Eckard
Eckard, IL · LATEST NEWS
Journal Star
East Peoria, Canton respond to hot-button issue for IHSA football conference
High school football conference alignment in the Peoria area has long been a hot-button issue. A recent Journal Star letter to the editor from Bradley professor Bill Bailey regarding the disparity between the large and small schools of the Mid-Illini Conference has added fuel to that fire, sparking online debate and reigniting discussion about scrapping conferences for district-based scheduling. "But as great as high school football can be," Bailey writes, "the Mid-Illini football conference is a travesty. It has an open secret." The East Peoria resident then cites an eye-opening statistic — the M-I's three smallest schools (Limestone, Canton and East Peoria) have posted an 0-75 record against the league's five biggest (Dunlap, Metamora, Morton, Pekin and Washington) over the last five seasons. He goes on to cite a 40-point differential in those half-decade of meetings. Canton has a second-year head coach in Nick McCormick. He guided the Little Giants to three victories over the last two seasons including a pair of victories in 2026. "As the head football coach at Canton, I accepted this position understanding the challenges that come with competing as the smallest school in the Mid-Illini Conference," said McCormick, in a statement to the Journal Star