Villa Grove football hopeful for success after challenging early schedule

VILLA GROVE, Ill. (WCIA) – Villa Grove football is still in search of its first win of 2024 after an 0-4 start.

However, the Blue Devils’ record doesn’t tell the story. Their first four opponents now share a 15-1 combined overall record.

“We knew coming into the season that it was going to be hard,” Villa Grove senior receiver/ safety Noah Wilcoxon said. “Obviously, our first four games were going to be our toughest, and we lost a whole bunch of seniors last year so we had a lot of guys that had to step up and take the role which, I think we’ve been playing pretty good, it’s just, we need to work more as a team and fix the little things.”

Wilcoxon moved to Illinois from Georgia prior to his last year of high school. He settled in quick.

“It’s been great honestly, like at first, it was a little slow and I’m a talkative kind of guy so I kind of just bonded with people and it really wasn’t that hard making new friends,” he said.

“He’s a ‘Yes sir’ type of kid,” Villa Grove head coach Heath Wilson said. “He’s a great kid, very athletic. I think he’s one of the better receivers in the area. But defensively is where he’s really stepped up.”

Despite the rocky start, there’s plenty of hope in the locker room.

“We’ve just been taking things slow,” Villa Grove junior lineman Jamison Duke said. “Getting stuff down because we have a young team. We need to just get together and get our mentality straight and I think if we do that, we’d be a good pretty good team.”

The Blue Devils take on Arcola on Friday, Sept. 27 in the WCIA Friday Football Fever Spotlight Game of the Week.

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