We had dramatic finishes, late finishes and so much more in Week 1 of the Illinois high school football season.
Here is the Journal Star preps experience for Week 1, your one-stop shop as we look around the Peoria-area football landscape to open the 2024 high school season:
Looking for previews? Tap here to find all of our preview stories , including top players and new coaches.
Looking for the scoreboard? You can find that here
Watch IHSA football games on NFHS Network all season
Peoria High and new coach Aaron Montgomery proved the lone winner from the city as Notre Dame, Richwoods and Manual all lost their openers.
Half of the Mid-Illini opened its season with nonconference wins: Dunlap, East Peoria, Metamora and Pekin. Sam Durley won his debut with EP, while new coaches Todd Stevens (Washington) and Nick McCormick (Canton) came up short in Week 1.
And speaking of debuts, we had a unique one in Pekin. Former NFL kicker Robbie Gould made his sideline debt as coach of the Rolling Meadows football team. Our Dave Eminian was there .
Elite talent and late dramatics: Top performers from Week 1 in Peoria high school football
Morton and Mahomet-Seymour are early in the fourth quarter of their opening night game, which did not begin until 9 p.m. because of inclement weather in east central Illinois.
Mahomet leads 62-37 with about 10 minutes to go as of about 11:15 p.m. Friday night. We might slip into Saturday in this one.
The Sam Durley Era is off to a winning start.
East Peoria won its season opener under the new coach, escaping Springfield Southeast 28-26 for a penalty-filled nonconference victory at EastSide Centre.
EP sealed the game in the final minute when Aidin Hindert grabbed an interception on fourth down. Hindert also had a pair of touchdown catches from quarterback Dalton Oakman .
'He's a special talent': Elite Dunlap football recruit puts on show in Week 1 blowout
Seneca might have won the game on the field, defeating Tremont 48-22 on Friday night, but the Turks took victory when it came to helmets.
The Turks have shed their tradition block "T" and now sport a turkey on their maroon helmets, with a line of turkey feet along the center stripe. What a look.
Former Journal Star reporter Ben Diggle , now a teacher at East Peoria, reports the penalty-filled third quarter of the Friday game between EP and Springfield Southeast lasted 49 minutes, 48 seconds.
"Refs calling tight game. Penalties galore," Diggle wrote. "Now game is into its 4th hour."
EP leads Southeast 26-24 with 12 minutes remaining. Well ... 12 minutes of game clock, anyway.
Pekin punter Owen Gorden apparently downed his own punt on Friday night against Rolling Meadows. In the second quarter, he kicked a towering ball that went 13 yards and landed behind all the coverage — so he jogged up and grabbed the ball to down it.
The Irish drove down inside the Normal West red zone in the final minute, but a fourth-down pass fell short and allowed Normal West to escape with a 33-27 Big 12 Conference win.
Ben Hafner 's 50-yard run just moments before sent up PND in the final moments. The Irish were stopped on three straight run plays, used their final timeouts, and then came up short when a quick pass over the middle was knocked away for Normal West.
Quarterback Stephen Petri hit Mark Frederick and Avery Grebner for a pair of touchdown passes and the Redbirds now lead Sterling 28-9 late in the fourth quarter. A very solid road victory for Metamora.
"He's just a gamer throwing the ball," Metamora coach Jared Grebner told digiMAX Sports Network Live on Friday.
Freshman running back Cody Muhlbauer just scored his fifth touchdown of the game to give Normal West a late 33-27 lead over Peoria Notre Dame with 3:52 remaining in Normal. He finished with 350 yards and five TDs on 18 carries.
Peoria Notre Dame jumped ahead by a touchdown before freshman running back Cody Muhlbauer single-handedly drove of Normal West down the field, the biggest a 43-yard run down inside the red zone.
Two plays later, the 5-foot-9, 175-pound back had his fourth touchdown of the game — and added to the two-point conversion to tie the game at 27-27 with 6:43 remaining.
In one of the week's top games, Peoria Notre Dame leads Normal West 20-19 with less than 10 minutes remaining in their Big 12 Conference game in Normal. PND is poised for a big year, with eyes on deep IHSA playoff run .
