Football notebook: Rocks don't know where they'll play for opener

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By Craig DeVrieze | Saturday, September 06, 2008 |

It’s Thursday morning, Rock Island football. Do you know where your Friday home opener is?

In fact, Vic Boblett and his Rocks do not.

The Soule Bowl in East Moline remains on a contingency hold for the Rocky season opener vs. Chicago Marshall. The Rocks will kick off there, though, only if installation of the new field turf at Public Schools Stadium cannot be completed in time.

Boblett said contractors are expected to continue working toward having the new synthetic field ready for the 7 p.m. Friday kickoff, but rain today would kill all hope.

The coach said the school will make a final decision by noon Friday, when it needs to tell Marshall where to point its buses.

Officials will get the word out to fans then as quickly as possible.

“If I was a betting man, I wouldn’t bet on it,” Boblett said of the likelihood the Rocks’ home field will be ready. “But it is a possibility. We will play at Rocky Stadium if it’s ready.’’

He said a number of schools across the Midwest are having similar issues with artificial turf installations that were set back by the early summer weather issues.

“It is so frustrating because we will be within 8 to 12 hours of being ready and we won’t get to play,’’ Boblett said. “But we have no control over it.”

On the other hand, he said, “It is frustrating now, but the end product is going to be so wonderful for so many years. So we can deal with a little frustration.’’

Meanwhile, Marshall might not be the standard-issue Chicago Public League pushover. The Commandos won the Class 4A state basketball championship in March, finished 4-5 last year and were a 7-4 Class 5A playoff qualifier in 2006.

Road-hard Mustangs

As defending Big Rivers champions, the Morrison Mustangs always figured to have a bullseye on their backs.

First-year coach Cory Bielema expects the Peru St. Bede Bruins to be taking dead aim.

His Mustangs handed St. Bede back-to-back losses, including a 39-14 first-round playoff dismissal, to end last season, and now they’ll host the Mustangs in what amounts to a third straight meeting.

That’s just the start of a tough Big Rivers schedule for Bielema and his boys, who return four letterwinners from an 11-1 team that advanced to the 2A quarterfinals before losing to eventual state champ Dakota last fall.

After the Bruins, the Mustangs visit conference favorite Sterling Newman, followed by road games at two teams Bielema calls Big Rivers sleepers, Ottawa Marquette and Riverdale.

Yep. Four straight roadies to open his coaching career.

“We’ve discussed how the schedule goes,’’ Bielema said of himself and veteran athletic director Gus Linke.

The Mustangs close the year with five of six at home.