Breaking Out the Camera

I decided to break dig the camera out and head over to watch the Freshman/Sophomore football game between Anna-Jonesboro and Carterville on Monday night.

The Boys Of Fall Tee It Up In the Spring - Lions vs. Wildcats

Yes, the high school football season starts tomorrow the Carterville Lions!

The Lions will host the Anna-Jonesboro Wildcats in IHSA/SIRR Conference football action on Saturday afternoon starting at 1:00 PM.

Coach Brett Dial look to run wild this season, as he wants to utilize his teams speed to get the ball out into the open field and run through the defense.

The last time this team played all the way back in October of 2019, they finished the season with a 3-6 record. This is a much better team than they were then.

Eli Downen will lead the offense again at QB. The Lions speed will be on the outside with the receivers. Ben Haake, Bryce Anderson and Townsend Barton along with Lance Thomas at tight end will look to catch and run all game long. In the backfield, Preston Sumner will see most the action at running back.

I had a chance to talk to Coach Dial tonight about the the matchup against Coach Brett Detering and the Wildcats.

The schedule is abbreviated this season due to the pandemic, however here is the 2021 football schedule. Please note that the first two games will be played on Saturday afternoons.

3/20 - vs. Anna-Jonesboro

3/27 - vs. Nashville

4/2 - @ Sparta

4/9 - Open Date (Pinckneyville cancelled football)

4/16 - @ Herrin

4/23 - @ Du Quoin

I will have the play-by-play on NewsRadio WJPF (AM1340/FM 99.5) and on our Youtube livestream starting with the pregame show at 12:45. Kickoff is slated for 1:00 PM. You can watch the livestream here:

Here are the rosters for both teams.

Four Games In Five Nights, Lions Look To Finish Season Strong

Tonight, Coach Shane Hawkins and the Carterville Lions begin a stretch of four games in five nights to wrap up the 2021 basketball season.

The Nashville Hornets make their way to Carterville for a SIRR Conference matchup scheduled to start at 7:45 PM.

These two teams met just this past Monday in Nashville, with the Hornets walking away with a 62-46 win.

The Lions currently sit in third place in the conference behind Nashville and Pinckneyville.

After tonight, there is only one more conference game. Tuesday night the Lions will wrap up the season when the Sparta Bulldogs come to town. This will be the last time the Lions and Bulldogs will match up, as Sparta is headed to the Cahokia Conference starting next season.

The Lions hit the road tomorrow night traveling to Vienna to face the Eagles in non-conference play and then Monday night will host Joe Hosman and the Massac County Patriots in another non-conference game.

As we wrap up the end of the basketball season, one of the stories to watch the drive for 1,000 career points for Lions Senior Eli Downen. Coming in to tonight's matchup with Nashville, he is only 44 points away from this impressive feat. Eli has scored 956 points in his career and he only needs to average 11 points per game to reach the 1,000 mark. Good Luck Eli!

Scott Hudson and I will have the radio call on NewsRadio WJPF (AM 1340/FM 99.5) starting at 7:30 pm for each of these game. You can watch tonight's game on our livestream along with the radio call here:

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Congratulations to Coach Rogers and the Carterville Girls basketball team. Last night the girls went to Nashville and came away with a 37-33 win over the Hornettes, vaulting their way to the top of the SIRR Conference standings.

The ladies have two more conference game to play to wrap up their season. Monday night they will head to Sparta to face the Bulldogs and on Thursday they will travel to Anna-Jonesboro to play the Wildcats.

Good Luck the Coach Rogers and the Carterville girls!