You have to go back to week 8 of the regular season in 2019 the last time Monticello lost a regular-season football game until last week's 16-15 heartbreaker at PBL.
The 6-1 Sages will look to rebound tonight when they hit the road for the second straight week traveling to Fairbury to take on Prairie Central in week 8 Illini Prairie high school football action. Coach Cully Welter called it an ugly game. Sidetracked by delays at several points over confusion by the officials, Monticello struggled to find a rhythm offensively.
The Hawks have a prolific run game that has helped them to six-straight wins, entering play at 6-1 overall. Coach Welter is again concerned with the size of Prairie Central like PBL anticipates the Hawks being a hard-nosed, physical team.
Coach Welter says the Hawks have shown a couple of different defensive schemes so they will plan for everything they've seen on film. Monticello still has a chance to win the conference title with a win tonight and then would have to win a showdown with Tolono Unity next Friday night which would be for the Illini Prairie Conference title.
Illini Prairie action tonight...
Bloomington Central Catholic at Olympia
Paxton-Buckley-Loda at Tolono Unity
Pontiac at Illinois Valley Central
Rantoul at St. Joseph-Ogden
Week 8 matchups...
8-Man Football
Champaign St. Thomas More at Martinsville
Edwardsville Metro-East Lutheran at Decatur LSA
Flanagan-Cornell-Woodland at Pawnee (Sat.)
South Beloit at Blue Ridge
Apollo
Charleston at Mt. Zion
Lincoln at Taylorville
Mattoon at Mahomet-Seymour
Central State Eight
Chatham-Glenwood at Springfield Lanphier
Decatur MacArthur at Springfield (Sat.)
Jacksonville at Decatur Eisenhower
Normal U-High at Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin
Springfield Southeast at Rochester
Heart of Illinois
Tri-Valley at Eureka
Dee-Mack at Fieldcrest
Tremont at El Paso-Gridley
Ridgeview at Heyworth
Fisher at LeRoy
Mid-Illini
Limestone at Morton
Canton at Dunlap
East Peoria at Pekin
Metamora at Washington
Sangamo
Athens at Maroa-Forsyth
Non-Conference
Effingham at Breese Mater Dei
Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley at Forreston (Sat.)
Central A & M at Central (Sat.)
