ALTON - Alton High School closed its football season on Friday night with a 47-20 loss to Belleville West, despite a solid effort, but the future looks bright for the Redbirds.
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The Redbirds finished 1-8 overall for the season, but Friday night for three quarters were within 14 points of the Maroons 35-20 and driving until a turnover. If the Redbirds had scored at that point, they would have been within 8 points with plenty of time left.
There was no question this was a rebuilding season for the Redbirds, losing an abundance of senior starters from the 2014 team. This season, 10 sophomores saw considerable varsity playing time out of the 22 starters on offense and defense. Alton's first-year head football coach Eric Dickerson said he thinks the experience the players received on both varsity and junior varsity play will be invaluable for next year.
Quarterback Keenan Stegall and running back Asa Collins both graduate this year, which will hurt the Redbirds offensively, but there is a crop of players coming up to occupy the positions.
The biggest positive this year of the Redbird football program was the freshmen were 9-0 on the season.
“The freshmen, sophomores and juniors returning will be a great group of kids,” Dickerson said. “They need to stay together as a team and not get down. It is sad to see the seniors graduate, but that happens every year. We are glad our freshmen and sophomores have been able to taste success in their games and we hope that helps us in the future.”
The Redbirds demonstrated a lot of speed on the field this past year and Dickerson looks for that only to continue next season.
“If we can get those football kids out for track they will get faster and it will help us in both sports,” Dickerson said. “It is a win-win situation for both football and track programs if we can get those kids out because the two go hand in hand.”
