Game Night Guide: Week 1 of prep football

Friday’s schedule

Quincy Notre Dame at Quincy High School, 7 p.m.

• WTAD 930 AM, WGEM 1440 AM, WGEM TV

Hannibal at Jefferson City Helias, 7 p.m.

• KICK 97.9 FM

Carrollton at Central, 7 p.m.

• Central Illinois Sports on YouTube.com

Pittsfield at Pleasant Plains, 7 p.m.

• Central Illinois Sports on YouTube.com

Hallsville at Palmyra, 7 p.m.

• KRRY 100.9 FM

Monroe City at St. Pius X, 7 p.m.

• KWBZ 107.5 FM

Brown County at Calhoun, 7 p.m.

• BC Hornet Sports on YouTube.com

Unity-Payson at North Greene, 7 p.m.

• NFHS Network

South Callaway at Mark Twain, 7 p.m.

Highland at Putnam County, 7 p.m.

Pleasant Hill at Jacksonville Routt, 1 p.m. Saturday

First and 10

Ten tidbits to know about this week’s slate of games:

• This is the first time since 1985 for Quincy High School and Quincy Notre Dame to square off in the lidlifter. The Blue Devils won 34-0.

• Hannibal and Jefferson City Helias renew their rivalry after a one-year hiatus. Their season-opening matchup last season was canceled for COVID reasons. This will be the fifth meeting in the last six seasons in the lidlifter. The Pirates and Crusaders have split the previous four. The teams are 6-6 against each other in the previous 10 seasons.

• Helias is the defending Class 4 state champion, having gone 14-0 last fall for its first title since 1998. However, the Crusaders return just three starters on each side of the ball.

• Central and Carrollton have met in the playoffs four of the previous seven seasons with the Hawks winning three of those matchups. The Panthers won 31-6 in the second round in 2018, propelling them to a state championship game appearance. Both teams are receiving votes in the Class 1A preseason state poll.

• Carrollton wide receiver Kyle Leonard is the younger brother of former Quincy University All-American linebacker Cody Leonard. The Hawks are recruiting the younger Leonard, who also is drawing interest from other NCAA Division II programs. Carrollton all-purpose back Gus Coonrod is the younger brother of Sam Coonrod, a reliever for the Philadelphia Phillies and a former Quincy Gems pitcher.

• Brown County is the area’s highest-ranked team in Illinois, finding itself fourth in the Class 1A preseason state poll. The Hornets haven’t been to the playoffs since 2017, ending a run in which they received a postseason bid 13 times in a 14-year span.

• This is the third time Palmyra and Hallsville have met in less than a year. The Indians traveled to Palmyra last September for a Week 3 matchup when the Panthers’ original opponent — Macon — had to go into quarantine and the Indians agreed to be a last-minute replacement. Palmyra won 51-16. They met again in the Class 2 state quarterfinals with the Panthers winning 44-30.

• Three head coaches will make their debut Friday night. Jeff Gschwender, who spent the past six seasons as an assistant at Hannibal, is now in charge of the Pirates’ program. Matt Woodworth, a Unity graduate and long-time assistant coach, will coach his first game at the helm of the Unity-Payson program. Austin Leake, who was an assistant at Bowling Green, returns to his alma mater as the head coach at Mark Twain.

• Who is the longest-tenured area head coach? That would be Brown County’s Tom Little, who is entering his 20th season with the Hornets.

• For the first time since 2013, Monroe City is opening the season with back-to-back road games. The Panthers travel to Festus on Friday night to face St. Pius X and then venture to Winfield next week. 

“The kids understand we’re going to be on the bus for this long,” Monroe City coach David Kirby said. “I’m one of these guys where you have to let the kids enjoy it. Once you get to a certain spot, then it’s like, ‘OK, it’s time to start focusing on this.’ You want them to get into that mindset.”

Game Night Grub

You’ve driven 45 minutes or an hour or longer to cheer on your favorite team. Now you’re hungry and want something more sustainable than a concession stand hot dog, a tray of nachos or a bag of salty popcorn. Where do you go?

Here are some suggestions:

For those traveling from Carrollton to Camp Point, hit up the Shake Shack. The chili dogs hit the spot, especially if you’re a fan of slightly sweet chili. The menu has a nice variety of sandwiches and side items, and you can never go wrong with ice cream or a milkshake as you head out of town and to the high school field.

If you’re making the trek from Hallsville to Palmyra, give yourself a little extra time and pull in for a pit stop at the Rebel Pig. It’s called a smokehouse and grill for good reason. The BBQ is delectable (ribs and brisket are mouth-watering), but the full menu will tickle all taste buds. The tenderloin is as big as Muddy River Sports editor Matt Schuckman’s head.

Hannibal fans making the trip to the state capitol need to check out JQ’s on High. The place has homemade pork rinds, pork rind nachos and bacon-wrapped hot dogs. Everything is better with bacon, right?