Week 1 Football: Every Galesburg-Area Game, Friday, August 21
Football is back a week early this year, and all seven local programs open on the same night.
Every Galesburg-area team plays Friday, August 21. Here is the full slate, with kickoff times, plus what to watch in each one.
The Week 1 slate
| Team | Opponent | Site | Kickoff |
|---|---|---|---|
| Galesburg | at Dunlap | Dunlap | 7:30 p.m. |
| Monmouth-Roseville | at Erie-Prophetstown | Erie | 7:00 p.m. |
| United | at Bureau Valley | Manlius | 7:00 p.m. |
| Knoxville | at Macomb | Macomb | 7:00 p.m. |
| ROWVA/Williamsfield | at Lewistown/Cuba/Spoon River Valley | Lewistown | 7:00 p.m. |
| Abingdon-Avon | West Hancock (Hamilton/Warsaw) | Abingdon | 7:00 p.m. |
| West Central | Flanagan/Cornell/Woodland | Biggsville | 7:00 p.m. |
Only two teams open at home. If you want to see local football in person on opening night without a drive, Abingdon and Biggsville are your stops.
Galesburg at Dunlap, 7:30 p.m.
The Silver Streaks open against Dunlap for the second straight year, and they will want to forget the first one — Dunlap won 44-0 at CBI Bank & Trust Stadium last August.
Third-year coach Shawn Hickey has reason to think the picture is different. He told WGIL in July that roughly 80 players turned out in June, up from 38 in his first summer, and was pointed about wanting the number to hold through kickoff rather than thin out the way summer rosters often do.
Dunlap is the largest school on Galesburg’s non-conference schedule, with an IHSA classification enrollment of 1,397 to Galesburg’s 1,120. This is a measuring stick before the Western Big 6 slate begins.
Monmouth-Roseville at Erie-Prophetstown, 7:00 p.m.
The most successful local program of 2025 opens on the road. The Titans went 10-2 and reached the Class 3A quarterfinals for the first time since 2018, earning the No. 5 seed, beating No. 12 Manteno 39-14 and then Bloomington Central Catholic 29-28 before falling to Richmond-Burton 31-6 in November.
Coach Jeremy Adolphson has been direct about the rebuild on defense — “We’re replacing some really, really good guys,” he told WMOI in July. “It’s just going to be a different defense.” Quarterback Kane Johnson returns. The stated goal is a sixth consecutive playoff berth, and with the expanded field, that target is more reachable than it has been.
Knoxville at Macomb, 7:00 p.m.
Knoxville is coming off a 5-5 season and a Class 1A playoff berth, and opens against one of the stronger programs in the Lincoln Trail-Prairieland Large division — Macomb went 9-2 last fall.
New coach Marty Turner takes over a roster with real continuity. He told WGIL the Blue Bullets return five offensive and six defensive starters, along with a senior quarterback who did not play last season.
United at Bureau Valley, 7:00 p.m.
The most intriguing under-the-radar game of the night. United went 1-8 last year — but coach Andrew Goodwin, in his third season, says the Red Storm return “90 percent of the offense coming back and 70 percent of the defense coming back, production-wise.”
Bureau Valley went 1-8 as well. Two teams with matching records and very different trajectories. Goodwin told WMOI the Red Storm are chasing their first playoff berth since 2021, and the expanded bracket makes that a real conversation rather than a hopeful one.
Abingdon-Avon vs. West Hancock, 7:00 p.m. (HOME)
A-Town opens at home under Rick Quinn, who previously led the program to a 10-1 season in 2021. The Tornadoes went 3-6 last year and closed with a 38-16 loss to ROWVA/Williamsfield.
West Hancock — listed on some schedules under its co-op name, Hamilton/Warsaw — went 6-4 in 2025 and lost in the first round of the playoffs. This is a step-up test in Week 1.
A-Town returns four all-conference players in Tre Kenon, Carson Stenger, Ryker Darst and lineman Cole Sheckler, plus quarterback Jamil Johnson, who threw for roughly 1,400 yards last season. Four of the Tornadoes’ 2025 games were decided by five points or fewer; they went 1-3 in them.
ROWVA/Williamsfield at LCSRV, 7:00 p.m.
The Cougars, 2-7 last year under Grant Gullstrand, open against a Lewistown/Cuba/Spoon River Valley program that finished at the bottom of the Large division without a win last fall. On paper this is one of ROWVA/W’s more winnable games, and opening 1-0 would change the temperature of the whole month.
ROWVA/Williamsfield ended last season on a high, beating Abingdon-Avon 38-16 in the finale.
West Central vs. Flanagan/Cornell/Woodland, 7:00 p.m. (HOME)
A reminder for newer readers: West Central plays eight-man football, in the Illinois 8-Man Football Association rather than the IHSA’s eleven-man structure. Different game, different playoff system, same Friday night.
The Heat went 7-3 last year, and the record undersells them: both losses that bookended the season came against West Carroll, 42-0 in the opener and 42-8 in the I8FA playoffs. In between, West Central went 7-1. West Carroll went on to reach the I8FA final eight. Coach Jason Kirby, in his 11th season at West Central and 28th overall, returns Aidan Garner, who ran for 238 yards and three touchdowns in last year’s 40-32 win over Flanagan/Cornell/Woodland — Friday’s opponent.
West Central won the I8FA state championship in 2022 with a 13-0 season, beating Amboy 44-36 in a final played at Monmouth College.
Getting scores to us
We will be posting a live scoreboard Friday night and full recaps Saturday morning. If you are at a game — coach, parent, student, or just someone in the bleachers — send us the score. Final or in-progress, both help.
Kickoff times are as listed by the IHSA and MaxPreps as of publication and are subject to change. Have a correction? Let us know and we will fix it same day.
Reported and edited by C. Jackson Cowart, whose work has appeared in ESPN, Forbes and Front Office Sports.
Send us a score. Coaches, parents, scorekeepers, anyone in the bleachers — email [email protected]. We post scores as they come in.
Spotted an error? We correct mistakes the same day. See our editorial standards and corrections policy. Schedules and records via IHSA and MaxPreps; quotes attributed to the outlets that reported them.
