Illinois College gets new life

Michael Bates has stepped in at quarterback as a freshman and has helped Illinois College to its first-ever playoff bid.
Illinois College athletics photo

With coach Garrett Campbell at a Midwest Conference coaches meeting in Beloit, Wis. and a bunch of teammates at home for the weekend, a handful of Illinois College faithful joined senior wide receiver Brock Thompson at his place on campus to watch the Division III tournament draw.
 
The Blueboys finished the season 9-1, but second to the Monmouth Fighting Scots in the MWC. Illinois College had never been ranked and never even played a ranked team this season. The conference had never been awarded an at-large bid to the playoffs, but Thompson and a few of his teammates still believed and felt compelled to see for themselves if Illinois College’s name would be called.
 
“Some guys didn’t want the whole team to come together because they thought what if we didn’t get in?” Thompson said about last Sunday evening. “That would have been a letdown. I will never forget the exuberance that went through my body when I saw our name come across the board against Wabash. A lot of people didn’t think we’d make it or didn’t deserve it. Someone on that committee had to think we were good enough. We can’t wait to play.”
 
In a season of firsts and improbable finishes for Illinois College, the Blueboys added yet one more superlative – the first Illinois College team to compete for a Division III national championship in football.
 
“It has definitely created a buzz around campus and on the team,” said freshman quarterback Michael Bates, who as much as anyone made a difference for the Blueboys this season “I’m just here to let the seniors and upperclassmen take me along for the ride. It’s been a memorable season and I’m enjoying every chance I get. I think it’s a tribute to our work ethic and coach Campbell is an awesome person.”
 
Campbell was returning from the coaches meeting with a football and volleyball player when their cell phones lit up almost simultaneously. The word had even found them on a road back to Jacksonville, Ill.
 
“It was kind of crazy,” Campbell said of the flood of phone calls and text...

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Clyde Hughes

Clyde Hughes

Clyde Hughes has been writing sports at various times over the past 24 years, covering everything from high school, college and sporting events. A native of football-crazed Texas, Hughes works in Indiana and has written for numerous newspapers and magazines.