A-J set to welcome 6-0 Du Quoin Friday

The Anna-Jonesboro Community High School football team hosts 6-0 Du Quoin this Friday.

Game time is set for 7 p.m. The game will be aired on WIBH radio in Anna.

The youthful Wildcats, 2-4, will play against a lot of upperclassmen in the game.

“We’ve got a lot of seniors,” Du Quoin coach Derek Beard said. “We’ve got a lot of good leadership.”

The Indians enter the game after a 41-12 victory over Sparta last week. The Wildcats posted a 13-0 win over Pinckneyville.

Du Quoin is led at quarterback by senior Alex Simmerman. 

“He’s more a running quarterback,” Beard said. “We haven’t had to throw a lot this season. We’ve had a lot of big play runs.”

A trio powers the backfield attack with seniors Ethan Zettler and Nick Detyatic and junior Wayne Barman.

“They’ve scored a ton of points this year,” A-J coach Brett Detering said. “They are fast and they have good speed.”

Detering said several players competed on the Indians’ Class 1A track team last season that finished in second place at the Illinois High School Association state meet. 

Protecting the backfield and anchoring the offensive line are seniors Braden Higgins, Logan Robinson and Dalton Moore.

Defensive stalwarts are Zettler and Detyatic and seniors Braden Pursell, Dasani Edward and Kadin Mays.

But Beard has a lot of respect for his opponent.

“Coach Detering does a good job,” Beard said. “They get better each week.”

“We’ll have to play extremely well to beat them,” Detering said. “We have to play a mistake-free game.”

The Wildcats play 1-5 Sparta next week and then close out the season the following week with undefeated Benton, 6-0.