Darren Kinnard/River Radio Sports Central
After seeing Vienna/Goreville unable to field a varsity team for three of the past four seasons, the Black Diamond Conference has decided to make a change. Conference members voted to boot V/G football and to extend an invitation to Red Hill to join the conference, only in football.
Christopher athletic director Josh McCurren is the current Black Diamond Conference president. McCurren said adding Red Hill would be beneficial for all involved.
“It fits perfectly because Red Hill doesn’t want leave its current conference for other sports,” McCurren said. “Being an independent, scheduling is a problem for them. With the unfortunate situation with Vienna/Goreville, this would work for both current (BDC) schools and Red Hill.”
“This is an invitation,” McCurren added. “They have a board meeting Monday night, and we hope they accept.”
Should Red Hill accept, the Diamond would be back to a 10-team, closed football conference, meaning every regular season game is a conference game.
Red Hill High School is located in Bridgeport, which is approximately 20 miles north of Mt. Carmel and 20 miles east of Olney. The school with an enrollment of 252 is currently competing in its third season as an independent in football since leaving the Little Illini Conference following the 2021-22 school year. The Salukis have qualified for the 1A playoffs each of the past two seasons and are off to a 2-1 start this season. The school is a member of the Midland Trail and Little Okaw Valley conferences for all other sports.
Now Red Hill is no stranger to four other Diamond members. The Salukis were part of the North Egypt Conference with current BDC members Carmi-White County, Fairfield and Flora until leaving for the Little Illini following the 2000-01 school year. The Salukis were part of the LIC with Edwards County and Flora until those schools left to join the Black Diamond in 2016 (Edwards County) and 2021 (Flora).
If the invitation is accepted, Red Hill would simply replace Vienna/Goreville in the Black Diamond schedule starting next football season. Travel is one potential concern for some schools. McCurren said there will be an underclass schedule as well, but schools will have the ability to shift opponents if closer options are available and agreeable for both teams.
Vienna/Goreville not fielding a varsity team left the remaining BDC football teams scrambling to find replacement games with varying degrees of success. Those who didn’t find a replacement take the forfeit win and play one less regular season game. Fairfield, Sesser-Valier/Waltonville and Carmi-White County did not find a replacement over the first three weeks this season. Coincidentally, CZR will play at Red Hill Saturday.
Black Diamond members also identified facilities as a significant issue at Vienna/Goreville, namely the lack of lights which resulted in the need to play day games on Saturdays.
As far as the future of Vienna/Goreville football, the school released a statement saying it would continue to play lower-level football against teams from the region. “VG has a substantial number of freshmen, and it is our hope that if all goes well, we can resume varsity play in the 2026-27 school,” said Vienna athletic director David Hill.
If the Eagles do return to the varsity level, it would be as an independent.
“I appreciate the BDC and their patience and support as VG continues to work on establishing what is still a new program compared to others in the region,” Hill added.
Vienna started varsity football in 2009. Under head coach Mike Rude, the Eagles earned playoff spots in 2012 and 2013, but the program has fallen on hard times, having won only 9 of 80 games in the 11 seasons since that last playoff appearance. Vienna/Goreville is 2-42 since 2018, including 14 forfeits. Former Eagles’ player Dilynn Roper was hired as head coach back in May. Roper is the program’s fourth head coach in as many seasons.
Vienna will remain in the Black Diamond for all of its other sports.
