The Carmi-White County Bulldogs will make the 189 mile trip northwest of Decatur to Warrensburg-Latham High School for the 1st Round of the IHSA Playoffs. It is the first ever meeting between the two schools, so that begs the question, who is Warrensburg-Latham?
The Cardinals of Warrensburg-Latham are members of the Heart of Central Illinois Football Conference, a league that is in its first year of existence. The Cardinals were members of the Central Illinois Conference in prior years, but the CIC and the Heart of Illinois Conference merged into one this season. The Heart of Central Illinois Conference consists of two divisions, small and large.
The HCIC small school division is home to Warrensburg-Latham, LeRoy, Gibson City, Tuscola, Central A&M, Heyworth, Macon-Meridian, Fisher, and Fieldcrest.
The HCIC large school division features Downs Tri-Valley, Eureka, El Paso Gridley, Shelbyville (who defeated CWC in the 2016 Playoffs), Deer Creek Mackinaw, Clinton, Ridgeview, and Tremont.
The Cardinals finished the 2024 regular season with a 7-2 record, clinching their first playoff berth since 2018. Their two losses were a 24-21 loss at home against Gibson City, and a 41-7 loss at home against LeRoy. Gibson City is the #3 and LeRoy is the #1 seed in the Northern 1A Playoff Bracket.
Warrensburg-Latham has an enrollment of 313, compared to CWCs enrollment of 368.
Aaron Fricke is the head coach of the Cardinals. He is in his 7th year at the helm, with a combined record of 30-31.
We’ll take a more in-depth look at the Warrensburg-Latham roster, as well as what to expect from the Cardinals in terms of Xs and Os in this week’s Gridiron Preview.
Kickoff between the Bulldogs and Cardinals is set for 2 PM on Saturday.
Fans will be able to watch and listen to the game on 97.3 FM WRUL and the WRUL Sports YouTube Channel.
