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| SportsFriday, August 24, 2007 11:49 PM CDT |
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Week 1 Intercity football previews
Brief previews of tonight’s high school football games involving Intercity teams. | Football Fever | Photo gallery Bloomington vs. Decatur MacArthurTime: 7 p.m. today Place: Bloomington High School Records: Season opener FYI: The game will mark the head coaching debut of MacArthur’s Derek Spates, a former Generals’ player and assistant coach. BHS has won 10 straight openers, including last year’s 42-0 romp at MacArthur. The Purple Raiders will be without senior center Deonte Person, who underwent surgery this week for torn ligaments in his thumb. Senior Zach Collins will move from guard to center, with seniors Chris Love and Ben Ehrlich playing at guard. Quoting: “He (Spates) was the defensive coordinator for them a year ago, so we’re assuming it’s the same defense. Offensively, they were pretty conservative with their double-wing option last year. I don’t know if he wants to open it up or not, but typically they have some pretty good skill. I don’t know what we’re going to face.” — BHS coach Rigo Schmelzer Central Catholic vs. EurekaTime: 7:30 p.m. today Place: Eureka High School Records: Season opener FYI: Central Catholic shoots for its 29th straight season-opening win. The Saints have opened with victories over Eureka the past three years, including 40-14 last season. Eureka’s task will be to slow Central senior running back Ryan Waldron, the Pantagraph area’s top returning rusher with 1,247 yards last year. Central has lost junior Ben Heaton (knee) for the season. Heaton was expected to see action at receiver and defensive back. Quoting: “I always feel the first game is the hardest to prepare for because you don’t know if somebody is going to change (from the previous year). We have some areas we need to get better at and some kids who haven’t played much in certain spots. We have to worry about what we’re doing and let the other stuff take care of itself.” — Central coach Bobby Moews Normal Community vs. Champaign CentralTime: 7 p.m. today Place: Tommy Stewart Field, Champaign Records: Season opener FYI: NCHS goes after its 15th straight victory overall and in the Big 12 Conference. The Ironmen have not lost a conference game since falling to Champaign Centennial, 23-0, on Sept. 16, 2005. The defending Class 6A state champions will be without offensive linemen Brandon Caldwell (knee) and James Couillard (toe). Junior Zach Liming will start at guard because of their absences. Champaign Central’s 2-7 record last year included a 34-0 loss to NCHS. Quoting: “They have a couple of young quarterbacks who played the entire year, some nice looking running backs and some good receivers, which they always have. I think they went young last year after they played us. They’ll have quite a few guys with experience, but it is young experience.” — NCHS coach Hud Venerable Normal West vs. Champaign CentennialTime: 7 p.m. today Place: Normal West High School Records: Season opener Radio: WJBC-AM (1230) FYI: Normal West’s defense will have no time to ease into the season. The Wildcats face one of the state’s top running backs in Centennial senior Mikel Leshoure, who rushed for 2,454 yards and 29 touchdowns last year. West will try to avenge a 23-0 opening loss to Centennial last year at Champaign. Quoting: “The best thing we can do with Leshoure is make him go east-west. That way we can get more people on him. We have to try to get to him before he gets started. This is a big contest for us. It’s about momentum. Everyone wants to get out of the gates on a strong note.” — West coach Darren Hess University High vs. OlympiaTime: 7:45 p.m. today Place: Olympia High School, Stanford Records: Season opener FYI: U High has shut out Olympia 21-0 and 34-0 in the past two season openers. The Pioneers held Olympia to 29 yards in the first half and 88 for the game last year. The Spartans, led by senior two-way lineman Colt Stroud, are looking to snap a 24-game losing streak dating back to the 2004 season. Quoting: “I think each year going into week one our defense is usually ahead of our offense. I think the same holds true this year. The kids are flying around and learning on the run. Offensively, we still have a lot of work to do. Hopefully, our defense can carry us again (tonight).” — U High coach Kurt Olson. Compiled by Randy Kindred Get area high school sports scores and statistics at Varsity Sports. E-mail this story | Print this story | Search archives | RSS Show comments |  Hide comments | Hide comments on all stories |
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