High school football has arrived in Peoria. Here are 23 questions for the 2023 season

Hello and welcome back, high school football.

Practice opened across the state on Monday, signifying Week 1 games will kick off in 18 days. The field for the 256-team, eight-class playoffs will then be unveiled on Oct. 21. Four weeks of playoffs will follow before the state championship games are played on Nov. 25-26.

Here are 23 questions and answers to consider ahead of the 2023 season.

1. What’s the Week 1 schedule look like?

The newly renovated Peoria Stadium will be on full display come Aug. 25. Rochester, which has won eight state championships since 2010, visits Peoria High for a 7 p.m. kickoff. Traditional power Sterling visits Metamora and its new turf field at 7:30 p.m. Manual and Peoria Notre Dame also meet at Richwoods Stadium to open Big 12 Conference play at 7 p.m. One under-the-radar small-school game matches up two returning playoff teams in Knoxville at Elmwood/Brimfield at 7 p.m.

2. Who will win the Mid-Illini Conference?

There seems to be three preseason frontrunners. Washington would love to send off retiring coach Darrell Crouch with his eighth conference title. Metamora hasn't won an outright league championship since 2014. Dunlap could be dangerous once its quarterback situation gets figured out. Don't sleep on reigning champion Pekin, which did lose nine all-league players to graduation including the lethal combo of Kanye Tyler and Tanner Sprecher. Morton and Limestone could be dark horses for a top-three spot in the final standings.

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3. Who is Peoria High's Tino Gist?

Gist should be a Peoria-area household name by now. The Peoria High senior quarterback enters his third varsity season — his second full season as the starter — with plenty of big-game experience. Gist had a monster junior season with 2,364 yards with 24 touchdowns, earning Journal Star all-area and all-Big 12 Conference first-team honors.

4. How's Adam O'Neill's first year at Morton going to be?

The Potters have undergone some change in the offseason. Adam O'Neill has replaced Tim Brilley as head coach, bringing his suffocating defense with him to the Mid-Illini. The former Peoria High defensive coordinator has the benefit of returning starter quarterback Jude Hart. However, the Potters must replace five all-Mid-Illini players on defense. Not to worry, O'Neill will have Morton ready for Week 1's visit from Mahomet-Seymour.

5. Who are some of Peoria's wide receivers to watch?

These ball catchers — TQ Webb (Peoria High), Mason Hawkins (Richwoods), Kenyon Johnson (Limestone), Korbin Woerly (Canton), Sean Franklin (Peoria High) and Dante Golden (El Paso-Gridley) — will all be worth keeping an eye on this season.

6. Has Metamora ever played this many games on artificial turf?

No. This is a first for the Redbirds. Metamora will play eight — five home games, then contests at LaSalle-Peru, Morton and East Peoria — of its nine games on turf this season. The lone game on grass comes Week 5 in Canton.

7. What's the outlook at traditional power Richwoods?

Here's a prediction: the Knights will make the playoffs. Richwoods is six years removed from its last postseason appearance. Third-year coach James Ulrich and the Knights have a great shot at being 3-0 heading into Week 4 against rival Peoria Notre Dame. Look for Darrin Dussett and TJ Smith to be defensive catalysts for Richwoods, which opens the season with Bloomington.

8. Who is going to be Dunlap's QB1?

Great question. The quarterback competition is between a pair of sophomores. Mack Sutter and John Bargen shared snaps at the Washington 7-on-7 in late July. Bargen, who is more of a pocket passer, was the backup to Madyn Burke last season, while Sutter, who is a dual threat, took snaps on all three levels as a freshman.

9. Who has the opportunity to be this season's Malachi Washington?

The Peoria High running back was a relative unknown coming into the 2022 campaign. Washington, who rushed for 3,348 yards and 53 touchdowns, took Peoria by storm in leading the Lions to a Class 5A runner-up finish. Three names have the potential to have big-time seasons — Washington's Kainon McQueary, Mark Frederick of Metamora and Maliek Ross from Peoria High.

10. Is Limestone capable of making the playoffs?

The short answer? Yes. The Rockets haven't been to the playoffs since 2015, but returning experience gives coach Jeff Schmider a confidence boost. First, Limestone will need to snap a 13-game losing streak and that can happen in Week 1 against Mt. Zion.

11. Can Peoria High make another run to the title game?

Absolutely. Coach Tim Thornton returns 13 players from their two-deep depth chart from last season's Class 5A state runner-up. The defense will be a huge strength with at least six defenders back. The offense, under new offensive coordinator Asa Lewis, will be as high-powered as ever. Look for the Lions to be a ring contender, for sure.

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12. Who is the Peoria area’s best college prospect?

