 2024 at Hall High School. Larson grew up in Springfield and played his first two years of high school at Sacred Heart-Griffin before playing his final two years at Pleasant Plains. He played his freshman year of college at Bowling Green State University. then transferred to SEMO after a coaching change. After college, he coached at Springfield Southeast for three years and spent the last three years at Athens. Larson was the offensive and defensive line coach and special teams coordinator for Athens.

Hall football coach Logan Larson coaches his team during a practice in July at Hall High School. The new Red Devil coach was an assistant at Springfield Southeast for three years and spent the last three years at Athens. Larson was the offensive and defensive line coach and special teams coordinator for Athens, which was Class 2A runner-up last fall. (Scott Anderson)

With football practices opening across the state Monday, here are five storylines to keep an eye on this fall in the NewsTribune area.

How will freshman Marion Persich fare as L-P’s quarterback?

It’s not often a freshman starts for a varsity football team, especially at a Class 5A school, and it’s even more rare for a freshman to start at quarterback. But that’s what’s happening this fall at La Salle-Peru as Marion Persich takes over as the Cavaliers’ signal-caller. While most freshmen aren’t physically strong enough to compete against players several years older, Persich certainly has the size to fit right in on a varsity field at 6-foot-3, 195 pounds. He’s also fast, as he was a state track medalist in junior high. But like any player moving to the varsity level, Persich will have to adjust to the speed of the game, which will be a big jump from the grade school level. It’ll be exciting to watch an up-and-coming talent lead the Cavs’ offense.

L-P quarterback during a 7-on-7 meet against L-P on Wednesday, July 10, 2024 at Seneca High School.

L-P quarterback Marion Persich throws a pass during a 7-on-7 in July. (Scott Anderson)

Logan Larson takes over as Hall head coach

For the first time since the Gary Vicini era ended in 2008, Hall has a new face roaming the sidelines.

Hall’s three coaches since Vicini – Jason Bland, Randy Tieman (twice) and Nick Guerrini – have all been former Red Devils, but this time Hall made an outside hire in Logan Larson.

The 30-year-old, who played college football at Southeast Missouri State, comes to Hall after serving as an assistant at Athens, which finished as Class 2A runner-up last season.

Larson takes over a team that finished 3-6 last year. The Red Devils bring back several starters from last fall.

Bureau Valley and Fieldcrest are playing in new conferences

The conference landscape is constantly changing in Illinois high school football, and it’s no different this season. Bureau Valley left its longtime home in the Three Rivers Conference (previously the Big Rivers) to join the Lincoln Trail-Prairieland Conference Large Division, replacing Mercer County, which moved to the Three Rivers.

Facing larger schools the last three years in the Three Rivers Mississippi, the Storm have gone 8-19 overall and 3-14 in the division.

Bureau Valley, which went 4-5 last year, now has a chance to play more similarly sized schools. In the Three Rivers Mississippi, the average enrollment of BV’s opponents was 491.8, with four of five teams having an enrollment over 500 compared with the Storm’s 319, while in the Lincoln Trail-Prairieland Large, the average opponent enrollment is 384.1, with Macomb (584) the only school with an enrollment not in the 300s.

With the Storm taking a step forward and now playing smaller schools, could they take the next step and make the playoffs this fall for the first time since 2016?

Fieldcrest also is trending in the right direction, as the Knights went 4-5 and were a few plays shy of a postseason berth last year.

The Knights are now a member of the Heart of Central Illinois Conference, which is a merger of Fieldcrest’s old Heart of Illinois Conference with the Central Illinois Conference. The Knights will face several familiar HOIC foes in Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley, Heyworth, LeRoy and Fisher but also will see some new traditionally strong programs in Tuscola and Central A&M among others in what should be a very competitive new league.

Will Princeton break through?

Princeton has been knocking on the door of a state title game berth for several years.

The Tigers, who are 48-7 over the past five seasons and have won six consecutive Three Rivers Conference Mississippi Division titles, advanced to the Class 3A semifinals in 2019 before losing to eventual champion Byron 7-3.

After a 6-0 spring season in 2021, Princeton has made three straight quarterfinal appearances, losing to IC Catholic in the fall 2021 and 2022 seasons before losing to Montini last fall.

The Tigers led at halftime of the quarterfinal in each the past two years.

Like it has the past several seasons, Princeton lost Division I players to graduation, but the Tigers return plenty of talent, including Northwestern recruit Noah LaPorte at tight end and linebacker and running back/linebacker Casey Etheridge, who rushed for 1,897 yards and 29 touchdowns last season.

Will this be the year the Tigers make an even deeper playoff run?

Princeton's Casey Etheridge is pushed out of bounce by Montini Catholic's Jeremiah Peterson on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023 at Bryant Field in Princeton.

Princeton's Casey Etheridge runs the ball during a game last season. (Scott Anderson)

How will St. Bede handle a challenging schedule?

Last year, St. Bede left the Three Rivers Conference to join the Chicagoland Prairie Conference for football only. The Bruins went 5-5 overall and 4-3 in league play last year, making the playoffs for a third year in a row and finishing with a winning record for the fourth straight season.

The Chicagoland Prairie lost three members – Ridgewood, Elmwood Park and Westmont – after its inaugural season, leaving St. Bede to fill holes on the schedule.

The result was a challenging schedule full of larger schools and playoff teams.

The Bruins’ schedule features six teams that made the playoffs last year, three teams that won double-digit games last fall and four 2A schools, a 3A team, a 4A team and a 5A team.

“We have our work cut out for us,” St. Bede coach Jim Eustice said. “We’re going to really have to coach and have our kids ready to play.”