Forreston football hopes to ‘get over the hump’ after four 8-win seasons

Winning eight games in each of the past four full seasons is a stretch that many high school football teams would be satisfied with.

The Forreston Cardinals, however, have been left wanting more.

After winning Class 1A state titles in 2014, 2016 and 2018, Forreston’s season has been ended by Lena-Winslow the past three years. The Panthers finished as state runner-up last year, with state titles in 2022 and 2021.

Lena-Winslow has six state titles since 2010.

“I think a lot of programs would take eight wins,” said Forreston fourth-year coach Kenyon Janicke, a 2012 Forreston graduate who started as an assistant in 2016. “We’re still kind of frustrated with it and believe we can do better.”

While frustrating to run into a fellow Northwest Upstate Illini Conference powerhouse in the playoffs, it helps set a high standard for success for Forreston and Janicke.

“Lena-Winslow is an incredible team, from the staff to their players. They’re on one of the best runs we’ve seen in the state,” Janicke said. “To keep running into them is pretty frustrating, but they keep giving us a benchmark to work from.”

The NUIC seems to belong to the Panthers until someone takes it from them. Forreston reached the state semifinals in 2022 and last beat Le-Win during the 2021 regular season by a score of 22-20.

“They are usually a good benchmark to see where we’re at,” Janicke said. “In the playoffs we just keep coming up short. We’re giving it our all, it’s just too much for us to handle the last couple years.”

Janicke said players still have done a good job understanding the tradition of success that Forreston has established.

“Our seniors kind of understand that this is their last shot at it, so they’ve been kind of dictating the vibe and how practices have been going,” Janicke said. “They’ve been doing a really good job.”

Janicke said there are eight seniors who will see significant playing time: Evan Boettner (RB/LB), Ayden Book (OL/DL), Devin Bratt (OL/DL), Coehen Kirchner (RB/DB), Bryce Miller (OL/DL), Colton Saldecki (OL/DL), Alec Schoonhoven (OL/DL) and Dane Setterstrom (RB/LB). Forreston also has 10 juniors and 10 sophomores on the varsity roster.

Forreston starts the year with Fulton, which it beat 22-18 last year. Janicke said the Steamers have developed into a bit of a rival, with the games going back and forth in recent matchups.

The NUIC also has gotten stronger with the addition of Morrison.

Janicke said the team must be better at running the ball. The Cardinals attempted only 27 passes last season.

“We’re still going to play really tough defense and turn the ball over, make some stops on the field,” he said, “and mistake-free special teams, because special teams can win or lose you some games, like we learned two years ago.”

Janicke said it will still be Forreston football this year.

“Same identity, but hopefully people know us as a hardworking team that is relentless, and you won’t want to play us again after the game is over,” he said, “win, lose or draw.”

Schedule: Aug. 30 at Fulton; Sept. 6 Dakota; Sept. 13 Galena; Sept. 20 at Eastland-Pearl City; Sept. 27 at Morrison; Oct. 4 Stockton; Oct. 11 at Hazel Green Southwestern (Wis.); Oct. 18 Du-Pec; Oct. 25 at Lena-Winslow.