The 2025 high school football season is here, and WRMJ is bringing back our weekly previews and picks for Three Rivers Athletic Conference (TRAC) games. Ty Taylor will be joined by Greg Armstrong and Mitch Stoermer from View from the West Podcast each week.
There’s a lot of buzz surrounding the 2025 season in the TRAC, with the league looking like it will be the most competitive and deepest from top-to-bottom it’s been in years.
The season kicks off with six crossover games between the two divisions on Friday night.
Game of the Week: Princeton (0-0, 0-0 TRAC Mississippi) @ Newman (0-0, 0-0 TRAC Rock) – Friday 7 p.m.
Preview
The headliner of the TRAC’s season-opening slate pits the state-ranked, conference championship favorites against each other at Roscoe Eades Stadium in Sterling.
3A No. 6 Princeton, fresh off its fifth consecutive trip to the 3A quarterfinals, will be looking to get off on the right foot in 2025 after graduating a Divison I signee for the third straight year, but return a strong nucleus led by senior all-state running back Casey Etheridge, who is coming off a year where he rushed for 1,706 yards and 25 TDs.
1A No. 4 Newman is looking to defend its TRAC Rock championship from last year ,and while this matchup doesn’t factor into the conference title race, the Comets have a chance to avenge a 28-0 loss from last season. The Comets bring eight offensive starters back, including three-year starter at quarterback Evan Bushman, four all-conference offensive linemen, and add a transfer running back in junior Rylan Alvarado.
Picks
Ty; Princeton
Greg: Princeton
Mitch: Princeton
Monmouth-Roseville (0-0, 0-0 TRAC Mississippi) @ Mercer County (0-0, 0-0 TRAC Rock) – Friday 7 p.m.
Preview
Monmouth-Roseville makes the short trip to Aledo to battle Mercer County at George Pratt Memorial Field, where Titan head coach Jeremy Adolphson, a 1995 Aledo High School graduate, will serve as a head coach on the field he played on in high school for the first time.
Adolphson kicks off his 25th year as a varsity coach and 15th season leading Monmouth-Roseville in a familiar place. The Titans won their first-ever outright conference championship last season after finishing the year 8-2 and a perfect 5-0 in divisional play. Monmouth-Roseville’s calling card is expected to once again be their size and physicality up front, The Titans will be playing in Week 1 without senior RB/LB Andrew Way, a unanimous first-team all-conference LB last year, who is out with an injury.
Fred Lucas is taking over the Mercer County program in 2025 after serving as an assistant for the Golden Eagles for the past eight seasons. Mercer County is aiming to return to the playoffs after the Mercer County/Aledo/Westmer program missed the postseason for the first time since 1994 last year. The Golden Eagles get a big boost with the return of senior running back Tannen Whitehall, who missed virtually the entire season after suffering an injury against Monmouth-Roseville in the season opener last year. Whitehall, along with fellow seniors Mason Gray (RB) and John Baldwin (QB), make up what should be a dynamic backfield for the Golden Eagles in the new-look wing-t offense.
Picks
Ty: Monmouth-Roseville
Greg: Mercer County
Mitch: Monmouth-Roseville
Sherrard (0-0, 0-0 TRAC Mississippi) @ Rockridge (0-0, 0-0 TRAC Rock) – Friday 7 p.m.
Preview
Longtime rivals Rockridge and Sherrard begin the year with a matchup in Edgington.
Despite losing a pair of all-state players from a team that advanced to the second round of the 2A playoffs last year, Rockridge earned the No. 4 ranking in the preseason IHSA 2A AP poll. The Rockets are highlighted by junior quarterback Cullen Schwigen, fresh off a year where he set program records for passing yards (1,866) and total TDs (32). His top target, senior wideout Owen Steele, leads a strong group of receivers and running backs around Schwigen. Rockridge also gets senior OL/LB Ryan Lower, a four-year starter on defense, back after he suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 2 last year.
