Talking High School Football in the Quad Cities

Townsquare Media's Michael Weindruch returns as a guest blogger. Michael is one of the biggest sports fans here at Townsquare Media Quad Cities. 

I love this time of year. It may be just below the NCAA basketball tournament for fan involvement.

It’s the start of the local high school and college football season with games beginning Thursday night.

Each Thursday through Saturday, thousands of fans attend their favorite high school and college games making for one of the largest sports activities of the year. For those who want more than just the games, there’s two unique events you may not be aware of.

On the Illinois side of the river, The Rock island Booster Club presents a weekly Friday luncheon.  It’s held at the Moose Lodge (4410 9th St, Rock Island). For only $10 you receive a buffet meal highlighted by some real tasty fried chicken.

Coaches from Rock Island, Alleman and Augustana College are the guest speakers each week. To hear the coaches’ perspectives on their weekly games provides background on their teams that you won’t hear about in the local sports pages or TV sports reports.

On the Iowa side, it’s the 73^rd edition of the Davenport Grid Club. It’s the longest running sports luncheon in Iowa. These lunches are held each Monday at the Knights of Columbus on W. 35^th Street. It’s also only $10 for a meal and a chance to hear from both Augustana College and St. Ambrose University head coaches. High school coaches from the Iowa high schools recap their previous game and share what’s in store for the upcoming week.

The final speaker each week has some sort of connection to the University of Iowa. On Monday the 27^th, you can listen to former Hawkeye Wrestling Coach and Olympic Champion Dan Gable. Other weekly guest speakers will include Chuck Long, Eddie Podolak, Bobby Hanson and Gary Dolphin.

So whether you’re on either side of the river, and you can’t get enough of high school and college football, make plans to attend either or both of these weekly luncheons.  We’ll see you there!

For high school sports this fall ESPN 93.5 has you covered! Our new show "Don't Hassle Us We're Local" covers the Quad Cities sports scene from local to global; including high school sports every day from 12-2PM CT.