Aug. 8Andrew Todd had his hands on the football quite a bit last season.The Fisher junior compiled a team-high 725 rushing yards on a team-high 113 carries during his sophomore season in 2025 with the Bunnies. Todd will once again have his hands on the ball quite a bit during the upcoming 2026 season.Just in a different way.After playing fullback last season with the Bunnies, Todd is moving to quarterback this season. He'll get his first chance under center at 7 p.m. on Aug. 21 when Fisher hosts Cumberland at Kellar Field in the Lincoln Prairie Conference debut for the Bunnies.A conversation third-year Fisher coach Jeff Palmer had with his son, Jake, this offseason prompted the potential of Todd moving positions. Jake coached the Bunnies from 2016-2021, guiding Fisher to three playoff berths and two postseason victories, including its most recent one in both categories in 2019.He's back on the sidelines this season, serving as Fisher's offensive coordinator."Jake and I were just talking about it, and Jake was like, 'Who's your best dude?'" Jeff said. "Andrew is another really, really smart and high-character kid. He's picking up the things we're doing really well. He's never played quarterback before, but he looks really good."Blake Green started the first five games at quarterback last season for the Bunnies, but graduated in May. Keaton Jones started the final three games as a freshman, but Jeff said the sophomore will serve as Fisher's backup quarterback this season.Fisher has shifted junior Bo Epperson, last season's second-leading rusher with 428 yards, to fullback from halfback for this season to take the place Todd once occupied."It's like having two fullbacks back there," Jeff said.The flex-T, run-based offense the Bunnies like to use means Todd won't have to throw the ball much. His teammates have noticed his progression when it comes to that part of the game as Fisher tries to bounce back from a 1-8 season in 2025."He's very well-rounded," senior running back Cooper Miller said. "When we were doing routes on air, I was a little skeptical of him, but when we went through our first two scrimmages this summer, he was throwing some good balls. He caught me in stride a few times, which was pretty nice. I think he'll do really good this year."Fellow senior and four-year starter on the offensive line Gavin Rushing said he was shocked upon first hearing Todd would move from fullback to quarterback. He's come around on the concept, though."I was not expecting it, and I was surprised, but then the more I thought about it, it's a perfect fit," Rushing said. "He's smart. I can trust him to make the right play and the right decision. He can scramble. We all know that, and he can definitely throw the ball."* * *Another small-school area program known for its run-first approach is making a change at quarterback, too.Except the 2025 Salt Fork quarterback is still on the Storm's 2026 roster.Salt Fork second-year coach Les Siefert said he is planning on starting sophomore Weston Church at quarterback this season, with Zayden Bromley moving to halfback in the Storm's wing-T offense for his junior season.Bromley accounted for 17 total touchdowns last season and almost 1,400 yards of total offense split almost evenly between running and throwing the ball."Zayden, like all of our kids, was open to do something different if we asked, and we thought this is going to make us better," Siefert said. "He is a very good athlete, and he can play a lot of different spots for us, especially at the skill positions."Church started at quarterback last season for the Storm junior varsity team and at cornerback on the Salt Fork varsity team, and now has the chance to hold on to the position for the next three seasons."We're excited about Weston," Siefert said. "We're hoping Weston can be that guy for the next few years."The graduation of Weston's older brother, Ian, had a bit to do with the changes the Storm are making at two important skill positions. Ian was Salt Fork's second-leading rusher last season behind returning senior fullback Jamison Chambliss, with both players topping 700 rushing yards in 2025."We didn't really have that type of back with Ian graduating," Siefert said. "We're confident Zayden can step in and do that."Chambliss led the Storm in carries last season and will likely do so again this season, running behind an offensive line that returns four starters and will feature senior Mousa Abudayya at left tackle, senior Blake Trimmell at left guard, senior Bennett Smoot at center, junior Cale Boyd at right guard and senior Travor Boyd at right tackle.Chambliss has been impressed by Weston Church's toughness from last season when he played two games despite having a broken elbow and improvement in the weight room this offseason."He came back from those injuries really well," Chambliss said. "He works very hard in the weight room and has put on a lot of size. He's gotten a lot more vocal since last year, and he's not afraid to say what he thinks. It seems like he's been at quarterback for a long time."* * *Among area programs, Mahomet-Seymour had the most nonconference games it had to fill among its nine-game schedule. That's because the Apollo Conference only has six members, with those five league games taking place from Week 4 through Week 8.So, the Bulldogs will host Morton on Aug. 21 in their season opener the fifth straight season those two teams have met to kick off the season before hosting Normal U-High on Aug. 28 and playing Champaign Central at Tommy Stewart Field in Champaign on Sept. 4. M-S will end the regular season at home against Bloomington on Oct. 16. U-High, a former Corn Belt Conference member with M-S, Central and Bloomington are new additions to this year's schedule after the Bulldogs played Morris, Sycamore and Peoria Richwoods in their other three nonconference games in 2025."I was very thankful to get to play Morris and Sycamore in the past," M-S coach Jon Adkins said. "Those were two programs I wanted on our schedule, and I loved it. I hate that we couldn't renew that, but understand why."Central and Bloomington are already on the schedule for the 2027 season, too, and Adkins said he'd like to keep Morton on well into the future."Morton has been awesome about renewing our contract," Adkins said. "I love playing those guys because they're so much like us."The Bulldogs' coach is also grateful to U-High and Central for scheduling a program that has made five straight trips to the Class 5A playoffs and is 46-15 this decade."Thankfully, U-High and Central wanted to play us because, to be quite honest with you, a lot of teams told us no," Adkins said. "There were a few other teams that had those weeks open and turned us down. I know the kids are looking forward to that Week 3 opportunity against Central, but we've got to worry about Week 1. That's going to be a great test for us."