The La Salle-Peru football team’s schedule has been revamped for the 2026 season with an entirely new slate of nonconference games.

The Cavaliers, who went 2-7 last season in JJ Raffelson’s first year as head coach, added Lanphier, Wheaton Academy, Alton and Marquette Academy to the schedule, replacing United Township (5-5 in 2025), Metamora (8-3), a second meeting with Ottawa (3-6) and O’Fallon (4-5).

L-P’s 2026 nonconference opponents went a combined 11-26 last season.

“It was a lot of work in progress trying to maneuver some things around, but I’m happy with it,” Raffelson said. “I think it’s going to give us a good opportunity to compete.

“We have four new games that we didn’t have last year, so we were trying to change things up. We’ll see what we can do. I’m excited about the group we have. A lot of offseason work has been put in, so we’re excited about what we’ve got going on.”

L-P opens at Howard Fellows Stadium against Lanphier at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 21. The Lions went 1-8 last season and have only 12 wins over the last 10 seasons. Lanphier has an enrollment of 1,050.

The Cavs travel to Wheaton Academy in Week 2 before hosting Alton in Week 3 for a 1 p.m. Saturday kickoff. Wheaton Academy went 4-5 last fall, while Alton was 0-9.

Wheaton Academy, which has an enrollment of 670, made four straight Class 4A playoff appearances from 2021-24. Alton, a Class 7A team with an enrollment of 1,759, has had six straight seasons of two wins or less.

L-P plays Interstate 8 Conference games Weeks 4-8 hosting Rochelle, playing at Ottawa, facing Sycamore at Howard Fellows, traveling to Kaneland and playing Morris at home.

The Cavs end the regular season Oct. 16 at Marquette, which went 6-4 last season. The Crusaders, who have an enrollment of 135, have made 13 consecutive playoff appearances in Class 1A.