Football Scores - August 29, 2008

Local High School Football Season Kicks Off

Waterloo senior running back B.J. Grayson protects the ball as he tries to avoid being tackled by Steven Jones of Southwestern.  – photo by Bob Haentzler

Local high school football teams Columbia, Waterloo and Red Bud were victorious Friday night in the opening weekend of IHSA action.

The top ranked area team, the Columbia Eagles, headed to Sparta and easily defeated the Bulldogs 43-22. (Photos and game details will be provided later when Don Voelker’s car pool arrives back in Monroe County.)

While they struggled to gain positive yardage in the first quarter, the Waterloo Bulldogs’ offence was able to shift into gear in the second quarter and take control of the rest of their opening game. They beat Southwestern Piasa 35-14 in the opening round matchup.

Red Bud came back from a halftime deficit of 7-10 to defeat the Pinckneyville Panthers 20-10 in their home opening. The Musketeers are coming off of a 10-2 season in 2007 which saw them make it into the playoffs for the first time in several years. At halftime, the newly renovated football field, track and scoreboard were dedicated with a ribbon-cutting.

The Red Bud Musketeers’ spread offense, left, lines up for a scoring drive against Pinckneyville.