Matt Barr was the last great player of the Belvidere football dynasty that saw the Bucs at or near the top of the NIC-9/NIC-10 for more than 25 years.
At Belvidere, Barr rushed for 309 yards as a junior, backing up Jason Fiske, who was named NIC-10 Offensive MVP while leading the Bucs to third place in the NIC-9 and 7-4 overall. In 2005, Barr was handed the keys to Belvidere wishbone attack that had sliced up local defenses since it was installed by Vern Pottinger, and Barr ran it better than anyone ever.
With Barr behind center, the Bucs were a perfect 8-0 in the NIC-9. The Bucs advanced all the way to the IHSA Class 7A semifinals where Belvidere lost to eventual state champion Mount Prospect, 37-12.
The significance of that playoff run has only grown with time. No NIC-10 public school team has reached the IHSA semifinals since and the Bucs haven't won the NIC-9/NIC-10 football title since Barr graduated.
In 2007, the Belvidere School District opened Belvidere North in 2007 to handle what was expected to be thousands of new houses planned in and around Belvidere. Instead, the Great Recession decimated the housing market and the new houses were never built. Belvidere finished second in 2006 and 2007 then slipped to 3-6 in 2008. The Bucs snuck in the playoffs with 5-4 and 6-3 records in 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2015 before the bottom dropped out in 2017 with a 1-8 record. Belvidere has been in the bottom three teams ever since.
Dozens of schools were interested in Barr because of his athleticism. But Barr wanted to play quarterback so he chose Western Illinois, an NCAA Division 1A school because the Leathernecks would let him compete at QB.
It turned out to be a historically good decision for Western Illinois. After redshirting in 2006 - when he was named Offensive Scout Team Co-Player of the Year - Barr took over as the Western Illinois quarterback in 2007 and rewrote the school record books.
He threw for 1,305 yards and set the single-game and single-season rushing records for a quarterback as a freshman. He started every game except one missed because of injury as a sophomore, throwing nine touchdowns.
As a junior, he really started to take off. He was the College Sporting News Football Championship Subdivision Player of the Week after opening the season with 437 yards passing against Sam Houston State. He followed that up with games of 117 yards and 270 yards and had 90 more against Southern Illinois before suffering a season-ending injury.
He came back with a vengeance for his senior in 2010. In 13 games, Barr ran for 449 yards with seven touchdowns and passed for 3,410 yards with 27 touchdowns. He finished the season with a 148.7 passer rating for a WIU team that made it to the second round of the NCAA Division 1 FCS playoffs.
Barr was named the Missouri Valley Football Conference Offensive Player of the Year and finished second in the voting for the Walter Payton award, which goes annually to the top player in NCAA Division I Football Championship Series.
Unfortunately for Barr, he was born too soon to entice NFL scouts. Today, quarterbacks who can throw and run - Kyler Murray, Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts - are taking over the NFL. In 2010, the only NFL quarterback who played that style was Michael Vick.
With no NFL on the horizon, Barr completed his degree in accounting at Western and then added a master's degree in accounting in 2011. Today, he is the vice president of finance at Russell Construction and Development in Davenport, Iowa.
| No. 21 - Matt Barr, Belvidere | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Level | School | Accomplishments | Points |
| 2004 | High School | Belvidere | Playoff Team | 1 |
| 2005 | High School | Belvidere | First Team All-Conference | 2 |
| Conference MVP | 1 | |||
| Conference Champion | 1 | |||
| Playoff Team | 1 | |||
| Final Four | 1 | |||
| League Leader | 1 | |||
| All-State Selection | 1 | |||
| 2007 | College | Western Illinois | Letter Winner on Division 1AA | 3 |
| Starter | 1 | |||
| Winning Team | 1 | |||
| 2008 | College | Western Illinois | Letter Winner on Division 1AA | 3 |
| Starter | 1 | |||
| Winning Team | 1 | |||
| 2009 | College | Western Illinois | Letter Winner on Division 1AA | 3 |
| Starter | 1 | |||
| All-Conference | 1 | |||
| 2010 | College | Western Illinois | Letter Winner on Division 1AA | 3 |
| Starter1 | 1 | |||
| Winning Team | 1 | |||
| All-Conference | 1 | |||
| All-American | 1 | |||
| Playoffs | 1 | |||
| Total | 32 | |||
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