High school football special section 2024: Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley

What to know about Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley before the Falcons kick off their season Friday night at home against Ridgeview/Lexington:

Their quarterback is ...

Brayden Elliott, who helped the Falcons’ baseball team to its first-ever state finals appearance in May and will be at the helm of a program that finished the 2023 campaign at 6-4. “So far, I think the offense is really starting to click a little better,” Elliott said. “We’ve got a lot of up-and-coming guys that know what they’re doing, starting to figure out the plays more and more and I think we’re just starting to click as an offense.” Elliott will have senior wide receiver Austin Kasper back in the fold after the latter missed much of the 2023 season due to injury. “We’ve been having that connection ever since we were in youth football, so I think it’ll be pretty good,” Kasper said. “I’m not the only receiver we’ve got that can do something with it, so I think we’ll be pretty good.”

Their quarterback of the defense is ...Ryker Grauer, who will be the team’s middle linebacker after playing weakside linebacker for the last two seasons. The senior will replace Connor Mueller in that role after Mueller’s graduation. He’ll front an experienced unit that can back up the Falcons’ offensive efforts. “It’s definitely a lot of experience coming back,” Grauer said. “It’s definitely more comfortable knowing that everyone has experience and everyone knows their responsibility.” Other key factors on the defensive side of the ball will be Elliott and Kasper in the secondary, along with senior lineman Matt Allen. Allen had 14 tackles for loss a season ago. “We really have a lot of experience on defense,” GCMS coach Chad Augspurger said. “There’s really been a lot of good communication, and we feel that experience is going to be very helpful to us as we get into the season.”

A successful season means ...

Repeating the baseball team’s trip to the Class 1A state finals will be a tall order for the Falcons, who will see the likes of Warrensburg-Latham, Tuscola, Meridian and Central A&M as part of the new-look Heart of Central Illinois Conference. But it won’t be an impossible one. The Falcons have a superb history that includes back-to-back Class 2A state championships in 2017 and 2018, and reached the 1A playoffs last year. “I’d say you have to bring the same energy,” Elliott said. “I feel like you kind of just have to want to get to that point, and I feel like our team, we have that in us, and I feel like we kind of want to push ourselves every game to get back there.”

Follow the Falcons

Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley’s 2024 scheduleDate Opponent Time

Aug. 30 vs. Ridgeview/Lexington 7 p.m.

Sept. 6 at Warrensburg-Latham 7 p.m.

Sept. 13 at Fisher 7 p.m.

Sept. 20 vs. Meridian 7 p.m.

Sept. 27 vs. Heyworth 7 p.m.

Oct. 4 at Tuscola 7 p.m.

Oct. 11 at Fieldcrest 7 p.m.

Oct. 18 at LeRoy 7 p.m.

Oct. 25 vs. Central A&M 7 p.m.

Meet the staff

➜ Head coach: Chad Augspurger

➜ Defensive coordinator/linebackers/offensive line coach: Colton Leake

➜ Special teams coordinator/wide receivers/secondary coach: Seeff Grauer

➜ Running backs/linebackers coach: Jamie Sexton

➜ Wide recievers/defensive backs coach: Keifer McComas

➜ Offensive line/defensive line coach: Brandon Shaw

➜ Offensive line/defensive line coach: Kip Rutledge

➜ Running backs/defensive line coach: Rob Schmitt

➜ Running backs/linebackers coach: Brandon Luttrell

JOEY WRIGHT