All Posts

The Centralia Orphans wins their eighth straight after beating Mt. Vernon 57-39 in South Seven Opener.

With Week One of high school boys basketball being wrapped up, we will release our second poll of the season. The top three teams remain the same, but many teams still haven't played their first game yet so expect to see some big changes still to come.

The Woodlawn Cardinals opened their season with a 66–46 win over Metro-East Lutheran, and honestly they looked in control pretty much the whole night. The biggest difference was the defense. Woodlawn’s length and activity threw Metro-East off from the start, forcing over 20 turnovers.

This year’s preseason field has a strong balance of returning talent across all classes, and we’re excited for what should be an electric basketball season in Southern Illinois.

This is our official Ballin4God All-South Football Post for the 2025 season.

This year’s Ballin4God Football Player of the Year is Marion Wildcats senior quarterback Callahan Roper. Roper had one of the most dominant seasons and honestly one of the most dominant careers we’ve seen from a Southern Illinois player in a long time. He broke multiple school records along the way and helped lead Marion to another playoff appearance, their 19th since 2005.

The SIU Salukis won their home opener 83-42 against the McKendree Bearcats.

This week’s Rend Lake Cabins In The Woods Player of the Week is senior running back Jace Weaver for the Johnston City Indians.

It was round one of the 2A playoffs, and the Johnston City Indians came out on top with a 38–25 win.

We have our top five wide receiver stats in Southern Illinois as we head into the high school football playoffs. These are ranked by receiving yards, and the top three are from the South Seven Conference. At #1 is senior wide receiver Junious Thomas from Marion. Thomas has over 1,000 receiving yards on the season with 12 touchdowns and averages 18.2 yards per catch. The Wildcats are 6-3 heading into the playoffs and will play at Mahomet-Seymour. At #2 is senior Braylon Berry

We have our top five running backs in Southern Illinois as we head into the high school football playoffs. These are ranked by rushing yards. At #1 is Kaiden Henson, senior running back from Eldorado. Henson and the Eagles missed the playoffs, finishing 3-6, but lost four one score games. All four of those teams made the postseason, and all six of their losses came against playoff teams. Henson rushed for 1,318 yards and 22 touchdowns on 226 carries, averaging 5.8 yards per c

We have our top 5 quarterback stats in Southern Illinois as we head into the high school football playoffs. These are ranked by passing yards. At #1 is senior quarterback from Marion Callahan Roper with 2,801 passing yards on the season, and he is 3 yards shy of tying the all-time career passing yards record at Marion. The record is 6,001. Roper has thrown 34 touchdowns and 10 interceptions on 64% completion percentage, and has a 122.9 passer rating. The Wildcats are 6-3 head

This week’s Rend Lake Cabins In The Woods Player of the Week goes to senior quarterback Callahan Roper of the Marion Wildcats.

Nolan Schafer (Benton Rangers) in the Military Appreciation game vs the DuQuoin Indians. Week 9 of the high school football season has wrapped up for all of our area teams and we finish the regular season with four teams still undefeated: Benton out of the SIRR Mississippi, Carterville out of the SIRR Ohio, Johnston City out of the Black Diamond and Richland County out of the Little Illini Conference. Benton Rangers 9-0 (5-0): The Benton Rangers outscored their opponents 418

Trivia Thursday #9 In the 2017 football season, the Herrin Tigers scored the most points during the regular season, putting up an impressive 439 points. They kept that momentum going in the postseason, finishing the year with 510 total points. In the first round of the playoffs, Herrin defeated the Paris Tigers 63-28. The Tigers ended their season with a 10-2 record, falling in the Class 4A quarterfinals to the eventual state champions, the Rochester Rockets, by a score of 56

The Benton Rangers remain atop the Ballin4God Rankings for the seventh straight week after a dominant 56-7 win over Pinckneyville. The Carterville Lions stay put at number two following a 28-7 win over Murphysboro, while Cahokia holds at number three after handling Collinsville 34-14. Du Quoin climbs into the top five at number four after a solid 28-18 win over Nashville, while Johnston City stays unbeaten and steady at number five following a 30-0 shutout of Red Hill. Richla

This week's Rend Lake Cabins In The Woods Player of the week is senior running back Riley Spencer from Benton.

The Indians Taking the field for the pink out game vs Nashville The DuQuoin Indians welcomed the Nashville Hornets for a Week 8 battle to close out the conference schedule, and the Indians came out on top 28-18. In the first quarter, the Indians forced a quick three and out on Nashville’s opening drive, then marched down the field and scored on a short touchdown run from senior quarterback Johnathan Brown to take an early 7-0 lead. On the Hornets’ next drive, they made it all

The DuQuoin Indians are back at home to take on the Nashville Hornets. The Indians have already clinched a playoff spot at 6-1 while Nashville sits at 5-2 and is playoff eligible. A win for the Hornets would lock in their postseason spot.

The Carterville Lions have appeared in the IHSA football playoffs 21 times since 2000.