Fulton playing last game in the Three Rivers

The Fulton Steamers will be making their last dance in the Three Rivers Conference when they take the football field at Princeton Friday night.

A charter member of the Three Rivers, which formed in 1975, the Steamers will set sail after 46 years for the Northwest Upstate Illinois Conference (NUIC) this fall.

“It is a little bittersweet for me personally to be leaving the TRAC. The Steamers have been part of the TRAC for decades, and I have been here for 22 football seasons in the conference,” Fulton coach Patrick Lower said. “Also, I am originally from Aledo, who grew up playing Orion, Rockridge, Sherrard and Monmouth. I will miss the schools and the people you see at those schools every time you visit. But we will build great relationships with the NUIC schools as well and I look forward to that.”

Joining the NUIC will allow Fulton, which has an enrollment of 292, to compete with schools much more equal in size. The remaining 13 current TRAC schools have an average enrollment of 402. The average enrollment of the 14 currrent NUIC schools is 240 with a high of 412 (Durand-Pecatonica) and a low of 101 (Orangeville).

Fulton will become the 11 largest school in the NUIC as opposed to the second smallest in the Three Rivers.

“We are leaving the best 2A/3A conference in the state and going to the best 1A/2A conference in the state. We feel, as a 1A team, we are a better fit with these teams than in the TRAC,” he said. “For me, the writing was on the wall a long time ago when the TRAC let Kewanee in our conference. I knew then that it was only a matter of time before bigger schools were going to be allowed in.

“Then came Monmouth-Roseville, Hall, Princeton, Sherrard, Kewanee. All those schools have approximately 200 more students than us. For several years we were the smallest of 14 schools in our football conference. The last few years we were 13th as Morrison overtook us as the smallest school in the TRAC. Basically, I feel the TRAC just outgrew us.”

Lower said when Fulton got a call from the NUIC, it jumped on it, even though they know they will face stiff challenges week in and week out in the NUIC, going up against the likes of perennial powers like Aquin (3), Dakota (3), Forreston (3), Galena (3), Lena-Winslow (3) and Stockton (2), who have combined for 17 state titles.

League members Orangeville and Lanark Eastland-Pearl City have also won one each.

“As far as football goes, we understand that this move will be equally challenging for us to compete in our new conference as there are some real blue bloods up there with big trophies in the cases. We are excited, but also understand the great challenge it will be,” Lower said.

Fulton has qualified for the playoffs six times in Lower’s tenure since 2007. The Steamers won state titles in 1976 and 1991.

The Steamers won their last TRAC title in 2016 in the Rock Division.