Clinton opens the 2026 Football season with a long road trip to Dakota, Illinois, to take on the Dakota Indians on Saturday as they try to bounce back from a 0-9 season and end a 14-game losing streak. 

Head Coach Ron Bass says this offseason for the Maroons was spent in the weight room, as kids jumped back into the grind earlier than he has ever seen. He is proud of his older guys who have stepped into leadership roles already and helped set a hard-working mindset. 

Cole Thomas will be behind the wheel on the field this season. After a throwing arm injury forced the team to make a change at QB, Bass says Thomas was the natural decision. He will help to lead the Maroons' offense and a group of young players.

The Maroons make the 3-hour trip on Saturday to take on the Indians, who went 1-8 last season. Bass expects Dakota to be very physical, but says if his squad can match that physicality, then it should be a favorable matchup. 

Coach Bass indicates that he is giving up play-calling duties this season. Kyle Patterson has moved from Defensive Coordinator to Offensive Coordinator and taken over play-calling, while Colton Leake has taken over in the defensive coordinator's spot. Bass feels that he has his coaches in the right spot this year and now will be able to coach the coaches and see the bigger picture. 

Game time on Saturday is 5:30 PM. If you're not making the trip, hear the action on the big 1520 AM, 92.3 FM, and 106.5 FM in McLean County or any of our digital platforms. 
 

Monticello will open the 2026 high school football season hosting IVC as the Sages look to build on a very positive 2025 fall football season.

Monticello went 7-2 in the regular season last year, rattling off four straight wins to close the regular season before a tough 21-20 loss to rival Tolono Unity in the second round of the Class 3A playoffs. Coach Cully Welter says that loss fueled his team this offseason, and he is proud of the way this year's seniors have stepped up to provide leadership in the program.

It will be another season when the Sages' offense will rely on a first-year senior starting quarterback. Colton Schubert leads the Sages offense, and Coach Welter believes he has a trio of running backs that are as strong a group as he's had in a while.

IVC has a first-year coach who comes from North Carolina. While Monticello has a general idea of what to expect, Coach Welter says they won't know until kickoff what they're facing.

Game time tonight from Monticello is at 7 pm. Hear the action on 95.9 FM WEZC and online at dewittdailynews.com. 
 

The Lincoln Railsplitter football program hit the field for its first summer 7-on-7 competition last week at Monticello, and first-year head coach Aaron Fricke liked what he saw from his squad.

Following just two days of practice, Coach Fricke admitted he didn't know what to expect heading into the summer showcase. However, he was extremely pleased with his team's competitive spirit and resilience throughout the day.

Fricke notes that making mistakes during early summer workouts is completely expected, but seeing his players execute at full speed provides valuable learning material on tape as they build the foundation for the fall.

With the initial 7-on-7 competition in the books, the Railers are set to shift their focus back to fundamental team installation—getting linemen back in the mix and putting on shoulder pads as summer workouts progress step-by-step.

Check out highlights of the Monticello 7 on 7 competition from last week at ILSportsWire and be sure to find more highlights from the competition this week on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
 

The summer football camp and competition season is underway this week, and teams across central Illinois are taking advantage of the variety of opportunities to get better as the fall football season approaches in August.

At the Monticello 7 on 7 competition Wednesday night, Clinton football coach Ron Bass was pleased with what he saw from his young team. While the competition was stiff, he felt his kids showed a lot of fight.

Coach Bass is using the summer competition season to teach this young team the game and the things they are looking to do on each side of the ball.

For the remainder of the summer practice season, Coach Bass and his staff are dialing in on the fundamentals of football.

The Maroons continue the summer practice and competition season over the next several weeks.

Check out highlights from the Wednesday night 7-on-7 competition at Monticello High School that included Lincoln, Monticello, and Salt Fork by following ILSportsWire on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.  

