A pair of rivalry games highlight the regional football schedule this weekend. First in the Lincoln Land (North) Conference, Annawan-Wethersfield travels to Gary Johnson Field this Friday to tangle with the Stark County Rebels.
Also on Friday, the Kewanee Boilermakers renew their rivalry with the Princeton Tigers. In what used to be the longest continuous game in the state, dating back to 1897, the two schools will meet at the Kewanee High School stadium for the 128th time. Princeton has won 66 games and Kewanee 57. There have been four ties.
Both the Titans and the Rebels stand at 1-0 in the conference and 4-1 overall. Last week the Titans handled Knoxville 42-15 at Annawan while the Rebels were on the road squeaking by ROWVA by the score of 22-20.
The Titans’ lone loss was at Farmington 40-21 in week three, while the Rebels lone loss was at home against Macomb 41-0 in week four.
In the only matchup against a common opponent, Stark County was able to win at Farmington 25-18 in week two.
The winner of Friday night’s contest should have a leg up on winning the conference championship and maybe getting a bye in the IHSA expanded playoff format. The winner will take over sole possession of the conference lead with only three conference games remaining.
Likewise, in the Three Rivers (Mississippi) conference, the Boilermakers and the Tigers are tied for first place with 1-0 records. Both teams are also 2-3 overall.
Last week the Boilermakers used a big second half to pull away from visiting Mendota for a 42-14 win. Meanwhile the Tigers played a team from Northern High School in Portage, Mich. at Princeton, in a replacement game for the game against Sherrard which had cancelled the rest of their varsity season due to lack of upper class players.
Princeton was no match for the visitors from Michigan losing 41-0.
The only common opponent for the two teams was Newman Central Catholic which Kewanee defeated at home 17-10 in week two while Princeton lost at Central Catholic 23-7 in week three.
Elsewhere on the area high school football schedule are a pair of eight-players games.
On Friday, the 1-4 Galva Wildcats will travel to Colchester to take on the 0-5 West Prairie Cyclones. Both teams will be looking for their first eight-player Central West Conference victory. Last week the Wildcats were defeated at home by Bushnell-Prairie City by the score of 42-20 while the Cyclones lost a home game to Peoria Heights 26-18.
On Saturday the Ridgewood Spartans will be celebrating Homecoming in Cambridge with 1 p.m. game against the visiting Peoria Heights Patriots. The Spartans have a 2-0 record in the conference with a 3-1 record overall. Meanwhile the Patriots are 1-2 in the conference and are 1-4 overall.
Last week the Spartans had a bye week, while the Patriots picked up their first victory of the season at West Prairie 26-18.
