The Clinton Prairie Gophers ended the 2025 season with four straight losses, finishing 3-6.
“Last year was kind of a weird year for us,” Clinton Prairie football coach Kurt Schlicher said. “We had some injuries in key moments, we lost a game (Tri-Central) that we were never able to replace, and probably lost a second game because of the bye in the tournament.”
Clinton Prairie will have to replace the impact of several dynamic players, including wide receiver/quarterback Kye Jacobs and running backs Hunter Cooper and Briaden Jarboe.
“Most teams go through what we’re going through,” Schlicher said. “We lost some quality players that have contributed for the past two or three years.”
Despite the losses, the Gophers enter this season looking to lean on their experience, with several returning starters.
“We feel like we have a lot of kids coming back with experience,” Schlicher said. “We have a really nice senior class again this year; we’re really excited about the possibilities. We have about 13 guys who started a game on defense back and 12 who started a game on offense back.
Clinton Prairie faced a difficult schedule during the second half of the season, playing the four teams that finished ahead of them in the Hoosier Heartland, including Sheridan in their first Sectional game.
The schedule in 2026 is nearly identical, with the only change being the return of Tri-Central in week four.
“Everybody on our schedule is excited about their team and their season; we’re trying not to look too far ahead,” Schlciher said. “Our focus since the end of last year has been to try and do what we can to get stronger and more committed, and I feel like we’ve done that.”
The Gophers are still in search of their first Sectional Championship, having made it to the championship game as recently as 2021.
Sheridan has been the team to knock Clinton Prairie out of the tournament each of the last two years, but with Sectional realignments, the Gophers will not have to see the Blackhawks in Sectional play.
“There’s definitely going to be some different teams in there, Schlicher said. “This will be the third different sectional we’ve been in since I arrived at Prairie. Honestly, I don’t even know if I could tell you every team that’s in it. We try not to worry too much; you want to set a goal, you want to win a sectional. We’re trying to win the county, the conference, the sectional. I’m not trying to minimize what our goals are for this year, but we really try to stress that we’re trying to build the best football team we can.”
Clinton Prairie will begin the season at Frontier, before back-to-back games against County rivals Frankfort and Clinton Central. Both county rivalry games will be available to watch on Hoosierland TV.
See all the games Hoosierland TV will be covering by checking out the 2026 Hoosierland TV Game of the Week Schedule.
Listen to the full interview with coach Schlicher by clicking below.