Moving forward: Panthers ready to put playoff setback behind them

Published 11:42 am Thursday, July 23, 2026

CAMP POINT, Ill. — Panthers head coach Brad Dixon and the Camp Point Central coaching staff have built up one of the strongest Class 1A football teams in Illinois.

Year in and year out, Central has been the class of the Western Illinois Valley Conference and have gone on deep playoff runs, culminating with a state championship in 2023.

The Panthers faced a challenge from WIVC North Division rival Brown County last season, with Central defeating the Hornets 27-6 in Week 6, only to fall to Brown County 16-8 in the second round of the playoffs.

“Obviously, we turned the ball over too many times,” said Dixon. “It’s a good lesson for our guys. You know, (Brown County) has been well-coached for so long. They have the staff that’s been together the longest. They do things the right way and were able to make it to state.”

Central had an early lead in its playoff matchup against Brown County, but four turnovers doomed their chances and let the Hornets back into the game.

“Our goal is to be competitive in every game,” said Dixon. “We feel like we stubbed our toe a little bit, and Brown County came in here and put it to us. It kind of left a sour taste in our mouth, and we don’t want to put ourselves in that position again. Every year, we want to make a run at a state championship. I think last year, we had a group of guys that could do that and we just didn’t take care of business.”

Central has nearly 60 players out for the 2026 season and is ready to wipe the slate clean.

“It’s going pretty good,” said Central senior Briggs Wiskirchen. “We just have a lot of new guys coming in, and we lost a good group of seniors that played a big role on our football team. We’re getting things together step by step. We have to know the fundamentals of football and just get to work.”

While Central did lose some key players from last season, they have a number of players ready to step up this season.

“We have some stud juniors on offense and defense,” said Wiskirchen. “They’re going to play a big role taking some senior spots from last year. They’re going to be good.”

Several of those juniors earned key roles last year as sophomores.

“A lot of people don’t realize we started six sophomores last year, and seven in our last playoff game due to some injuries,” said Dixon. “They’re now juniors that were freshmen and sophomores having to play on the basketball team and baseball team for two years. We don’t have a lot of numbers in our senior class, so these younger guys have had to play varsity. Probably before they were ready.”

Summer practices have been heating up for Central, as the season will start a week earlier due to Illinois HIgh School Association (IHSA) changes to the playoff system.

The IHSA made more teams eligible for the postseason, which led to moving the regular season opener so the state championship game would still take place on Thanksgiving weekend.

“We tried to fight it,” said Dixon. “We just keep lengthening seasons and are taking away from kids’ summers. So we were proponents against it. Obviously it passed and we’re going to have to live with it. But I don’t think it’s going to be good for the sport.”

Regardless of when Central begins the season, its players are ready to roll.

“I’m pretty excited to hit some people,” said Wiskirchen.

Central will open the 2026 season with a road game against West Central Winchester on Friday, Aug. 21, and will face Greenfield-Northwestern in its home opener on Friday, Aug. 28.

“I’m fairly excited,” said Central junior Kale Niekamp. “I’ve been ready for a while. I’m ready to get back out here and get to work.”

The Panthers will get their rematch against Brown County on Friday, Sept. 25, which will be held in Mt. Sterling.

“You got to play it like any other game,” said Niekamp. “You can take all the anger you want out, but it comes down to fundamentals and that’s what it’s all about.”

The goal remains the same for the Panthers.

“I would like to go somewhere in the playoffs,” said Wiskirchen. “The state championship is always the goal, but sometimes it doesn’t go our way like you saw last year. I’d like to get far. That’s always our goal.”

Niekamp watched his older brother, Kadin Niekamp, win a state championship in 2023 when he was in eighth grade, and would like to experience that himself.

“I’d like to win a state championship for the program,” said Niekamp. “My brother won one and went to another one, and I can’t let him be the only one in the family with one.”