Shaw Local

Analysis   •   Features   •   Podcast   •   Photo Store
Friday Night Drive

Friday Night Drive Power Rankings: Ranked teams largely roll in opening round

Top 25 teams go 24-1 in the opening round

Lincoln-Way East's Jonas Williams passes to Chauncey Robinson during a varsity football round one playoff game against Stevenson at Lincoln-Way East on Oct. 31, 2025.

Lincoln-Way East's Jonas Williams passes to Chauncey Robinson during a varsity football round one playoff game against Stevenson at Lincoln-Way East on Oct. 31, 2025. A return from a two-game absence by Williams helped Lincoln-Way East snap a two-game losing streak and move up to No. 4 in the Friday Night Drive Power Rankings. (Laurie Fanelli)

By Steve Soucie

The ranked teams in the Friday Night Drive Power Rankings largely did what they needed to do in the opening round of the IHSA Playoffs.

All but one of the teams in last week’s Top 25 won last week, and it wasn’t possible for the group to do any better as the one loss came in a game that paired two ranked teams with Lyons upending York on a last-second field goal.

There was only one significant move inside of the Top 10 as the impressive return of Lincoln-Way East standout Jonas Williams moved the Griffins up from No. 7 to No. 4.

The poll will likely see plenty of movement after Round 2, as 10 ranked teams are battling one another this week.

There was just one new team that entered the Top 25 as Bolingbrook moves into the poll at No. 25.

Here are the complete Friday Night Drive Power Rankings:

High School FootballFriday Night DriveFND - DeKalb CountyFND - DuPage & Cook CountiesFND - Illinois ValleyFND - Kane CountyFND - KankakeeFND - Kendall CountyFND - Lake CountyFND - McHenry CountyFND - Ogle CountyFND - Sauk ValleyFND - Will & Grundy CountiesMcHenry County Front HeadlinesDuPage and Cook County Front HeadlinesWill County Front HeadlinesSauk Valley Front HeadlinesGrundy County Front HeadlinesKankakee County Front HeadlinesKane County Front HeadlinesShaw Local Front HeadlinesDeKalb County Front Headlines
Steve Soucie

Steve Soucie

Steve Soucie is the Managing Editor of Friday Night Drive for Shaw Media. Also previously for Shaw Media, Soucie was the Sports Editor at the Joliet Herald News. Prior to that, Soucie worked at the Kankakee Daily Journal and for Pro Football Weekly.