By STEVE PORTER
It’ll start tonight, so you better be ready for it. Prep football gets going throughout the state and River Bend teams are primed to make their debuts.
Alton, East Alton-Wood River, Roxana and Jersey are among the teams playing at home tonight. Marquette Catholic welcomes Metro East Lutheran on Saturday, so Public School Stadium will be busy both nights.
East St. Louis (7A), Breese Mater Dei (4A), Columbia (3A), Greenville (3A) and Greenfield (1A) are among the Southwestern Illinois rated in this week’s AP state poll. East St. Louis and Columbia were ranked No. 1. Greenfield checked it at No. 3.
Yet it’s not all about having a state number. It’s more about just playing the game and doing the little things correctly.
Remember, it’s a game first, so the fun factor should be at the top of the list. And I’m sure those tackling their tasks tonight are going to enjoy it.
I hope you do, too. See you around the end zone some time this season.

By STEVE PORTER
Fall prep sports are here and that may surprise you since we just passed mid-August. But that’s the way the IHSA calendar works these days. High school athletics are here before you know it.
And there’s boys and girls golf driving the bandwagon this week. Golf got going Tuesday with the Alton Redbirds’ Boys Tee-Off Classic at the Spencer T. Olin Community Course.
Madison County is holding its first golf tournament. The girls played Tuesday at the Belk Park Course in Wood River and the boys followed up on Thursday, also at Belk. Then there’s the multi-school Marquette Catholic Girls Blast-Off on Saturday at the Rolling Hills Course in Godfrey.
So the season is starting with a sweet swing, in a manner of speaking.
Edwardsvlle’s boys, led by senior Tommy Ponce, are going to be a team to reckon with along the trail. The Tigers won the season-opening Tee-Off Classic.
And the Edwardsville High, normally a perennial powerhouse, might not be as strong, but the Tigers will be solid. Caitlin Osborn could emerge as their leader.
Southwestern Illinois has seen its share of IHSA golf success in recent years. Marquette’s Mary Ellen Jacobs and Belleville East’s Ashley Freeman eachwon individual titles. Edwardsville owns a state championshuip and deep south sister Marion may grab one this year.
We’ll see.
Soccer, tennis, football, cross country, volleyball and field hockey will start soon. This week, however, the focus is on prep golf.
So keep your eye on the ball and watch out for that 19th hole.

By STEVE PORTER
It’s a little bit of Chicagoland against a shade of Southwestern Illinois this week in the Illinois American Senior Legion baseball tournament at Whitey Herzog Field in Belleville.
Edwardsville (30-9) and host Belleville (34-7) are representing the South. Post 199 of Edwardsville won the District 22 North title and then defeated South champ Belleville in the Fifth Division Tournament at Marion.
Arlington Heights and St. Charles are the heavy hitters from Chicagoland. In fact, Arlington Heights (36-9) is seeking its third consecutive state championship. St. Charles (26-8) is another quality player in this six-team, double-elimination field.
Moline from the Quad Cities and Decatur out of Central Illinois round out the competition.
It’s the first time the state finals have been played at Herzog Field, though Belleville has a strong tradition with Illinois Legion play.
Alton, which has played host to major Legion events in recent years, will be back in the picture next summer. Post 126 will serve as the site for Fifth Division play, meaning Alton is guaranteed a spot in the competition.
As for this week, it’s shaping up as a classic North-South confrontation. By Saturday night, we’ll know if the South will rise again. Or if everything runs through Chicago.