From aiding Illinois State’s run to the FCS National Championship game to earning spots on all-conference teams for the SEC and Big Ten, several Kankakee County area football figures made their mark on the 2025-26 college football season.

RJ Haines, a core of the Kankakee area football coaching scene for more than two decades, is a part of the upcoming Illinois High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame class.

Take a look at the players selected for the 2025 Daily Journal All-Area Football Team.

Keagen Trost, a 2019 Kankakee graduate, was named a first-team All-SEC offensive lineman earlier this week after a standout season as Missouri's right tackle. His former Kays teammate Jyaire Hill and Manteno native Josh Gesky received All-Big Ten recognition.

The All-City schools made local history, Clifton Central's Brady Shule made school history and more in this week's Daily Journal 2-Minute Drill.

Bishop McNamara and Herscher meet for the second time this season, Bradley-Bourbonnais and Kankakee also host first-round playoff games, and more in the Daily Journal's first-round playoff previews.

Class 3A's North Bracket is chock full of impressive programs setting up some very early titanic matchups. Steve Soucie breaks down the opening round of the 2025 IHSA Class 3A Playoffs.

A total of 10 Daily Journal area football teams made the IHSA or I8FA playoffs. Read previews on all 10 teams, as well as their first-round opponents, here.

Similar to how its regular season has finished, Manteno progressively improved as the game went on in its 33-6 victory over Streator in the regular-season finale Friday night.