:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/MTQ7IGQDIJCGVN7GS4YEOVVEWI.jpg)
Ottawa faces St. Bede in Week 9 of the 2024 IHSA football season. Friday Night Drive editor Kevin Chlum will have live updates, scores and news from the game.
What to know
Ottawa vs. St. Bede kickoff: 7 p.m.
Where: St. Bede High School
About the Pirates: It has been 44 years – specifically Sept. 12, 1980 – since old Illinois Valley Conference rivals Ottawa and St. Bede have met in a varsity football game although the two in recent years have kept a relationship with summer 7-on-7s. That might be how this contest came together when both, due to their conferences losing multiple members in the offseason, found themselves with a Week 9 opening. Ottawa has lost six straight by a combined score of 224-37 against its Interstate 8 Conference rivals since its 34-7 win over Streator in Week 2. RB Jace Veith (279 yards on 5.1 per carry, two TDs) and fellow senior Weston Averkamp (156 yards and three TDs rushing; 151 yards receiving) along with QB Mark Munson (741 yards on 65-of-111 passing, four TDs, three INTs) and Owen Sanders (17 receptions for 278 yards and two TDs) have been the Pirates’ top playmakers on a junior-heavy roster.
About the Bruins: St. Bede has a few heartbreakers among its seven losses, including two to playoff-bound teams: a six-point loss to 7-1 Tri-Valley in Week 1 and a two-point defeat at the hands of Dwight/GSW in Week 7. Last week’s 28-3 loss at another likely playoff team, Bloomington Central Catholic, ran the Bruins’ losing streak to six since their lone win of the season, a 61-0 smashing of Walther Christian in Week 3. Dual-threat QB Gino Ferrari led the Bruins in both passing (9 of 18, 74 yards) and rushing (24 yards on eight carries) in last week’s game at BCC. WR Phillip Gray and workhorse RB Landon Marquez also are top options in head coach Jim Eustice’s attack. St. Bede – a 1A playoff team each of the last three years – is trying to avoid its first 1-8 season since 2019.
FND pick: Ottawa
How to watch Ottawa-St. Bede football game livestream
The Ottawa vs. St. Bede game is available on the NFHS Network
Postgame analysis:
Join us at 9:30 p.m. for Live with Friday Night Drive
IHSA playoff projections? Steve Soucie’s live blog has the latest updates on the IHSA football playoffs