Five storylines for the 2023 Bureau County season

Can Princeton make up for loss of Teegan Davis?: Teegan Davis was a two-way star for Princeton, a key cog leading the Tigers to back-to-back Class 3A quarterfinal appearances. The all-stater received a full-ride scholarship to the University of Iowa, rehabbing a knee injury from indoor track.

While the Tigers will certainly miss their shining star, they are reloading for another deep postseason run and there’s no reason to believe they won’t have similar success. They have a highly impressive line built around senior stalwarts Payne Miller (Western Illinois) and Bennett Williams (Air Force Academy), both of whom have committed to Division I programs. Along with senior Jack May, juniors Cade Odell and Anthony Vujanov and sophomore Rhett Pearson, they will make life easier for junior quarterback Will Lott, who gained valuable experience as Davis’ understudy.

The Tigers boast another Division I prospect in junior end Noah LaPorte, who had breakout sophomore season (45-884, 12 TDs receiving) and drawing interest from the University of Illinois.

Seven starters return from a formidable defense.

Where will Hall find its offense? Mac Resetich accounted for 90% of Hall’s offense last year at quarterback, setting school records for rushing and touchdowns. The Red Devils won’t be able to replace their star QB, who’s now off playing for the University of Illinois, with just one player. Rather, they will do it by committee led by senior quarterback Gianni Guerrini and senior running backs Joseph Bacidore and Tristen Redcliff and sophomores Braden Curran and Aiden Redcliff.

“We’re going to distribute the ball to other kids. We’ve got some kids that can play a little bit. We’ll see what happens. We’ll try some things out and see how it works,” Hall coach Randy Tieman said.

How will St. Bede fare in new conference? St. Bede has left the Big Rivers/Three Rivers Conference after 23 years to join the new eight-team Chicago Prairie Football League. There, they will face mostly unfamiliar schools Westmont, Ridgewood, Elmwood Park, Walther Christian, Seneca and Dwight along with an old rival from the Big Rivers Conference, Marquette Academy.

The new conference, which will require more traveling, won’t come any easier.

“We were competing just fine in the TRAC, football-wise. Coming into this conference with the schools that are in it, it’s not necessarily going to be all that easier for us,” SBA coach Jim Eustice said.

Will this be the year for Bureau Valley? Bureau Valley has not had a winning season in seven years since going 6-4 in 2016. They were 1-8 last year and 3-6 in 2021.

They are highly motivated in the Storm camp to turn things around.

“I think we can compete at a higher level than we did last year. I think this group is capable. I certainly believe in them. Now we’ve got to prove it on Friday nights,” BV coach Mat Pistole said.

“I feel like we’re all ready to win. This group of seniors have put in a lot of work from last year and we’re ready to win,” senior lineman Jon Dybek said.

Can the Clippers win 8-man state this year? Amboy-LaMoille returns returns all but one senior from last year’s I8FA state runner-up team and are ready to make another run to the finals. They will be favored to do so by many.

While they lost quarterback Tucker Lindenmeyer, a 2021 I8FA All-State, to graduation, junior Eddie Jones is ready to step in after filling in for Lindenmeyer last year when he was hurt. They also bring back senior tight end/defensive end Brennan Blaine (1,191 yards, 21 touchdowns receiving), an I8FA All-State pick in 2022, its top two rushers in halfback Landon Whelchel (1,451 yard, 18 TDs) and fullback Quinn Leffelman (896 yards, 16 TDs), behind an experienced offensive line.