Prep Football: Last Shot At Glory
On Sunday, the first day of practice for the East All-Star Football team at Johnston City High School, Indians and East head coach Dan Mings had an impromptu pep talk with members of the defense.
Mings talked about playing like your hair is on fire, selling out on every play, making the most out of your last time being able to put on a helmet and pads.
At the end, he asked if his guys were ready to go, in regards to Friday night's game. Harrisburg defensive back Noah Vallette looked back at Eldorado safety Drew Woolcott and said he was ready to go right then.
The motivating speech was something that Mings said in his 18 years of being apart of the All-Star contingent in southern Illinois never gets old.
"This is the 18th year I have done this so it's always fun to coach other people's kids and see if they know the basics and how quick they transfer," Mings said. "The amount of stuff these kids have to pick up in basically four days and how quickly they can do it, never ceases to amaze me. They do a great job of adapting to new coaches, new staff and even here on the first day, we are running some pretty complex stuff, but they're doing a great job."
Last year the West Team beat the East Team 40-30 in what was the first year for the showcase that featured an all southern Illinois lineup. In the past, the Southern Illinois All-Stars played the West Kentucky All-Stars, rotating between SIU and Murray State.
This year, the East team will feature players from Marion, Mt. Vernon, Massac County, Harrisburg, Eldorado, Hamilton County, Fairfield, West Frankfort, Benton, Vienna-Goreville, Carmi-White County and Johnston City.
Coaches for the East Team will include Marion's Kerry Martin and Jason Dunning, along with Eldorado's Brandon Hampton, West Frankfort's Brian Beery and Jory Dial, Benton's Jeremy Clodfelder and Bob Pankey, Mt. Vernon's Jared Shaner and Mark Goodheart, Fairfield's Justin Townsend, Carmi-White County's Kurt Simon and Clinton Wolff, Vienna-Goreville's Mike Rude, Hamilton County's Brian Blades, Harrisburg's Al Way, Paul Turner and Mings from Johnston City and Massac County's Ryan Lott will also help out.
The West Team will include players from Carbondale, Centralia, Nashville, Pinckneyville, Sparta, Du Quoin, Anna-Jonesboro, Murphysboro, Herrin, Carterville, Chester, Sesser-Valier-Waltonville-Woodlawn and Christopher-Zeigler-Royalton.
Head coach for the West Team will be Carterville's Dennis Drust, as well as, Centralia's Ray Kauling, Carbondale's Brian Lee, Anna-Jonesboro's Brett Detering, Herrin's Jason Karnes, Murphysboro's Gary Carter, Jeremy Blechle of Chester, Josh McCurren of CZR, Du Quoin's A.J. Hill, Tim Kuhn and Dan Wolf of Nashville, along with Todd Thomas of Pinckneyville, Rob Kirk of Sparta and John Shadowens of Sesser-Valier-Waltonville-Woodlawn.
Michael Dann covers prep and college sports for the Harrisburg Daily Register. Follow him on Twitter: @spydieshooter.
