Stark County Rebels Football: 2026 Schedule and Results
Latest result — Week 3, Friday September 4: won 54-51 at United. Now 3-0. Next: Macomb at home, Friday September 11, 7:00.
2026: 3-0 · Coach: Jade Noard · Division: Lincoln Land North · Home: Gary Johnson Field, Toulon
Three state championship game appearances. Three defeats. No school in this division has come closer, more often, to a title without winning one.
The three finals
Stark County has reached the IHSA Class 1A state final in 1997 (lost to Galena), 2008 (lost to Concord Triopia) and 2015 (lost to Arcola).
The IHSA record is stark: 27 playoff qualifications, three trophies, zero first-place finishes.
2026 so far
- Aug 21 — beat Astoria/VIT 27-14 at home
- Aug 28 — beat Farmington 25-18 on the road
- Sept 4 — beat United 54-51, away in Monmouth. A hundred and five points between them. Stark County stay unbeaten, but a winless side scored fifty-one on them.
Jade Noard has coached the Rebels since at least 2004.
2025
5-5 overall, 5-3 in conference, and a Class 1A playoff berth as the No. 15 seed — which meant a first-round trip to No. 2 Annawan-Wethersfield and a 31-8 defeat.
That was with only three returning starters from an 8-2 team. The year before that: 10-1, with a 7-0 conference sweep.
2026 schedule
| Date | Opponent | Site | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 21 | Astoria/VIT | Home | W 27-14 |
| Aug 28 | at Farmington | Away | W 25-18 |
| Sept 4 | at United | Away | — |
| Sept 11 | Macomb | Home | — |
| Sept 18 | at ROWVA/Williamsfield † | Away | — |
| Sept 25 | Annawan-Wethersfield † | Home | — |
| Oct 2 | at Bureau Valley † | Away | — |
| Oct 9 | Knoxville † | Home | — |
| Oct 16 | at Princeville † | Away | — |
† Lincoln Land North. All 7:00 p.m.
September 25 is the one. Annawan-Wethersfield beat Stark County 31-8 in last year’s playoff opener. Both are 2-0. It is probably the division decider.
The mascot they redesigned on purpose
Stark County are the Rebels, in red, black and white. Until 2022 the logo was Confederate imagery.
The district retired it, put the replacement to a community and student vote, and kept the name. Superintendent Brett Elliott’s argument was historical rather than only political: the original intent, he said, “was to be a Revolutionary War rebel or patriot.”
Six schools became one
Stark County High School in Toulon — county seat, population 1,193 — is the product of six predecessor high schools: Toulon (founded 1847), Toulon Township, LaFayette, Toulon-LaFayette, Wyoming and Bradford, which closed in 2001.
The building has had recent money spent on it: a $16.5 million renovation completed in autumn 2022, and a $4.5 million, 1,250-seat gymnasium that opened on January 10, 2025.
IHSA enrollment: 221.
Notable alumni
Paul Unruh, from Toulon High School, is the most decorated athlete connected to any school in this division. He played at Bradley from 1946 to 1950, scored 1,822 career points, led the team in scoring all four years, and was a consensus first-team All-American in 1950 — the year Bradley finished runner-up in both the NIT and the NCAA tournament.
His number 15 is retired. He was drafted 20th overall in 1950 but never played in the NBA, and is regarded as an early practitioner of the modern jump shot.
Where the season goes from here
Stark County opens division play at ROWVA/Williamsfield on September 18, then hosts Annawan-Wethersfield on the 25th. Before that come two non-conference tests: at United on September 4 and at home to Macomb, a 9-2 team last season, on the 11th.
The schedule is front-loaded and then relentless — five straight division games to finish.
What the record book says
The IHSA credits Stark County with 27 football playoff qualifications and three trophies, all second place. Only Knoxville, with 24, comes close among the schools we cover.
One caution worth printing: Wikipedia states Stark County holds eight state championships in team athletics. IHSA data does not support that figure, and the school does not appear in the girls basketball champions list. We have not been able to verify it and are not repeating it as fact.
Beyond football
The Rebels field baseball, boys basketball, soccer and wrestling; girls basketball, golf, soccer, softball and volleyball.
Volleyball results for 2026 have not yet been posted — the school’s MaxPreps page had not been updated since August 24 at the time of writing. If you have results, we would like them.
The gym
The 1,250-seat gymnasium opened on January 10, 2025, at a cost of $4.5 million, following a $16.5 million renovation of the wider building completed in autumn 2022.
For a district built from six closed high schools in a county of fewer than 5,500 people, that is a substantial statement of intent. The motto on the wall reads “Pride and Excellence.”
The three finals
Worth setting out individually, because losing a state championship game three times is its own kind of history.
- 1997 — lost the Class 1A final to Galena
- 2008 — lost the Class 1A final to Concord Triopia
- 2015 — lost the Class 1A final to Arcola
Eighteen years between the first and the last. Three different generations of Toulon players have gone to a state final and come home without the trophy.
The 2025 season, and the rematch
Stark County went 5-5 last year with only three returning starters from an 8-2 team — defensive backs Connor Dahm and Chase Holmstrom, plus one offensive starter.
They still made the Class 1A field as the No. 15 seed, which sent them to No. 2 Annawan-Wethersfield for a 31-8 first-round defeat.
Those two teams meet again at Gary Johnson Field on September 25, both currently unbeaten.
Six schools, one building
Stark County High School is what remains of six separate high schools: Toulon, founded in 1847, Toulon Township from 1912, LaFayette, the merged Toulon-LaFayette from 1970, Wyoming from 1992, and Bradford, which closed in 2001.
A county of fewer than 5,500 people now supports one high school where six once stood. That consolidation history is the single best explanation for why a school of 221 students has 27 football playoff berths in its record: the programme carries the athletic tradition of half a dozen towns.
Send us results
We cannot be at every stadium. If you have a score, a stat line or a photo from this program, send it in — we post them as they come and correct errors the same day.
Records via IHSA and MaxPreps; facility and mascot detail via the district and Illinois Weeklies. Lincoln Land North standings →
