Ballin4God All-South Football

Nolan Schafer in the Rangers military appreciation game vs DuQuoin

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

season.

I released the All-South teams a couple of weeks ago, but I’m writing this a few weeks after the football season came to a close, and honestly, it still doesn’t feel real. But let’s run it back and highlight what went down this year while recognizing some of the top players across our region.

We had three area teams finish the regular season undefeated with Benton, Carterville, and Johnston City. Still, no team from the deep south made it past the second round. Flora, which isn’t in our immediate area, reached the quarterfinals and won the first playoff game in school history.

Benton finished 9-1. The Rangers were upset in the first round of the IHSA 3A playoffs by St. Joseph-Ogden, who hit a last-second field goal to win 17-14. This Rangers squad was special. Benton had won of the state's top defenses only allowing 7.6 points per game, and only allowed two teams to score more than seven. Benton graduated a ton of of the area's seniors and several Ballin4God All-South players, including Ethan McCommons, Nolan Schafer, Kobe Cali, Riley Spencer, Rylee Pedigo, and more. St. Joseph-Ogden, who ended the Rangers’ season, reached the semifinals and finished 8–5 after a 51–44 shootout loss to Tolono Unity.

Carterville wrapped up 10-1 after falling to Sacred Heart-Griffin 45-15 in the second round of the IHSA 4A playoffs. The Lions had one of the toughest roads in the entire bracket with Mt. Zion, Quincy Notre Dame, Rochester, and SHG all stacked together. Even with that, Carterville had a strong season and showcased the top back in the region — junior Jonathan Miller — who put up 1,458 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns. The Lions had seven Ballin4God All-South selections.

Johnston City finished 10-1 but ran into Maroa-Forsyth again, falling 41-6. The Indians graduated several huge senior pieces, including a heavily underrated back who finished with more than 3,000 career rushing yards. JC also graduated Trey Johnson, Kaiden Koenig, Logan Moore, Wyatt Henderson, and many more. The Indians had four Ballin4God All-South players: Logan Moore on both sides of the ball, Wyatt Henderson at linebacker, junior Marcus Leitzen as an at-large linebacker, and senior running back Jace Weaver.

Some of the other top athletes in the region include Jonathan Brown and Jeremiah Jones from Du Quoin, who finished 9-2 and second in the SIRR Mississippi at 4-1. Brown wrapped up his career with 2,002 passing yards, 25 passing touchdowns, 2,306 rushing yards, and 35 rushing touchdowns.

Photo courtesy of Ryan Zeigler: Marion senior quarterback Callahan Roper.

For Marion, the headline is Callahan Roper — the 2025 Ballin4God Football Player of the Year — but Junious Thomas and Sam Adkins had huge senior seasons as well. Thomas finished with 1,033 receiving yards on 60 catches with 12 touchdowns. Adkins, who is walking on at SEMO, totaled 742 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Roper broke Matt Brown’s Marion records across the board — 6,236 career passing yards, a new single season mark of 3,040, plus new records for career passing touchdowns with 69 and single-season touchdowns with 37 and much more.

Even though we graduated a ton of elite talent, plenty of stars are returning next year. Centralia brings back sophomores Archie Goewey and Kenny Bratton. Carbondale returns Davin Wooley. Fairfield brings back Michael Barner. Carterville returns Brayden Brown and Jonathan Miller. Nashville returns a loaded group with sophomore QB Cole Stiegman, junior two-way lineman Sam Blumhorst, junior Owen Diedrich, freshman Brantley Kozuszek, and many more.

There’s a lot to be excited about heading into next football season — but it’s basketball time now, and I’ve already switched gears. Hope you guys have too. Who are you tuning into this hoops season?

Read the full list of Ballin4God All-South players below.

ALL-SOUTH OFFENSE

All-B4G First Team

QB: Callahan Roper (2026, Marion)

RB: Jonathan Miller (2027, Carterville)

RB: Riley Spencer (2026, Benton)

WR: Junious Thomas (2026, Marion)

WR: Kenny Bratton (2028, Centralia)

WR: Sam Adkins (2026, Marion)

TE: Alex Henry (2026, Marion)

FLEX: Jeremiah Jones (2026, DuQuoin)

OL: Jaxon Smith (2026, Carterville)

OL: Rylee Pedigo (2026, Benton)

OL: Logan Moore (2026, Johnston City)

OL: Sam Blumhorst (2027, Nashville)

OL: Andrew Shelby (2026, Flora)

K: Truman Carnine (2026, Mt. Vernon)

AT-LARGE: QB Johnathan Brown (2026, DuQuoin)

All-B4G Second Team

QB: Archie Goewey (2028, Centralia)

RB: Jace Weaver (2026, Johnston City)

RB: Michael Barner (2027, Fairfield)

WR: Nolan Schafer (2026, Benton)

WR: Tyler McConnell (2027, Pinckneyville)

WR: Braylon Berry (2026, Carbondale)

TE: Demetrious Gipson (2026, Centralia)

FLEX: WR/RB Kobe Cali (2026, Benton)

OL: Lane Croslin (2026, Benton)

OL: Jacob Spencer (2027, West Frankfort)

OL: Bryden Hall (2026, Centralia)

OL: Bryce Schettler (2026, Nashville)

OL: Logan Black (2027, Marion)

K: Zander Hammonds (2026, Benton)

AT-LARGE: QB/K Parker Helm (2026, Flora)

ALL-SOUTH DEFENSE

All-B4G First Team

DL: Kaleb Dawson (2026, Benton)

DL: Brayden Brown (2027, Carteville)

DL: Alex Henry (2026, Marion)

DL: John Salatas (2027, Benton)

LB: Ethan McCommons (2026, Benton)

LB: Tony Kistner (2026, Sesser-Valier)

LB: Jamieson Jones (2026, Carterville)

LB: Dane Krueger (2026, Benton)

DB: Kobe Cali (2026, Benton)

DB: Nolan Schafer (2026, Benton)

DB: Kenny Bratton (2028, Centralia)

DB: Jeremiah Jones (2026, DuQuoin)

AT-LARGE: LB Marcus Leitzen (2027, Johnston City)

All-B4G Second Team

DL: Andrew Shelby (2026, Flora)

DL: Jeremiah Bouchard (2027, Carterville)

DL: Logan Moore (2026, Johnston City)

DL: Sam Blumhorst (2027, Nashville)

LB: Aiden Adams (2027, DuQuoin)

LB: Hudson Wade (2026, Marion)

LB: Rivers Watson (2027, Benton)

LB: Wyatt Henderson (2026, Johnston City)

DB: Owen Diedrich (2027, Nashville)

DB: Gage Dugan (2027, Flora)

DB: Andrew Johnson (2026, Carterville)

DB: Blake Winters (2026, Marion)

AT-LARGE: DB Drake Capie (2026, Carterville)