NUIC Football Fanatics

NUIC Alumni Player Profile: Mitchell Heinz

As we get prepared for the 2020 football season, we wanted to touch base with former NUIC players that have gone on to play at the college level to hear what their experiences are, what playing in the NUIC did to help them out for the college level, and what insight they would bestow upon younger guys looking to play at the collegiate level. Player Profile: Name: Mitchell Heinz High School: Forreston Graduated: 2019 College: Concordia University - St. Paul Position: Offensive

Round 2: Annawan-Wethersfield vs Forreston

Forreston - When you are the defending state champions, it doesn't matter how good or how bad your season has been, you are going to get everyone's best shot because they want to take down the best. In a 9 seed vs 1 seed playoff game, this wasn't your typical game, as the 9 seed was the Forreston Cardinals, the defending champs, playing host to the 1 seed and undefeated Annawan-Wethersfield Titans. The game opened up with fireworks, as Forreston kicked off with an onside kick

Week 9: Forreston vs EPC

Forreston - A great year of regular season football is wrapping up this week. The past two weeks have cleared up some of the questions that were outstanding in the NUIC South, as well as where teams will fall in the potential post-season 1A rankings and brackets. However, one big question that remains unanswered is whether or not EPC will be a part of that postseason. The Catz are 4-4 losing tough match-ups to Du-Pec, West Carroll, Dakota, and Aquin. Three of those teams are

Week 8: Aquin vs Forreston

Freeport - The NUIC game of the week pits the #6 state ranked Forreston Cardinals (6-1) traveling to Aquin. The Bulldogs are ranked 7th in the state AP rankings and are 7-0. Last week the Cardinals lost to #1 state ranked Le-Win 48-14, while Aquin defeated AFC 48-14. The NUIC South title could be decided in this game if the Bulldogs were to win since no other South Division team has won more than 5 games. Both teams are good on either side of the ball, as Aquin has allowed 21

Week 7: Le-Win vs Forreston

Forreston - In a much hyped game around the state, "The Rivalry" was the main stage on Friday night as Lena-Winslow and Forreston matched up in a game of 1 vs 2. Both teams on paper looked to match-up with each other, but one draw back in this game was that it was going to be played in Forreston, where entering the game the Panthers held a 9-1 advantage. The lone Forreston home win came back in 2016 when the Cards went undefeated for their 2nd state title. It has been talked

Week 6: Forreston vs West Carroll

Forreston - Our Game of the Week took us to Forreston, and while we had it as the Game of the Week, others seemed to miss the boat on this one as a lot of people overlooked the rise of West Carroll. Some of that may have triggered from a week 3 loss to EPC 8-0. However, the Thunder have a lot of experience to go along with a lot of team speed, and one thing you do know you will see when you play West Carroll, hard hits. This game had all the excitement packed into a full 47 m

Week 4: Forreston vs AFC

Franklin Grove - The Forreston Cardinals have been the number 1 ranked team in state since the beginning of the season. Following a sloppy performance in week 1 against Dakota, the Cards have dominated their last 2 games with running clocks. Friday night's match-up with the Raiders would be no different, as the Cardinals pounded out 441 yards rushing with 15 different ball carriers, and 480 yards of total offense. Jordan Neuschwander would find the endzone first on a 10 yard

Week 1: Forreston vs Dakota

Dakota - Coming off a state championship last season, the Forreston Cardinals know the target is on their backs in 2019. The Cards entered Friday's contest with the #1 state ranking, while Dakota came in ranked #8. Since 2011, the Cards have pretty much owned the Indians, and in Dakota the Indians have not beat the Cardinals since their quarterfinal game in 2011, the last time Dakota won a state championship. This game wouldn't be much different, as Forreston walked out of Da

Forreston Cardinals

The Forreston Cardinals are coming off one of the best 5 year runs in NUIC history, where they have gone 58-8 while winning 3 state titles in the process. Forreston became the quickest school in conference history to win 3 state titles, passing Dakota's accomplishment of 3 state titles in 7 seasons. They became the 5th team in conference history to win 3 state titles, and sit in a tie with Aquin, Galena, Dakota, and Le-Win as the conference front runners with the most state t

State | Forreston vs CPC

Champaign - Forreston entered the State Title game for the 3rd time in 5 seasons, looking to make history in the NUIC, trying to become the first NUIC team to win 3 titles in that short of time. With a win, they would also tie the conference record for most state titles in conference history. Forreston started the day receiving the kick, after CPC deferred the coin flip. Forreston began the drive on the ground, with runs by Dom Christensen and Garett Badertscher. Ethan Mulder

