ALTON - The possibility of rain and stormy weather looms over Week 3 of the high school football season this week after a pair of games that had been set for Friday night were moved back to Thursday because of forecasts of bad weather because of the remnants of Tropical Storm Gordon would be hitting the area over the weekend, bringing heavy rains and thunderstorms with it.
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The National Weather Service has the area under a Flash Flood Watch that began at 1 a.m. today and runs through 7 a.m. Sunday; in games that were moved back to Thursday, Jersey defeated Centralia 21-14 in overtime thanks to a Brian McDonald 1-yard TD plunge after the Panthers (1-2) had gotten to a 14-0 lead at the half; McDonald also scored on a 4-yard run in the second quarter and Kurt Hall had scored on a 12-yard burst in the opening quarter before the Orphans (0-3) tied it on a Mason Blakemore 2-yard run and a two-point convert from Davin Tabor in the late going of regulation time. The win was Ric Johns’ first as JCHS’ coach.
Granite City fell to 1-2 on the year Thursday when they went to Francis Howell and took a 49-10 loss to the Vikings, while Quincy defeated Belleville East 42-23 and Belleville West upended Fort Zumwalt West 28-10 in games involving Southwestern Conference teams.
The feature game of Week 3 – with all kickoff times slated for 7 p.m. - will be played at Edwardsville’s Tiger Stadium, when EHS hosts East St. Louis in what could be a key game in the Southwestern Conference; the Tigers go into the game at 1-1 on the year after last week’s 58-45 shootout loss to CBC on the road while the Flyers are 1-1 after a 32-26 triple-overtime win over Trinity.
Breese Central comes to face Marquette Catholic at 7 tonight at Public School Stadium in Alton.
Elsewhere in the Southwestern Conference this week, Alton (1-1) heads to Kahok Stadium to meet up with Collinsville (1-1); the Redbirds are coming off a 41-37 nail-biting win over Quincy on the road last week, while the Kahoks defeated Triad 46-27 on the road last week.
Over in the Mississippi Valley Conference, Civic Memorial (2-0) will have a tough road test against the South Seven’s Cahokia (1-1), the Eagles defeating East Alton-Wood River 8-0 last week in another backyard rivalry game at home, while the Comanches dropped a 20-12 decision to Cardinal Ritter of St. Louis last week; Triad (0-2) also plays a South Seven school this week as Mount Vernon comes calling, the Knights having fallen to Collinsville last week while the Rams (0-2) dropped a 34-0 decision to Dunlap last week.
Over in the South Central Conference, Roxana (1-1) hits the road to visit Hillsboro after having dropped their home opener to Pana last week 55-6 while the Hilltoppers lost 41-6 to Vandalia last week, while Piasa Southwestern (1-1) heads to Staunton to meet up with the Bulldogs (1-1). The Piasa Birds threw a 53-0 shutout against Litchfield last week while Staunton lost 40-14 to Greenville.
In the Prairie State Conference, Marquette Catholic (1-1) opens their league campaign at home against Nokomis (1-1), with the Explorers looking to shake off their 50-14 loss to Breese Mater Dei last week and the Redskins coming off a loss to 49-7 loss to Mowequa Central A&M; East Alton-Wood River will head to Sam Dymas Field for a 2 p.m. Saturday game against Madison (2-0). The Trojans were recently accepted as a PSC member beginning next school year; the Oilers are coming off an 8-0 loss to Civic Memorial last week while Madison defeated Miller Career Academy of St. Louis 6-0 on the road. South Mac (the Bunker Hill-Mount Olive coop; the Chargers are 0-2) heads to Pawnee (0-2) for a league game coming off a 40-7 loss to Niantic Sangamon Valley on the road last week while the Indians dropped a 54-6 decision to Clinton on the road last week.
Over in the Western Illinois Valley South, Carrollton (0-2), coming off a 40-6 loss to Beardstown last week, hosts Hardin-Calhoun (0-2), who dropped a 42-15 decision to Jacksonville Routt last week; North Greene (0-2), coming off a 60-8 loss to Camp Point Central last week, heads to Pleasant Hill (0-2), who fell to Concord Triopia 41-6 last week. Among independent schools, Metro East Lutheran’s game against Polo was moved to Polo because of the weather forecasts; the Knights (0-1) dropped their delayed season opener at home to Dupo last week, while the Marcos (1-1) of the Northwest Upstate Illini Conference’s Upstate Division lost to Millidgeville 26-8 last week.
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