The Ridgeview school district is the result of many consolidations of small town school districts in eastern McLean County. In 1948, the Octavia school district was consolidated from the small communities of Colfax, Cooksville and Anchor. In 1952, the communities of Saybrook and Arrowsmith consolidated their school district. Ridgeview was formed in 1989 from these two school districts.

Football has been and will remain interwoven into the fabric of the small communities that make up the Ridgeview district.  It all started with the Colfax High School Tigers and the Saybrook High School Comanches.  In the early 50's when Saybrook consolidated with Arrowsmith, and Colfax consolidated with Cooksville and Anchor, the Saybrook-Arrowsmith and Octavia school districts were born.  Both Octavia and Saybrook-Arrowsmith had rich traditions in the sport of football. Both schools competed in the Sangamon Valley Conference which was formed before the 1955 football season. Ridgeview competed in the SVC until 1997 when Ridgeview joined the Mid-State Conference.

Saybrook-Arrowsmith High School had some great football teams in the mid 1950’s. The Comanches won two straight SVC championships in 1955 and 56. In 1962 the Comanches completed a 6-2 season winning games over Heyworth, Mackinaw, Fisher, Deland, Farmer City and Mansfield.  The only two games the 1962 team lost were to Mahomet who won 31 straight games during this stretch, and the Octavia Rockets.

Octavia High School will be remembered as the most dominant football program in Sangamon Valley Conference history, winning 9 conference championships, having 21 winning seasons, and 6 playoff berths in it’s 34 year affiliation with the SVC.   The Octavia Rockets continued to dominate the SVC up until it’s consolidation into Ridgeview in 1989.  The best seasons in Octavia history were Warren Cooper's undefeated 1967 and 1969 teams, and Leon Kellar's 1975 and 1978 teams both of which advanced to the quarterfinals in the playoffs.  Tom Atwell's 1981 and 1982 teams both reached the playoffs and Coach Dean Bartges led the last two Octavia teams in 1987 and 1988 to the playoffs.

In 1989, Ridgeview was formed from Octavia and Saybrook-Arrowsmith districts.  The 1989 Ridgeview team finished with a 9-0 regular season and a Sangamon Valley Conference Championship which "set the tone" for the newly formed schools athletic programs.  The new school district chose the name "Mustangs" and the football and sports tradition has continued.