KXO to rebroadcast classic football matchups

EL CENTRO – There will be high school football this fall, but the glow of Friday Night Lights will be that emanating from your radio dial.

KXO Radio has announced that, starting Friday, it will begin rebroadcasting classic high school football contests from the past decade on its AM1230 channel and on YouTube.

KXO Vice President Carroll Buckley said the station has about 100 games available and is in the process of choosing the best of them to air on Fridays at 7 p.m. through Dec. 11.

He described the rebroadcasts as a “public service” to a community that has been starved for local high school sports since the coronavirus pandemic struck in midMarch.

“Everybody is very enthusiastic,” he said of the expected reception for the programming.

Buckley and Jon Driffill will launch each week’s broadcast with a pre-game set-up for the contest, including discussion of coaches, key players and the outcome’s implications for that particular season.

Nearly every school in the Valley will appear over the 16 weeks. The one exception is Calipatria, which Buckley said does not appear in any of the games KXO has archived. Although the final schedule of games is pending, Buckley said listeners can expect play-by-play of Royce Freeman carrying the ball for Imperial High School, as well as rebroadcasts of classic Bell Games.

This week’s broadcast will be the Oct. 21, 2011, El Centro City Championship between Central Union and Southwest high schools. Although the season was an average one for both teams (Southwest finished 4-6 and Central, 5-5), their annual bragging rights affair was an exciting one that went down to the wire.

“You’ve gotta listen,” Buckley said.

Over the six weeks following that broadcast, KXO will feature the 2004 Bell Game between Brawley and Central (on Sept. 4), a 2017 contest between San Diego High School and Central (Sept. 11), a 2014 showdown between Holtville and Central

(Sept. 18), the 2011 Imperial and Central squads squaring off (Sept. 25), the 2015 City Championship (Oct. 2) and a 2012 duel between Imperial and Santana High School (Oct. 9).

The series will be capped with a re-presentation of 2017’s Division 4-A State Championship between Southwest and Milpitas.

IVP FILE PHOTO Royce Freeman will be moving the chains again for the Imperial Tigers through the magic of radio. He’ll be among those featured in KXO Radio’s series of rebroadcasts of classic high school football games from the past decade.