ROXANA – It’s curtain call time for the Southwestern High School Piasa Birds and the Roxana High School Shells football teams.
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In their final game of the football season, the two South Central Conference opponents will face off at Roxana in an effort to gain one more W and end the season on a positive note.
"It would be a big morale boost for our program," Southwestern coach Aaron Fricke said. We have been 3-6 the last two seasons, and a lot of people thought after losing so many seniors after the 2015 season that we would not be able to even get back to that mark. So, they know getting to that 4-5 would prove a lot of people wrong."
Roxana has faced quite a bit of adversity this season, currently retaining a 2-6 record after winning two matches against Litchfield Co-op on Sept. 30 (48-7) and Staunton last week (31-6).
"A win for the seniors would be a great way to finish the season," Roxana coach Pat Keith said. "I am very proud of this group of seniors for all the hard work they have put in this season."
Southwestern faced just as many challenges, also winning against Litchfield (42-41), Staunton (14-0) and Gillespie (22-8). Last week, Carlinville defeated the Birds 55-14.
Coach Fricke has the utmost respect for his competitor's this Friday and commends his fellow coach on a job well done throughout the season.
"We also know that Roxana is a tough matchup," Fricke said. "Coach Keith is one of the best coaches in our conference and his teams always come ready to play. I think it will be a battle for all four quarters."
The Cavaliers, along with Pana and Vandalia High Schools, have already clinched their playoff spots with a three-way tie for first place in the SCC, all teams having 7-1 records. Since both the Birds and Shells do not have six or more wins for the season, they are not eligible for a playoff spot.
Coach Keith is proud of his team's improvement over the past eight weeks and is ready to keep that momentum strong into next season.
"We have kept improving this past couple of weeks and hopefully we can end the season on a high note and build on that going into the 2017 season," Keith said."
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