Four-star tight end recruit Mack Sutter can play some defense, too, returning an interception 17 yards for a touchdown to put Dunlap ahead 20-0 at halftime.
At halftime, John Bargen is 8-for-12 with 115 yards and 2 TDs. Sutter has three catches for 28 yards and a TD along with his pick-six. Dunlap running back Jackson Oldham with 77 total yards (49 receiving, 28 rushing) and a TD.
Morton's game at Mahomet-Seymour will begin at 8:55 p.m., according to the home school's post on X.com . The game was originally supposed to start at 7 p.m.
Big man Mack Sutter is on the board. The four-star tight end recruit has his first touchdown of the season, an 16-yard reception from quarterback John Bargen . Dunlap leads Galesburg 6-0 in the first quarter.
East Peoria quarterback Dalton Oakman has thrown a pair of touchdown passes to Aidin Hindert to rally the Raiders to a 14-12 halftime lead over Springfield Southeast. Southeast led the game 12-0 with just six minutes gone in the game before EP rallied in the head coaching debut for former Eureka College QB Sam Durley .
Avery Grebner took a bubble screen 80 yards for a touchdown to give Metamora an early 14-6 lead over Sterling in a big road nonconference game for the Redbirds.
The nonconference game between Morton and Mahomet-Seymour is in a weather delay, according to Courtney Layne Brewer of WCIA-TV . If lightning continues past 9 p.m., the game will be rescheduled, reports Brewer.
Parts of east central Illinois are dealing with storms across the region , with games already called or delayed for inclement weather like St. Joseph-Ogden at Monticello and Bloomington at Danville .
Former NFL kicker Robbie Gould is making his IHSA head coaching debut on Friday in Pekin as his Rolling Meadows team takes on the host Dragons at Memorial Stadium.
The Journal Star's Dave Eminian is there and will have the story later at pjstar.com.
Who's gonna win? Check out Adam Duvall 's picks for Week 1, all in one place by tapping right here .
Updates from Dunlap vs. Galesburg with Mack Sutter
The Journal Star's Adam Duvall is in Dunlap tonight to watch big-time recruit Mack Sutter and the Eagles take on Galesburg in the season-opener. Kick is set for 7:45 p.m. You can read more about Sutter and his 33 (!) Power Five offers — and his final list of 12 .
We want to see your highlights or pictures here! Send your videos and photos to sports@pjstar.com or tag us on X.com at @pjstarsports and we could share your media on our live updates story!
Illinois football coach Bret Bielema posted some support to high school football players across the state on Friday, sharing a picture of the eight helmets on display in Memorial Stadium — a tradition following the game for every title-winning teams.
"Good luck to all of the @IHSA_IL football programs and their communities as the season begins this weekend," the fourth-year coach posted on X.com. "We can’t wait to watch the chase to the State Championship."
Bielema's 2024 season got off on a strong start Thursday with a 45-0 home victory over Eastern Illinois . You can read about that game here, and our preview coverage of the Illini right here.
Retired Metamora coach Pat Ryan , now working director of high school relations for the Illini, replied to the post with his own words of encouragement.
"Here we go! Time to start all the excitement and memories that high school football creates!," Ryan wrote ." Have fun and embrace the journey!
Peoria Notre Dame opens the season with a key Big 12 Conference game at Normal West, while Canton opens with a game at Eureka. The biggest game of the night likely is Metamora taking a trip north to Sterling, coached by former Metamora player Jon Schlemmer. The full Week 1 schedule is here.
Want to get inspired? Check out these program mottos
We polled every high school football program in the Peoria area about the word or phrase that motivates their players. The answers were myriad, but not without unique flavor. Have a look at the full story here.
IHSA football scores: Week 1
Once scores start coming in, you can find them all right here. Check back for a link to our live scoreboard.
Watch IHSA football games on NFHS Network
You can stream multiple Illinois high school football games at the NFHS Network . Some of the top matchups of Week 1 include: Wilmette Loyola vs. East St. Louis at Illinois State; Kankakee at LaGrange Park Nazareth; and Park Ridge Maine South at Frankfort Lincoln Way East.
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This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Illinois high school football recap: Peoria-area highlights from IHSA Week 1
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