Winning a state high school football championship is rare. Peoria area schools winning two in a season hasn’t been accomplished to my memory. But that’s what happened this fall, as both 13-1 Peoria High and 13-1 Dee Mac won their respective IHSA class titles, the first in football for both schools.
Peoria High set a state record for most points ever scored in a season, amassing 805 points in 14 games. The Lions defeated Vernon Hills, 62-48, in the Class 5A championship game at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, as heard here Saturday on 95.5, GLO’s Illinois National Bank Red Zone presented by OSF Healthcare. Big Twelve champion Peoria High earned its first-ever football state championship to go along with its five boys basketball titles.
Dee Mac rolled through its schedule this season, too. Like Peoria High, Dee Mac’s only blemish came in the final regular season game, week 9, a tight loss to #1 Tri Valley. The Chiefs ground and pound offense racked up 656 points this season, averaging 47 points a game. This season, though, Dee Mac trotted out a greatly improved defense that notched five shutouts in their first six games and only surrendered one touchdown each in the semifinal and final victories in the Class 2A post season.
Other teams had successful seasons, too, that just didn’t end up in headline-grabbing state championships. In Class 5A, three area teams reached the quarterfinals, including the state champion Lions, and Mid Illini champion Washington and Metamora. And Dunlap could make a case that it was the best team in the talented Mid Illini at the end of the season. The Eagles great defense helped knock off Metamora and Canton late in the season and did the best job of slowing down the record-setting Peoria High offense by limiting the Lions to 21 points in the playoff opener.
We did our best to spread the Red Zone spotlight around. Here’s a tally of what teams appeared on our main radio game of the week:
Peoria High – 5
Washington – 3
Metamora – 3
Dunlap – 3
Notre Dame – 2
Richwoods – 2
Pekin – 2
Limestone – 2
Elmwood-Brimfield and Stark County – 1
We assigned our secondary play by play guy, Tom Meredith, around the area for live coverage and reports from a key game each week. Dee Mac appeared twice on those games, as did resurgent Peoria Heights. Tremont, Princeville, Elmwood Brimfield and many of the above listed schools had parts of their games called on live, local radio.
A huge thanks goes out to my Red Zone team. No one knows more football than my color analyst, Bruce Cowdrey, the 40-year college and pro coaching lifer. Veteran Tom Meredith filled in as sideline reporter in the playoffs in addition to his regular season role. Tyler Busch compiled the game of the week stats, Jason Glick produced the broadcast and hunted the scores of area games each week and E.J. Hendon produced Tom’s weekly score updates from the secondary game.
Supporting sponsors like Starcrest Cleaners, Heartland Apartments and Rocket Tire Service played a big role in supporting our broadcast. Hope you’ll remember to tune in for the 2017 high school football season for our unprecedented coverage. It’s the Illinois National Bank Red Zone game of the week presented by OSF Healthcare on Peoria’s home for classic rock and football, 95.5, GLO.
Doc Watson
