Let's give some credit where credit is due this afternoon...to Carterville AD and head football coach Brett Diel.
As you may have heard, Carterville was scheduled to play a game tonight against the Herrin Tigers in a cross-county rivalry game. Yesterday morning just after 10 AM, it was announced that Herrin had to pull out due to COVID results.
About 11AM, I sent a simple message to Coach saying "I know ur swamped. Just heard about Herrin game." His reply was simply... "devastating"!
Keep in mind, this was a big game, not just for Carterville but for Herrin as well. The Lions & Tigers love playing against each other. It's a good rivalry. But most devastating for the Lions was the prospect of losing another game...especially for the seniors on the the team.
The Lions have already been faced with having two of their scheduled opponents drop out. The Pinckneyville Panthers who announced just before the season started that they would not be playing varsity football. Two weeks ago, Sparta announced just a couple of days before the Lions and Bulldogs were scheduled to play that they did not have enough players to field a team.
Flash forward to today. While I'm eating lunch, I get a test from Coach saying " busy tonight?"
In steps the Bayless Bronchos. Coached by Jerry Woods, the Bronchos had their game which was originally Bishop DuBourg cancelled.
As of this writing, I'm not sure how everything transpired, all I know is that there will be game tonight...at Carterville...against the Bayless Bronchos.
I just wanted to say thank you to Brett Diel, the Athletic Director right now. Thank you for working hard to make sure the boys get a chance to play ball tonight.
To Brett Diel the head football coach? I'll catch up with you later!
You can hear the game on NewsRadio WJPF starting at 6:45 PM. You can also watch the game on our livestream along with the play-by-play here: