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Prep Football: Embrace The Chase

Mottos are the new trend in almost every sport. Eldorado is no exception this year.

EHS head football coach Brandon Hampton has talked about "Embrace The Chase" in regards to an Eagle football team that in many ways is regarded as the cream of the crop in the Black Diamond Conference this season.

A season ago, Eldorado went 9-0 in league play before falling to Athens in the first round of the IHSA Class 2A playoffs.

The Eagles could be just as good - if not better - than they were a year ago with many key pieces returning.

"Our kids have done a good job of handling the expectations," Hampton said. "They understand that last year was last year and this is a new team moving forward. There are obviously some expectations placed on us and we like that added pressure. You have to embrace it and talk about it and understand you are going to get everyone's best shot every Friday night.

"We have a mature football team that has some good leadership and they are really buying into the things we are talking about as a program."

The first order of business for the Eagles will be facing Vienna-Goreville, who went winless a year ago, but does return Southern Illinois Hall Of Famer and head coach Mike Rude, who left for two years to start the Morthland College football team.

Rude is back on the sidelines for V-G and that's the X-factor Hampton knows his team will have to overcome.

"My message to our kids has been embrace the chase," Hampton added. "You are the conference champ and Vienna-Goreville has been on hard times, but Friday night will be the best Vienna-Goreville team they will play in high school. I think we have a lot of respect for coach Rude and what he will bring to the table. We watched some video from 2012 when we went down there and got beat the last time Mike was the football coach there. I think this Eldorado team is a very mature team that will handle their business the right way and understand the things they need to do to have success."

The reason for showing that particular tape was two-fold for Hampton. It was the last time Eldorado had any film that highlighted Rude's coaching style, but it was also the last time that the Eagles lost to Vienna-Goreville.

"It was a lot more about X's and O's because it's really the last piece of film we have with Mike as a high school coach, but it certainly ended as motivation," Hampton said of the game film. We used it to show the anticipated look, but for sure, we showed it because this is what can happen to you if you take a game like this lightly. I think we got the message across."

Michael Dann covers prep and college sports for the Harrisburg Daily Register and Eldorado Daily Journal. Follow him on Twitter: @spydieshooter.