Excitement is the theme around the Daily Journal area as football begins

There was a common theme in huddles and during drills around town for the local prep football teams as they kicked off their first practices of the season on Monday.

For the Daily Journal’s four All-Area teams that held their first practice – the tackle football teams at Bradley-Bourbonnais, Bishop McNamara and Kankakee, and the Boilermakers’ girls flag team – all four head coaches used the word “exciting” to describe the first official day of the 2025 season.

“This is my 26th year of coaching high school football, and I’m just as excited now as I was 26 years ago,” Boilers tackle football coach Mike Kohl said. “It’s a fun time for the kids in our program and a fun time for this area.”

Whether it’s locally, in the Southwest Valley Conference or Class 7A, the Boilermakers have as good a reason as anyone for that excitement. Their trip to last year’s quarterfinal round was just the third in program history, and a postseason appearance this year would give them four straight for the third time ever.

With nine starting defenders and seven starters from the offense – including two-way seniors Lyzale Edmon (WR/DB), Rontez Smith (WR/DB) and Calvin Kohl (TE/LB) – the foundation from last year’s 9-3 squad is largely still in place.

“I think the group last year set the stage,” Mike Kohl said. “Being in the quarterfinals is a huge accomplishment in [Class] 7A. To be there and be so close, to lose to a conference team in Lincoln-Way Central, we want to play for a championship.

“When I first took over, it wasn’t really talked about a whole lot, but now we’ve built this program and our staff has done a great job, the kids have done a great job.”

Boilermakers girls flag team growing after trip to state

The area’s lone football team to make state in 2024, the girls flag football team at Bradley-Bourbonnais, took over on the practice field once the tackle team finished day one.

Offensively, All-State center Suttyn Hop is the only starter to replace, and defensively, the anchors of Avery Moutrey, Evie McIntyre and Audrey Conradi mean there’s plenty of firepower to make another run to state, where the Boilers took fourth with a 17-4 record during the sport’s inaugural season.

And with last year’s successful season, interest has grown for this year. With 60 girls in attendance, a 25% increase from last year, and only 42 varsity and JV roster spots available, head coach Tremaine Turner and his staff will have some difficult decisions to make.

“Now there’s pressure on returning girls because there are girls that are more competitive, maybe more athletic or maybe more natural football players, so it’s that unknown area that we’re going against,” Turner said.

Kankakee looks to add on, not rebuild under new coach Ed Hazelett

The two football teams in Kankakee, Kankakee and Bishop McNamara, both celebrated their first official days with former defensive coordinators now taking over as head coaches. For the Kays, that new head coach is Ed Hazelett, who was last on the Kankakee sidelines as the defensive coordinator for the 2021 team that made the program’s lone trip to state, a Class 5A runner-up finish.

“He’s already been here, so we know the culture is built,” senior WR/RB/QB/DB Cedric Terrell III said. “It feels like we got our swag back.”

After a summer of laying the foundation for his program as a first-time head coach, Hazelett was most proud of the way that culture showed itself during Monday’s practice, while also noting the room for improvement as they look for a third straight trip to the Class 6A quarterfinals – and then some – after a 10-2 mark in 2024.

“I think the biggest stride we made is guys buying in, how we’re going to do things,” Hazelett said. “It looked a lot better today. It’s not quite where I want it, but it looked a lot better than day one.”

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Bishop McNamara's Gavin Antons throws a pass at practice Monday, Aug. 11, 2025. (Mason Schweizer)

Bishop McNamara begins journey to end playoff drought under new coach Greg Youngblood

Bishop McNamara’s Greg Youngblood is also taking over after serving as a defensive coordinator, a title he held last year. The Fightin’ Irish are coming off a second straight 4-5 season and a 3-6 year before that, the program’s longest-ever playoff drought.

The wins haven’t been there, but with familiarity in the program that most new head coaches don’t have, Youngblood thinks quite highly of a senior class that includes nine of their 12 returning starters. As excited as he, his staff and his players may be, they also know their work to restore the program’s rich history is just beginning.

“There’s a lot of excitement and that’s great,” Youngblood said. “But the important thing I told them is to focus on what they can control, which is going 1-0 and win the day. Win today, win tomorrow.

“We have a lot of stuff that’s exciting and fun, but we can’t get ahead of ourselves. We’ve got to focus on the task at hand.”