Sole possession of first place in the Cahokia Conference will be up for grabs as Breese Central (4-1) comes to Red Bud Friday night to take on the Musketeers (5-0).
While undefeated, Red Bud is coming off a big loss, the loss of its starting quarterback Jake Hoffman for the season due to a torn ligament in his knee.
“The game will depend on the overall mentality of our team,” said Red Bud coach Dave Lucht. “The team was really down Monday but got better the next day. If the kids can get a hold of themselves and just play football, we will be okay. This is a good football team and we have a number of weapons to keep this season going. Central is coming off a big loss to Mater Dei so they will be ready to play Friday night. They are a solid team that doesn’t make a lot of mistakes.”
Losing Hoffman was a big blow to Red Bud, but the Musketeers are far from a one-trick pony. Backup quarterback Zach Seibold showed a lot of promise against Freeburg and Tyler Hubert may be asked to carry more of the load offensively.
If the Musketeers can limit turnovers, they can win this game. Red Bud’s defense may be the difference in this game as the unit forced six turnovers in the win over Freeburg.

Editor’s prediction: Red Bud 21, Breese Central 14