The Carmi-White County Football team will travel to Christopher on Friday to face the CZR Bearcats for Week 6 of the Illinois High School Football season.
2025 has been a milestone season for the Bearcats, and it is only Week 7. CZR comes into Friday’s game with a 3-3 record, coming off of back-to-back 0-9 campaigns. Hall of Fame Head Coach Mike Rude has taken over at the helm after a stint with Sesser-Valier, and he has the Bearcats playing some good football. So far this season, CZR has defeated Eldorado (35-30), Hamilton County (32-13), and Red Hill (36-28). With Fairfield and Edwards County remaining on their schedule, Friday’s game feels like a must-win for the Bearcats to give themselves a shot at the postseason.
“For them [CZR], this is a playoff week. I am sure they feel if they win this game they will get to 5 wins and qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2008. It is also their Senior Night. I know we will get a very excited and energized CZR team on Friday and we will have to match that excitement and energy,” said CWC Head Coach Clinton Wolff.
In recent seasons, the Bearcats have been a predominantly spread football team, but Rude has changed their offensive style. We’ll see the Bearcats line up under center with their quarterback Landon Sveda (#3) as they share the rock between their three leading rushers; Tripp Fletcher (#33), Gage Schlake (#2), and Hunter Hammonds (#8). Fletcher, Schlake, and Hammonds have combined for 962 yards this season, with Fletcher seeing a majority of the carries.
Although they are now run-heavy, they can still throw the football with the best in the conference. Sveda is 2nd in the BDC in passing with 550 yards and 5 touchdowns with 3 interceptions. Schlake is Sveda’s go-to-target, he leads the Bearcats in receiving with 321 yards on 16 receptions with 2 touchdowns. Fletcher has 6 receptions for 71 yards and 2 touchdowns, Landen Butler (#6) has 3 catches for 75 yards, Frankie Guerra (#7) has 3 catches for 48 yards and one touchdown.
“CZR has a very talented QB, and their skill players are very good as well. The biggest improvement I have seen on film has been their line play. Although they are not as big as some of the lines we have seen the past couple of weeks they are very disciplined and fire off the ball well,” said Wolff.
The Bulldogs come into Friday’s game with an 0-6 record, as they are still looking for their first win of the season. Carmi suffered a tough loss against Sesser-Valier on Homecoming last week, 38-6. Once again, it felt like the Bulldogs were competitive for the first two and a half quarters, until things got away. It was a 6-6 ballgame in the 2nd quarter until the Red Devils ended the game on a 32-0 run. Carmi only mustered 108 yards of total offense, as they haven’t scored an offensive touchdown since the 2nd quarter of their Week 3 loss against Hamilton County (14 straight quarters without a touchdown).
Of course, you can’t talk about the 2025 Bulldogs without talking about the injury bug, and it has once again biten Carmi. Jazz Duckworth is expected to miss his fourth straight game with an ankle injury, but five different Bulldogs suffered injuries in last week’s loss and will not play against Christopher; Nolan Aud, Michael Miller, Josyah Perez, Cole Evans, and Isaac Northcott. However, Dakota Brown is expected to make his return after suffering a hip injury in Week 4. With the injuries, numerous Bulldogs will see a significant increase in snaps. Sophomore Christian Fields will fill at center with Aud out, and sophomore Ian Goemaat will fill in at left guard with Miller out.
With only three games remaining, the Bulldogs are looking to end the season on a positive note. Carmi will host Edwards County for Senior Night next Friday (10/17) before traveling to Eldorado for the final game of the season (10/24).
Fans can watch and listen to Friday’s game on 97.3 FM WRUL and the WRUL Sports YouTube Channel. Kickoff is set for 7 PM.