WOOD RIVER - With the Illinois High School Association recently announcing that their football season will be moved from the fall to the spring because of the current COVID-19 pandemic, many of the area teams and coaches were able to breathe a sigh of relief, as they now know that there will be a season.
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It's not any different at East Alton-Wood River High School, where the Oilers will be ready to play in the spring of 2021, and everyone on the team's already looking ahead.
The announcement of the decision didn't come as a surprise to Oilers' head coach Garry Herron.
"I wasn't shocked," Herron said during a recent interview. "I kind of thought that's how things were going to go, but I'm glad for the seniors who are going to get to play their last season, and it looks like we might be playing Roxana a year earlier than we thought. But the main thing is that the kids are going to get to play a season, and that's the most important thing."
The fact that the Oilers and Shells may play each other a year earlier than expected is due to the fact that both schools are leaving their respective conferences --- the Prairie State Conference for EAWR, and the South Central Conference for Roxana --- to join what will be an 18-team Cahokia Conference by 2022-23, and both schools will be in the same division, leading to the renewal of the backyard rivalry. Because of scheduling requirements put in place by the IHSA, both schools will be limited to conference play and against teams in their local area. Herron doesn't see a problem in filling out the Oilers' schedule this spring.
"I think it will," Herron said. "I think there's enough teams in the local area, plus the teams in the Prairie State, so we shouldn't have any problems filling our our schedule."
Herron is looking ahead to joining the Cahokia Conference, with the possibility of joining their new league a year ahead of schedule.
"I think it's tough to say, really, about how all this stuff goes on," Herron said. "We're just looking forward to that stability, and knowing the same teams will be there year in and year out, so that will be a big thing for us."
Although the school, along with others, will be playing in the spring, the bottom line is that no matter when it's played, it's still football.
"At the end of the day, it's the same thing," Herron said. "It'll be different, in that it'll be cold to start instead of hot, but I think the kids will be motivated to play, no matter the season."
The most important thing for the Oiler players is to make sure they keep up with their schoolwork in order to remain eligible to play. It's a first things first approach for Herron.
"I know they're going to be motivated enough, but the big thing is for the kids to keep up with their schoolwork," Herron said. "They can be motivated all they want, but they've got to be motivated in the classroom, too."
Like everyone else, Herron is just hoping for life to get back to normal at the end of the pandemic, and is looking forward to it for everyone involved.
"We just want to get back to some normalcy," Herron said.Chris Rhodes also contributed to this story.
