By FRANK CASH

Herald-Whig Sports Writer

Kelly Sears was a little worried prior to Monday's first practice for tonight's KHQA Do or Die Bowl IV.

The Macomb coach, who is the head coach of the East All-Stars, was uncertain about how some of his players would interact with each other.

Sears forgot about that worry no more than 15 minutes into practice.

"We have so many rivalries on this team ... (Quincy Notre Dame) and Macomb, Triopia and Routt, West Hancock and Illini West," Sears said. "I wasn't sure how they would get along with each other. After about the second day of practice, it wasn't an issue at all. We're all buddies now."

The only boundary anyone is worrying about tonight is the Mississippi River, which divides the East into players from Illinois and the West All-Stars into players from Missouri and Iowa.

Kickoff for tonight's game is 7 p.m. at Flinn Stadium. The gates will open at 4:30 p.m. with a tailgate party and a 5-on-5 game involving area coaches. Admission is $10 but fans wearing football jerseys will be admitted for $7.

West coach Matt Smith has enjoyed meshing players from around the area to play on the same team.

"It's been fun," said Smith, the head coach at Clark County. "I worried about what would happen when a few of the kids got tangled up. But they were helping each other off the job and telling them good job."

With the offensive weapons in both team's arsenals, fans should expect a high-scoring game.

Joe Gilliam of Paris and Luke O'Laughlin of South Shelby will handle the West's signal-calling duties. Those two should be able to carry out the West's spread offensive attack.

"We've got so many weapons on this team, both in the backfield and receiver," Knox County's Zach Parrish said. "And we've got guys who aren't afraid to hit each other. That makes it nice."

The West should hold their own in the trenches, with linemen like Mike Neuendorf of Keokuk, Michael Failor of Hannibal and Blake Powell of Palmyra.

"We've picked up the pace continually all week," Powell said. "Most everyone knows everyone else so people are on the same page."

That's similar to the East's approach, especially with offensive linemen like Max Dancer of QND and defenders led by Macomb's Curt Myers and Evan Kline.

"It's been fun in practice this week because we've got such quick running backs and receivers," Illini West's Matt Snyder said. "Then we've got guys on the other side of the ball who like to go out and hit. That's a great combination."

It should prepare the East All-Stars well for Saturday's main event.

"Everyone's been going out all week and not holding anything back," Unity's Zach Cook said. "Everyone's having a good time. There's been plenty of smack talking going on."

And no one is worrying about where their teammates are from.

--sports@whig.com/221-3365