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 titles.
In 2018, the Forreston Cardinals entered the season with new Head Coach Kyle Zick. As predicted, the Cards didn't lose anything in the coaching change, as the staff remained in tact under Zick. Entering 2019, Forreston won't be lying in the weeds, as they return a lot of talent off the state championship team, and will most likely receive first place votes when the state rankings get released. Despite putting up one of the most dominant runs in conference history, the Cards have only 1 conference title to speak of during this run, which shows that the NUIC focuses on the bigger prize. With the new conference alignment, Forreston will be the heavy favorite to win the South Division title this season. In week 7, they will face Lena-Winslow in what is already looking to be the NUIC Game of the Year.
Forreston will be looking for their 25th playoff appearance, where the Cards have gone 32-21 while winning state titles in 2014, 2016 and 2018, making 6 trips to the quarterfinals in the past 8 seasons, and 4 trips to the semifinals over the past 5 seasons. Forreston will open the season on the road at Dakota, a team they beat in the quarterfinals by 2 points on their way to state. This game will be featured by Deep Dish Football as the week 1 Game of the Week.
Forreston Playoff History
1975 0-1
1976 1-1
1979 0-1
1987 0-1
1988 2-1
1997 0-1
1999 0-1
2000 1-1
2001 3-1
2002 0-1
2003 0-1
2004 0-1
2005 0-1
2006 1-1
2007 1-1
2010 0-1
2011 2-1
2012 2-1
2013 0-1
2014 5-0 Class 1A State Champion
2015 1-1
2016 5-0 Class 1A State Champion
2017 3-1
2018 5-0 Class 1A State Champion