The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Board of Directors met for its regularly scheduled meeting at the IHSA office in Bloomington on Monday, June 15, 2026, where the Board finalized expectations for the 35-second shot clock, which will be required for varsity boys and girls basketball contests beginning with the 2026-27 IHSA season.

The Board voted to accept the recommendation of the IHSA Basketball Advisory Committee by adding State Association Adoption #4, which reads “A school may not host a varsity contest if a shot clock is not installed or is not properly mounted on the backboard in the primary gym in accordance with NFHS rules. The host school must secure an alternate facility or allow the opponent to host the contest. If the host school is unable to secure a gym with functioning shot clocks and the opposing school cannot host, the game shall be forfeited by the home team.”

The shot clock is optional for lower-level games (junior varsity, sophomore, freshman, etc.).

The Board allowed for experimental use of the shot clock in 2022-23 and 2023-24, providing teams the option to use it in tournaments and shootouts. In June of 2024, the IHSA Board voted to implement a 35-second shot clock for all varsity games beginning with the 2026-27 season in order to provide schools with time to plan and install the devices. At the same meeting, the Board made the shot clock an option for regular-season games in 2024-25 and 2025-26 when mutually agreed upon by the competing teams.

A statewide survey of high school coaches in Illinois conducted by the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association (IBCA) in 2020 revealed that 75% of the boys head coaches in the state supported the implementation of the shot clock, while 68% percent of the girls coaches who responded were in favor.
 

Three Lexington pitchers combined to hold Mt. Pulaski to just one run as the Minute Men defeated the Hilltoppers 3-1 in a high school baseball sectional semifinal matchup on Wednesday at Illinois Wesleyan. 

Jack Miller got the start and pitched five innings, allowing five hits, one run, and striking out four. The Mt. Pulaski bats were only further limited from there as Drake Powell and Blaine Friedmansky combined for two innings of shutout relief. 

Mt. Pulaski got on the board first after a leadoff single in the top of the third from Carter Clark. After a sac bunt moved Clark to second, Chase Roberts singled in Clark to make it 1-0. 

Lexington answered back when Powell led off the bottom of the fourth with a triple and then scored on a wild pitch during the next at-bat to even the game at 1-1. They added another two runs in the fifth, highlighted by RBI singles from Powell and Braeden Barber to take the 3-1 win. 

Powell led the Minute Men with a 2-for-3 day at the plate, scoring once and driving in a run. Friedmansky was also 2-for-3 and came home once. Barber was 1-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored as well. 

Preston Cowan led the Mt. Pulaski bats with a 2-for-3 performance. Clark was 1-for-3 with the lone run for the Hilltoppers. Aaron Volle, Luke Martin, and Tyler Cross also had hits. 

Clark started on the mound for Mt. Pulaski, pitching 3.2 innings, allowing one run on three hits, striking out five, and permitting two walks. Volle allowed two runs and three hits over 1 and ? innings while striking out two. Jaeden Jackson struck out two in a shutout inning of relief. 

Lexington improves to 23-11 and advances to the Sectional Championship against Tremont at Illinois Wesleyan on Saturday at 11 AM. Mt. Pulaski finishes the campaign 22-12. 
 

Dane Eisenmenger went the distance and drove in two runs in a four-run first inning, propelling Tolono Unity past Maroa-Forsty 4-1 in a Class 2A high school baseball Sectional semifinal on Wednesday from the Monticello Sectional.

Eisenmenger drove in two runs with a triple to put the Rockets up 3-0 in the top of the first. He would strike out nine across seven innings of one-run ball.

Brayden Henry and Ryan Cunningham had RBIs for Tolono Unity.

Gunner Larner had the only RBI for the Trojans in the bottom half of the first inning. Camden Trendler was 2-for-3 with a double for Maroa-Forsyth, who finishes its campaign 24-10-1. 

It will be an Illini Prairie Conference Sectional Championship on Saturday when Tolono Unity battles St. Joseph-Ogden at 11 am in Monticello.