Week 2 Preview: Six of Seven Area Teams Are Home, and Monmouth-Roseville Gets a Rematch
Six of seven area teams are home on Friday, August 28 — the best night of the young season to actually go watch football locally.
It is also the harder week. Week 1 brought Galesburg a rematch it wanted and gave several small schools a winnable opener. Week 2 brings a defending division champion, a 10-1 team, an 11-1 team and a coaching debut.
The Week 2 slate
| Game | Site | Time | Opponent 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Limestone at Galesburg | Galesburg | 7:00 | 0-9 |
| Rockridge at Monmouth-Roseville | Monmouth | 7:00 | 10-1 |
| Rushville-Industry at Knoxville | Knoxville | 7:00 | 7-3 |
| Illini West at United | Monmouth | 7:00 | 5-5 |
| Elmwood/Brimfield at ROWVA/Williamsfield | Oneida | 7:00 | 3-6 |
| Abingdon-Avon at Annawan-Wethersfield | Annawan | 7:00 | 11-1 |
| West Central at Blue Ridge/DeLand-Weldon | Farmer City | 6:30 | 1-7 |
The game of the week: Rockridge at Monmouth-Roseville
The best matchup in the area, and it is not particularly close.
Rockridge went 10-1 last season, won the Three Rivers Rock Division outright at 5-0, and lost only to Tri-Valley 24-17 in the playoffs. The Rockets were picked first in the Rock Division in the coaches poll and second by one point in the media poll, and MaxPreps had them third in Illinois Class 2A in mid-August. Quarterback Cullen Schwigen returns for coach Sam Graves, whose stated concern is line depth.
The history is fresh. Rockridge beat Monmouth-Roseville 48-12 on October 17 last season — the Titans’ only regular-season loss in a 10-2 year that ended in the Class 3A quarterfinals.
If Monmouth-Roseville is going to be what it was last fall while rebuilding a defense, this is the night that proves it.
United vs. Illini West: a coaching debut on the other sideline
Michael Lafferty takes over at Illini West this season, promoted from a long run as an assistant. He is a Carthage native who quarterbacked the Chargers to the 2008 state championship and was named All-State doing it. He kept most of the staff, including former head coach Jacob Calvin, who stayed on as defensive coordinator, and his father Tim Lafferty, a Hall of Famer, on special teams.
Illini West went 5-5, started 2-0, lost four straight, then won three in a row to make the playoffs. Junior quarterback Liam Murphy and senior linebacker Jaxson Steinkamp return; Murphy has said the goal is at least six wins and a playoff win.
The Chargers beat United 42-22 last October. For a United team returning most of its production, this is a measuring stick against a program a division above them.
Abingdon-Avon draws the toughest assignment
Annawan-Wethersfield went 11-1, went unbeaten in the regular season, won the Small division at 8-0, and reached the state semifinals before Lena-Winslow ended it 42-20. Coach Tony Gripp’s team also opened last season by beating Abingdon-Avon 44-14.
A-Town returns four all-conference players and a quarterback in Jamil Johnson who threw for roughly 1,400 yards. They will need all of it.
Galesburg gets a get-right game — and should not treat it as one
Limestone went 0-9 last season, scoring 97 points and allowing 433, and finished last in the Mid-Illini. Galesburg beat the Rockets 42-25 last September in one of only two Silver Streaks wins all year.
But second-year coach Cory Bielema has senior quarterback Tyler Hammond back, along with Cooper Clark and Maliek Sanders, and Hammond has been blunt about the expectation: “I’m not preaching ‘Hey, let’s go get two wins.’ Every game’s a winnable game.”
This is Galesburg’s home opener and, on paper, the most winnable game on a schedule that turns brutal in September.
Knoxville hosts a rebuild
Rushville-Industry went 7-3 and finished second in the Small division before losing 29-26 to Dwight in the playoff opener. But the Rockets graduated heavily and are being framed locally as a program in transition.
For Knoxville, opening 2-0 under a new coach would be a strong start to a season the expanded playoff field has already made more forgiving.
ROWVA/Williamsfield gets a home date
Elmwood/Brimfield went 3-6 and finished on a four-game losing streak, but brings back a running back pair in Myles Alger and Logan Estes behind a big defensive line. Coach Todd Hollis is in his 28th season.
West Central travels, and travels early
The Heat go to Farmer City to face Blue Ridge/DeLand-Weldon, which went 1-7 last season in eight-man play, its only win coming by forfeit. Note the earlier kickoff: 6:30 p.m., the only non-7:00 start on the local slate.
Live scoreboard Friday night. Recaps Saturday morning. Kickoff times from IHSA and MaxPreps and subject to change — tell us if you spot one wrong 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.
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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.
