Collinsville is out of the southwestern conference in football after the 2018 season.
When I wrestled as a kid. We were a top program in the area, then go to state and get beat by Chicago kids.
When I coached we went to Chicago 8 out of 9 weekends in a row... we got used to the improved competition, got tired of getting our butts beat, placed as a team in state, along with champs and runner ups, besides other places..... if you want to improve, you can't play the pushovers every week.... what does east st.louis get out of playing us? A win? Really doesn't help them improve imo