ROCHELLE — Rochelle Township High School concluded its annual Meet the Hubs Fall Family Night with the purple vs. white football scrimmage Friday evening. The intrasquad scrimmage marked the official end of fall camp, which kicked off with Rochelle’s first practice on Aug. 12.

Both the fresh-soph and varsity teams participated in the purple vs. white scrimmage, which saw players take the field in full uniform in preparation for their first game of the season next Friday evening against Woodstock. The Hubs are looking to build on a 7-3 overall finish last season, when Rochelle reached the postseason for the third consecutive year under head coach Kyle Kissack. The Hubs had a 7-1 overall record at the fresh-soph level last season.

“We had a really productive fall camp,” Kissack said. “When we have a group like this… their willingness to compete with each other during practice makes for a really productive camp and I thought our kids took advantage of that. Our kids are healthy and that’s a critical component to our success. The kids will have a few days off and then we’ll be ready to go next week.”

Rochelle’s Meet the Hubs Fall Family Night introduced coaches and student-athletes from each of the fall sports programs as well as members of the marching band and color guard. Both the cheerleading and dance teams performed for a packed audience that filled the bleachers at the Douglas A. Creason Athletic Complex with Rochelle’s traditional purple and white colors. 

Preceding the purple vs. white scrimmage was a special ceremony to honor the Hub Power program’s Male and Female Weightlifter of the Year Award winners. Seniors Colton Czekala (football) and Taelynn Rodeghero (volleyball) were presented with this year’s awards. The ceremony gave way to the purple vs. white scrimmage, where members of the varsity team showcased new jerseys while the fresh-soph team will wear last year’s varsity uniforms.

“One of the messages that we’ve shared with our kids all summer is that they have to be consistent daily,” Kissack said. “What we’ve been most pleased about as a staff has been our consistency. If we can raise the bar of that consistently good performance just a little bit everyday and maintain that, we’ll be in a good spot. We have a bunch of kids who complement each other well and we have some explosive skill players. I think our offensive and defensive lines are the best we’ve had since I took over. But we don’t win football games on paper.”

Rochelle is currently scheduled to play only eight varsity games this season. The shortened schedule is due to the team’s Week 9 opponent, Windsor Imperial High School in Missouri, pulling out of its contract with RTHS. The Hubs are actively seeking a new opponent for its final week of the season, but they will receive a forfeit and a win should they not find an opponent.

“We need to be resilient through difficult moments and be reliable in those moments,” Kissack said. “I really like our group and there’s a lot out there for us to accomplish.”