ROCK ISLAND – Over Super Bowl weekend it was announced that Alleman High School in Rock Island will be back in Western Big Six Conference with a varsity team in the fall of 2025.

Alleman will once again be fielding teams at all three levels of high-school football: freshman, junior varsity, and varsity. The freshman and junior varsity programs in effect “grow” a competitive varsity football squad.

“That’s the important part,” said Alleman football coach Jeff Schmulbach in an interview on WQAD8 on Monday Feb. 10. “If you’re going to build a program back . . . you can’t just play one level and expect the young guys to get the experience they need.”

Schmulbach said the players can hardly believe it. “I’ve got a couple that every time I see them, it’s like, ‘We’re playing varsity, right?’’’

“’I can show you the schedule right now,” he said he tells them. Still, five minutes later they ask, ‘Are you sure we’re playing?’”

STORIED TEAM HISTORY

“It’s been so long for them, and a few of them, these seniors especially . . .  (are) just chomping at the bit to play on Friday nights.”

A storied team that was a dominant member of the Western Big Six Conference in the 1990s, Alleman’s varsity program was a victim of declining enrollment. As a result, the school did not field a varsity team in 2023 and 2024.

CATHOLIC EDUCATION “MVP”

But enrollment has rebounded, and Jerry Sanderson, superintendent of schools for the Diocese of Peoria, said it is in large part due to the school’s Catholic identity.

“We’re excited to see varsity football return to Alleman Catholic High School. It is a result of their growing enrollment and the community’s interest in Catholic education.”