Great things happen when communities come together.

An outstanding example of that is the recent announcement by the Illinois High School Association Board of Directors that football state finals in odd-numbered years – from 2013 through 2021 – will be held at Northern Illinois University. NIU beat out Illinois State University and Southern Illinois University for the right to host the two-day, eight-class event.

The University of Illinois has hosted the high school state championship games at Memorial Stadium since 1999, but changes to the Big Ten schedule forced the IHSA to find a host for title games in odd-numbered years starting next year.