Southern Illinois East Squad
No. Name Pos. School
1 Chase Owens DB Benton
2 Seth Bayer WR Marion
3 Jailon Rush RB Mt. Vernon
4 Colton Land RB Fairfield
5 Adam Ninness QB Eldorado
6 De'von Wade RB Massac Co.
7 Drew Woolcott S Eldorado
8 Reed Millwood WR Mt. Vernon
11 Braden Zeigler RB Marion
12 Noah Vallette DB Harrisburg
13 Brock Costello WR Massac Co.
18 Izak Baker QB Marion
20 Drew Lucas DB Carmi
21 Wyatt Nelson LB Carmi
22 Colton Bond LB Hamilton Co.
24 Quin Colson LB Vienna-Goreville
28 Malik Miller LB Massac Co.
30 Chance Hilliard DL Marion
31 Jordan Kulich LB Benton
32 Corbin Crim WR Harrisburg
38 Scott Esmon FB Fairfield
40 Tommy Wilson LB Marion
42 Ryan Estheimer LB Fairfield
43 Damian Pike LB Hamilton Co.
44 Nico Gualdoni PK/P Johnston City
50 Ty Copley OL Massac Co.
51 Keshawn Lacy OL Marion
52 Dylan Toombs DL Fairfield
53 Drew Marshall LB Carmi
54 Zach Donaldson OL Massac Co.
55 Wade Marshall OL Carmi
56 Stephen Wilkerson OL WF
60 Lucian Hicks OL Harrisburg
62 Alex Bourland OL Mt. Vernon
64 Kyle Hand DL Hamilton Co.
65 A.J. Thompson DL Vienna-Goreville
66 Robert Debenport OL Fairfield
69 Sawyer Lueke DB Hamilton Co.
72 Logan Bowen DL Eldorado
74 Trevor Schubert DL Mt. Vernon
99 Brytan Bowers DE Mt. Vernon
Coaching Staff: Dan Mings (Johnston City), Brandon Hampton (Eldorado), Bob Pankey (Benton), Kurt Simon (Carmi), Clinton Wolff (Carmi), Justin Townsend (Fairfield), Brian Blades (Hamilton County), Al Way (Harrisburg), Paul Turner (Johnston City),Kerry Martin (Marion), Jason Dunning (Marion), Ryan Lott (Massac County), Jared Shaner (Mt. Vernon), Mark Goodheart (Mt. Vernon), Mike Rude (Vienna-Goreville), Jory Dial (West Frankfort), Brian Beery (West Frankfort).
Southern Illinois West Squad
No. Name Pos. School
1 Staci LaBranche DB Murphysboro
2 Collin Prather DB Anna-Jonesboro
3 Gabe Yearian WR Sparta
4 Alyze Nesbitt DB Sparta
5 Justin Parson-NalleyDE Carterville
6 Braden Miller QB Murphysboro
7 Aaron Wyatt LB Murphysboro
8 Deven Toennies DE Centralia
9 Dakota Earnhart WR Anna-Jonesboro
10 Marshall GrammerWR Murphysboro
12 Noah Baird DB Murphysboro
13 Dorian Reeves DB Centralia
15 Drew Kordys QB Sparta
16 Tucker Kuhnert WR Du Quoin
17 Jake Stark DB Anna-Jonesboro
20 Dustin Peradotto LB Pinckneyville
21 Caulden Lazenby RB Pinckneyville
22 Brock Bullar DB Du Quoin
23 Hunter Schultze RB Nashville
25 Blake Eggemeyer RB Chester
28 Will Price LB Sparta
30 Gavin Jordan LB Herrin
31 William Monroe DL Sparta
33 Jaris Dalman DE Nashville
40 Jordan Roseman DL Carbondale
42 Sam Simpson DE Pinckneyville
47 Clay Rendleman RB Murphysboro
50 Lucien Druex OL Carbondale
51 Ryan Hileman OL Anna-Jonesboro
52 Chase Stanowski LB Nashville
54 Brennan Lentz LB Carterville
56 Derek Mann DL Carterville
58 Josh Bays DL CZR
59 Nick Brown LB Nashville
60 Michael Hoedebecke OL Anna-Jonesboro
63 Charlie Gaines DL Du Quoin
64 Ryler Redeker DL Chester
65 Garrett Hoffman DL Chester
66 Ryne O'Rourke OL Du Quoin
67 Majed Naser OL Carbondale
68 Jesse Stilley OL Murphysboro
69 Alec Valerius OL Du Quoin
73 Logan Giles LB CZR
78 Austin Bennett DL Herrin
99 Ethan Gwin LB Sparta
Coaching Staff: Brett Detering (Anna-Jonesboro), Bryan Lee (Carbondale), Dennis Drust (Carterville), Ray Kauling (Centralia), Jeremy Blechle (Chester), Josh McCurren (CZR), A.J. Hill (Du Quoin), Jason Karnes (Herrin), Gary Carter (Murphysboro), Tim Kuhn (Nashville), Dan Wolf (Nashville), Todd Thomas (Pinckneyville), Rob Kirk (Sparta), John Shadowens (SVWW)
Southern Illinois East-West All-Star Game
<p><strong>When:</strong> Friday, 7 p.m.<br /><strong>Where:</strong> Marion High School<br /><strong>Admission</strong>: $5.00. 12-under free<br /><br /></p>