Semis | Le-Win vs Forreston

Lena - There is a lot of recent history when you talk about the Forreston Cardinals and Le-Win Panthers. Over the past 8 seasons alone, these two teams have claimed 5 state titles. Le-Win has had to go through Forreston in all 3 of its title runs, whereas Forreston had to go through Le-Win on their last. The old cliche is that it is hard to beat a team twice, however every time these two have faced off in the playoffs, the winner in the regular season was also the winner in t

Quarters | Forreston vs Dakota

Forreston - If someone would have told you 9 weeks ago that Dakota and Forreston would meet in the quarterfinals and play to a two point game, you may have said they were crazy. However, anyone paying attention over the course of the last few weeks knew that’s exactly how it would play out. In week 3, Forreston wasted no time scoring to start the game and this week was no different. After converting a controversial 4th down, with 7:27 remaining in the first, Evan Kelsey

Round 2 | Forreston vs Milledgeville

Milledgeville - This 2nd round game was the first time that Milledgeville and Forreston have met in the playoffs. With it, Milledgeville was in the midst of their best season since 2008, while Forreston had taken a slip coming off of back to back semifinal appearances, and 2 state titles over the past 3 seasons. The first quarter would be like a boxing match, where both teams were trying to feel each other out. At the start of the 2nd quarter, the scoring would start, as Forr

Round 1 | Forreston vs Hiawatha

Forreston - The IHSA playoffs kicked off Friday night for some school's, but for most it begins Saturday afternoon. When it comes to Forreston, they enjoy playing at night, which gives the area the opportunity to pick up more than one game in a day. Standing across the line, the Hiawatha Hawks, who were making their 4th playoff appearance in school history. The Cardinals didn't waste any time getting on the board, as they quickly stopped the Hawks opening drive, started their

Week 4 | EPC vs Forreston

Forreston - The last time the EPC Wildcatz beat the Forreston Cardinals, they went on to win the Class 2A State Championship in 2014. With expectations high at EPC, Friday night would give them a chance to see where they stack up in the conference. Coming off 3 straight wins over mediocre opponents, EPC knew they would have to play at a higher level to compete with Forreston. EPC wasted little time finding the end zone after a big return on the opening kickoff set them up a

Week 2 | Le-Win vs Forreston

Lena - Our Northwest Game of the Week featured the #1 ranked Le-Win Panthers playing host to the #5 ranked Forreston Cardinals Friday night. There was a lot of early debate on how this one would play out, but from the onset it was clear that the Panthers were in full gear in this one as they walked away with a 36-16 win. Lena-Winslow (2-0) brought the pressure early and often, as they forced Forreston into a quick 3 and out series to open the game before they went to work. As

NUIC Game of the Week

When you are talking about rivalries over the past 17 years, there isn't a whole lot that get much better than Forreston and Lena-Winslow. Looking at the past 8 years it gets even better as these two teams have been the most powerful in that stretch of time. All you have to do is look at the stats and you will see these two teams pop up time and time again. They have combined for 11 quarterfinal trips, 6 semifinal trips, and 5 state championships since 2010. Each team has had

Week 1 | Forreston vs Du-Pec

Forreston - Tonight was the kickoff to the 2018 season. Du-Pec and Forreston both entered this contest wanting to prove something for the season, and both teams did just that, however it was Forreston who came out on top with a 30-6 win. Forreston was out to prove they are still a top team in the NUIC Northwest, while Du-Pec wanted to show how far they have come entering year 2 of their co-op. Forreston (1-0) entered the game as the #6 ranked team in Class 1A, and made quick

Forreston Cardinals

The Forreston Cardinals are coming off one of the best 4 year runs in NUIC history, where they went 46-6 while winning 2 state titles in the process. The Galena Pirates from 1995-2000 put up 3 straight four year runs that better Forreston's, but resulted in 1 state title and 1 runner-up finish; 1995-1998 they went 47-4, 1996-1999 they went 50-3, and 1997-2000 they went 49-4. The next best such run came from Stockton from 1975-1978 where they went 45-4 with 1 state title and 2

Round 4 | Le-Win vs Forreston

Lena - When you are talking about NUIC football, the first thing you see are the number of titles the conference has won in its history, and the amount of success the conference has had over the past decade. When you start counting semifinal appearances, there have been many teams represented there as well. However, when you talk about great semifinal match-ups between two teams who have combined to win 4 state titles in the past 7 seasons, this game ranks as one of the best

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