Kahoks set to scrimmage Mascoutah in historic first for Illinois football

by Mark Jurgena

COLLINSVILLE — High school football fans in the state of Illinois will have something new to look forward to this fall. The IHSA approved a week zero scrimmage against an opponent from another school.

Collinsville will host Mascoutah Friday night at Kahok Stadium.

“We really just wanted to get the chance to see our kids compete against someone else,” said Collinsville football coach Colton Rhodes. “We’ve always done the purple and white Kahok Kickoff on that Friday where we compete against each other. But we thought it would be a really good opportunity to compete against somebody else and really see what all our kids have done to improve in the offseason and the summer.”

The state has no prescribed format for the scrimmages that is up to the teams, Rhodes has an idea of what he wants to see from his team.

“I’m really just looking forward to watching our kids on the field under the lights for the first time,” he said. “They’ll get a little bit of those nerves back that come in the fall. I’m going to be looking at those kids that may be starters or they may be they aren’t. So it will be good to see those guys out there and see what they can really do against another team.”

The freshman and sophomore squads will compete against the Indians first with the varsity squads to meet afterward.

Collinsville kicks off its regular season one week Friday as they will host Belleville East. Kickoff for the opener will be 7 p.m.