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How a Peoria semipro 8-man football team earned a shot to play in an NFL stadium

dave eminian, peoria journal star
·4 min read
The Peoria Punishers celebrate their fourth consecutive Mid-American 8-man Football League Championship during the summer of 2023. Now the semipro adult team is headed to a national title game in Minnesota.
The Peoria Punishers celebrate their fourth consecutive Mid-American 8-man Football League Championship during the summer of 2023. Now the semipro adult team is headed to a national title game in Minnesota.

PEORIA — They call it want-to football, a semipro level where players are on the field because they love the game and still dream big about it.

Well, the Peoria Punishers also want to be national champions. And they will get that chance Saturday, on the NFL field of the Minnesota Vikings, in a showcase game that will be live-streamed.

The Punishers are Peoria's adult 8-man semipro football team. They have been around for two decades, and this summer went 11-0 and swept to a Mid-American 8-man Football League title.

The franchise, now owned by Melissa Gonzales — a nurse practitioner in a Peoria area Carle medical facility — has won 43 straight games. Her team — which includes husband, Adrian Gonzales, the team's 36-year-old center — will play in the 2023 Pigskin Classic, a showcase in Minnesota of 8-man and 9-man football champions from around the country.

Adrian Gonzales, 36, has played in the Mid-American 8-man Football League for a decade and is now the center for a Peoria Punishers semipro team headed to a national title game in Minnesota.
Adrian Gonzales, 36, has played in the Mid-American 8-man Football League for a decade and is now the center for a Peoria Punishers semipro team headed to a national title game in Minnesota.

"My husband has played in this league for the last 10 years and then he joined the Punishers three years ago," Gonzales said. "I got into this when the (previous) longtime Peoria owner wanted to step down. They were looking to take on another owner to join (then Punishers GM) Justin Miller as a co-owner. I wanted to give it a try.

"Now Justin is stepping down to concentrate on recruiting for us. I am the sole owner now and it's been a very interesting experience.

"Our team is just stacked, and these guys love to play, they are devoted to it. We want them to have this chance to say they played on an NFL field, won a championship there."

The 2023 Pigskin Classic

Peoria Punishers receivers Kenny King (11) and Austin Kingsley celebrate a touchdown during the 2023 season. They'll try to help Peoria's semipro football team to a national title in a game at Minnesota on Sept. 30, 2023.
Peoria Punishers receivers Kenny King (11) and Austin Kingsley celebrate a touchdown during the 2023 season. They'll try to help Peoria's semipro football team to a national title in a game at Minnesota on Sept. 30, 2023.

Peoria will face the Mountain Lake Lakers at 6 p.m. Saturday in a national title game at U.S. Bank Stadium, home of the Minnesota Vikings.

The Lakers, from Minneapolis-St. Paul, are champions of the Southern Plains Football League, which is the host group for the two-day weekend that will include 24 adult men's and women's teams and 30 youth teams all at U.S. Bank Stadium.

The Lakers play 9-man football, while Peoria is in an 8-man league. For the title game, the hosts' format will be used. So it's a 9-man game with some rules adjusted to accommodate both league formats.

The Punishers got there by beating the Midwest Hawks in the MA8FL championship game earlier this fall.

The trip to Minnesota will cost the team $3,500-$5,000 plus a 350-ticket sales guarantee. There is a GoFundMe page set up to help defray those costs.

"We're the headliner for this event," Gonzales said. "It's a national championship game. We won a national title in 2021 when we traveled to Springfield, Mo., and beat the Queen City Asylum.

"We want to do it again."

The game will be live-streamed from Minneapolis-St. Paul on pages for the Southern Plains Football League and on the Punishers Facebook page.

Who are the Punishers?

Peoria's semipro football team is four-time champion of the Mid-American 8-man Football League, a central Illinois circuit with teams like the Plow City Horsemen (Canton), Quad City Nighthawks, Midstate Thunderbirds (Bloomington) and the Midwest Hawks. There are teams from Bloomington, Champaign, Springfield and beyond.

Peoria plays its home games at the old Woodruff High School football field. The league playoff tournament this season was staged at Dunlap High School.

Players have to be 18 to be eligible for the league, and can't be active on a high school football roster.

The Punishers roster 40 players, and over the years have had guys play into their late 30s and 40s.

The season begins in March and runs through the summer, and the league uses high school football rules.

Former St. Ambrose football player and defensive end Cory Price anchors the Peoria Punishers defense unit as the adult semipro team heads to Minnesota for a national title game on Sept. 30, 2023.
Former St. Ambrose football player and defensive end Cory Price anchors the Peoria Punishers defense unit as the adult semipro team heads to Minnesota for a national title game on Sept. 30, 2023.

This season, the Punishers played without a head coach, delegating game-planning and game-day duties to assistants and veteran players.

But they've hired DT Thornton to take over as head coach in 2024. He's a former 8-man football player who served the Peoria rival Midwest Hawks as offensive coordinator in 2022 and defensive coordinator in 2023. He has high school football coaching experience, as well.

Gonzales mentioned several players who are at the core of the Punishers team as it heads to Minnesota.

The defense — which allowed a league record low in points in 2023 — is anchored by defensive backs Derrick Taylor and Nakolis Spiller, and linebacker Larry Carroll and defensive end Cory Price, the latter a Pekin fireman and former St. Ambrose player.

The offense has a share at quarterback, with Decatur native Quinton Fonville and veteran Andre Locke, the latter scheduled to become OC next season.

Peoria Punishers running back Quinton Fonville breaks tackles during a Mid-American 8-man Football League game in 2023.
Peoria Punishers running back Quinton Fonville breaks tackles during a Mid-American 8-man Football League game in 2023.

The receivers include Malik Harris (Bloomington), Justin Payne (Macomb) and Kenny King (Chicago).

Go-to running backs are Ladji Diallo and Zach Minch, both Quad Cities natives.

"I watched football with my parents as a kid growing up, and I loved it," said Gonzales, a Pekin native and Pekin High School graduate. "And I love watching these guys play just as much."

Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men's basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @icetimecleve.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Peoria Punishers semipro 8-man football team gets national title shot on an NFL field