Gary Rutherford has plenty of opportunities to play football at the next level. The Peoria High senior linebacker has picked up seven offers, earning spots from Indiana, Illinois State, Western Illinois, Southern Illinois, Lindenwood University, Eastern Illinois and Wyoming. Rutherford was the Lions' leading tackler last season with 118.

13. What's the quarterback situation looking like in Eureka?

The Hornets no longer have all-conference quarterback Jake Morin under center. His senior season was incredible: 1,815 passing yards with 24 touchdowns on a 70.1 completion percentage with 354 rushing yards and six TDs. Now, coach Jason Bachman must replace that gunslinger. Either junior Austin Gerber or senior Dawson Dorn will be responsible an offense that averaged 32.4 points a game last season.

14. What will the Manual defense look like this season?

Second-year coach Dennis Bailey brings back several big-time guys on the defensive side of the ball. Senior defensive linemen Nas King (all-Big 12 Conference honorable mention) and Mikal Miller (five tackles for loss) will be big up front. Sean Smith, a 6-foot-3, 250-pound Richwoods transfer, will be a hybrid defender as a linebacker/defensive end. In the secondary, defensive back DeMarcus Lucas, who had 40 tackles, 10 pass breakups and three interceptions last season, will take on opponents' WR1.

15. How many Peoria-area teams made the playoffs in 2022?

In Class 1A to Class 7A, there were 21 teams that participated in last season's playoffs: Stark County, ROWVA/Williamsfield, Annawan/Wethersfield, St. Bede, Rushville-Industry, El Paso-Gridley, Farmington, Knoxville, Princeton, Elmwood/Brimfield, Monmouth/Roseville, Olympia, Eureka, Hall, Macomb, Metamora, LaSalle-Peru, Dunlap, Peoria High, Washington and Pekin.

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16. How many 8-player teams are there in the Peoria area?

In the five divisions of 8-player football, Peoria Quest, Peoria Heights, Bushnell-Prairie City, Galva and West Prairie/Augusta Southeastern are the five Peoria-area teams. Quest is making its program debut this season under first-year coach Mauriece Coates.

17. What's the outlook on Peoria Notre Dame?

Experience will be key for the Irish, who went 3-6 last season and suffered half those losses by eight points or less. Four players are extremely important for coach Pat Armstrong and PND's success in 2023: Mike McLaughlin, Ben Mullens, Jack Hanley and Liam O'Neill.

18. How many schools will have artificial turf for 2023?

11. East Peoria, Eureka, Illinois Valley Central, LaSalle-Peru, Dunlap, Washington, Morton, Metamora, El Paso-Gridley, plus Peoria High and Manual, which both play at Peoria Stadium.

19. Is this the final year of the Heart of Illinois Conference?

Yes and no. The Heart of Illinois and the Central Illinois conferences merge in fall 2024 to form the football-only Heart of Central Illinois Conference. The Peoria-area schools involved in the new league include current HOIC members Deer Creek-Mackinaw, El Paso-Gridley, Eureka, Fieldcrest and Tremont. Those five schools as well as the Colfax Ridgeview/Lexington co-op, Downs Tri-Valley, Fisher, Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley, Heyworth and Le Roy will join up CIC schools are Clinton, Macon-Meridian, Moweaqua Central A&M, Shelbyville, Tuscola and Warrensburg-Latham. Right now, the new HOCI will split into two eight-team divisions with an estimated enrollment of 290-300.

20. What does the newly formed LincolnLand Conference look like?

There are two divisions for the Lincoln Trail and Prairieland merger. Aledo Mercer County, Illini West, Elmwood/Brimfield, Farmington, Hamilton, Knoxville, Lewistown/Valley/Cuba and Macomb are in the large-school division. In the small-school division, Abingdon-Avon, South Fulton, Havana, Annawan/Wethersfield, United, ROWVA/Williamsfield, Princeville, Rushville-Industry and Stark County are the nine schools.

21. When does Mid-Illini Conference play begin?

Week 3. The league plays its nonconference games the first two weeks of the season, then heads into the third week of the season ready for conference play. Washington at Metamora, Morton at Canton, Dunlap at Pekin and East Peoria at Limestone make for a very competitive opening week of M-I action.

22. Who are the frontrunners for Journal Star Player of the Year?

Four names from two teams come to mind: Peoria High quarterback Tino Gist and receiver/defender Gary Rutherford, plus Washington running back/safety Kainon McQueary and linebacker/fullback Jase Harlan.

23. Where are the 2023 IHSA state championships?

The 2023 state titles games have a new home for the next five years. This past December, the Ilinois High School Association approved Illinois State University's Hancock Stadium as the host for the eight state championship games on Nov. 24-25. The University of Illinois and Northern Illinois had alternated hosting the state title games since 1998.

Adam Duvall is a Journal Star sports reporter. Email him at aduvall@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @AdamDuvall.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Peoria football preview 2023: 23 questions as IHSA practice opens