Dan McGuire was hired as Sherrard’s head coach in May, marking a return to coaching high school football for the first time in 25 years for the former Moline head coach. McGuire last coached in 2000, ending a 10-year run leading the Maroons to a 66-32 record. Despite just 34 kids in the program, the Tigers have a strong senior class of 14, led by senior quarterback Carter Brown, who is coming off a season that earned him Sherrard’s first all-state selection in football in 15 years.
Picks
Ty: Rockridge
Greg: Rockridge
Mitch: Rockridge
Hall (0-0, 0-0 TRAC Mississippi) @ Orion (0-0, 0-0 TRAC Rock) – Friday 7 p.m.
Preview
Orion and Hall open the season against each other for the fourth consecutive year at Charger Field on Friday.
Orion is coming off a week full of off-field distractions surrounding head coach Chip Filler’s status in the role. After no action was taken at a special board meeting on Wednesday, Filler is set to begin his 17th season on the sideline leading the Chargers. Despite that, Orion’s numbers in the program have grown from 23 last season to 37 in 2025. Senior quarterback Kale Filler starts his fourth year under center for the Chargers as the program’s career record holder in completions (399), passing attempts (727), passing yards (5,208), passing TDs (52) and total TDs (60).
Hall comes into the 2025 season with a new head coach for the third consecutive season, looking to improve upon a 2-7 record last year. Overall, Nick Sterling is the fourth different head coach in the past five seasons at Hall. He was previously an assistant coach for the Red Devils. Hall looks to make a jump in 2025 with the return of several skill position players on offense with three to four years of varsity experience.
Picks
Ty: Orion
Greg: Orion
Mitch: Orion
Mendota (0-0, 0-0 TRAC Mississippi) @ Riverdale (0-0, 0-0 TRAC Rock) – Friday 7 p.m.
Preview
Week 1 in Port Byron features an upstart Riverdale program hosting Mendota, which is hoping to find its footing with a new head coach.
Just three years after canceling its varsity season due to having only 18 players in the program, Riverdale’s participation number has exploded to 54 in 2025. The Rams just missed a playoff berth last year, going 4-5 and suffering a three-point loss to Hall in Week 8 to be knocked out of the postseason hunt. Riverdale brings back a lot of talent from last year’s team, including nine starters on offense.
Former St. Bede head coach Jim Eustice has made the move to Mendota after spending the past 10 seasons at St. Bede, who will look to turn things around for the Trojans after a tough past decade. Over the past 10 years, the Mendota football program has a record of 14-71 with a pair of winless seasons, four one-win seasons, and one playoff appearance. The Trojans were 0-9 last year.
Picks
Ty: Riverdale
Greg: Riverdale
Mitch: Riverdale
Kewanee (0-0, 0-0 TRAC Mississippi) @ Erie-Prophetstown (0-0, 0-0 TRAC Rock) – Friday 7 p.m.
Preview
Kewanee and Erie-Prophetstown open the season with a game that looks to be very important for their playoff hopes later in the year.
Last season, Erie-Prophetstown beat Kewanee 13-6 to begin the year, which eventually helped the Panthers get into the postseason after finishing the regular season 5-4. Erie-Prophetstown has three players back in 2025 that earned all-conference honors on both sides of the ball last year – OL/DL Caleb Reymer and Derek Naftzger, and WR/DB Connor Keegan.
Kewanee is looking for its third consecutive playoff appearance in 2025. The Boilermakers are projected to be led by sophomore running back Ace LaFollette. LaFollette earned second-team all-conference honors as a freshman in 2024 after rushing for 545 yards and seven TDs and 11 passes for 203 yards and three TDs.
Picks
Ty: Erie-Prophetstown
Greg: Kewanee
Mitch: Kewanee
WRMJ’s coverage of the TRAC is presented by:
- Midwest Bank, with locations that include Aledo, Andalusia, Monmouth, and Moline
- Local COUNTRY Financial representatives Tracy Bigham, Jason Potter, and John Waugh in Aledo, Brent Bigham in Edgington, and Julie Hessler in Orion.
- Breedlove’s Sporting Goods in Kewanee
Visit our TRAC webpage to stay updated with the conference throughout the season.