Wilmington head coach Jeff Reents has spent the last three decades building the Wildcats into one of the state's premier football programs, and after winning his fourth state title in 2025, he is the Daily Journal Male Sports Citizen of the Year.

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.

After a recent passed proposal to expand the football playoffs and extend the season by a week changed the preseason calendar, the IHSA has called a special board meeting to consider moving the start of preseason practice back to accommodate for more time to prepare.

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.

Here is the 2025 Friday Night Drive Team of the Year.

Two-win teams in the playoffs? Join hosts Steve Soucie and Matt Rodewald as they review the IHSA expansion of the high school football playoffs and what it means for the sport going forward.

IHSA Proposal 19 was passed by a majority of member schools in an IHSA schoolwide vote. Its implementation will increase the number of playoff qualifiers from 256 teams to 384 teams.

One of the most decorated offensive, defensive and special teams players in Bradley-Bourbonnais history, Lyzale Edmon is the 2025 Daily Journal's Football Player of the Year.

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.

Proposal 19 is on the ballot with a submission that proposes that the playoff field be expanded by 16 teams in each classification with a total of 384 teams qualifying for the postseason. Steve Soucie's uses 2025 data to project what the format could look like.

The CCL/ESCC announced its new alignment for the 2026 and 2027 seasons with many of the league's 24 teams finding themselves in different division than before.

Mount Carmel finished the same place it started the season in the No. 1 spot of the Friday Night Drive Power Rankings. Check out the final rankings here.

Join hosts Matt Rodewald and Steve Souce as they break down the Class 4A-1A Illinois high school football state title games, talk about the weather postponements, and preview the Class 8A-5A state title games

The Class 7A/8A state football title games have been rescheduled for Wednesday afternoon and evening at Northern Illinois University

Wilmington won its third state title in the last five years and fourth in program history after downing Maroa-Forsyth 42-6 in the IHSA Class 2A State championship game on Friday.

Can anyone stop the Wilmington freight train? State championship game regular Maroa-Forysth seems poised to give it its best shot. Steve Soucie previews Friday's Class 2A title game between Wilmington and Maroa-Forsyth.

Wilmington and Maroa-Forsyth face off Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, at Hancock Stadium at Illinois State University for the 2A football title. Wilmington won 42-6.

As the Wilmington offense enters Friday's IHSA Class 2A State championship game red hot, it's the offensive line where the Wildcats set the tone in their signature double-wing offense.

Wilmington will look to win its third state title in the last five years and fourth in program history when the Wildcats face Maroa-Forsyth in Friday's IHSA Class 2A state championship.

The top three teams in the Friday Night Drive Power Rankings held strong in the semifinal round, but that's where the stability ended. Check out the new rankings here.

Join hosts Matt Rodewald and Steve Soucie as they break down what we saw in the Illinois high school football playoff semifinals, talk about Mt. Carmel coach Jordan Lynch's recent comments, and look ahead to the state title games

Getting a strong sense of deja vu when looking at the lineup of state championships? That's understandable considering the group has collectively made 115 title game appearances previously. Steve Soucie takes a look at what we learned in Week 13.

Wilmington defeated El Paso-Gridley 41-0 in IHSA Class 2A semifinal playoff football on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025.

For the second straight week, Wilmington had five touchdown drives of one or two plays, tallying 483 rushing yards in a 41-0 win over El Paso-Gridley in Saturday's Class 2A state semifinal.

Here are the championship game pairings for the 2025 IHSA playoffs.

Two middle classification powers lock horns in one side of the bracket while two long time rivals battle on the other. Steve Soucie breaks down the semifinal round of the 2025 IHSA Class 3A Playoffs.

Wilmington continues to storm its way through the 2A field, can anyone slow down the Wildcats? Steve Soucie breaks down the semifinal round of the 2025 IHSA Class 2A playoffs.

Wilmington will host undefeated El Paso-Gridley on Saturday for a trip to the IHSA Class 2A state championship.

A trio of power teams continue to roll through the playoffs while the upstarts still continue to emerge shaking up the Friday Night Drive Power Rankings. Check out the new rankings here.

The quarterfinal round was an absolute breeze for some teams while others experienced significantly more stress in keeping their postseason runs alive. Steve Soucie takes a look at what we learned in Week 12.

Wilmington ran to a 49-7 victory over Tri-Valley in the Class 2A quarterfinal playoff on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025.

Here are the semifinal round pairings for the 2025 IHSA playoffs.

Wilmington had five touchdown drives of two plays or less as the Wildcats controlled Tri-Valley in Saturday's IHSA Class 2A quarterfinal, sending Wilmington to its third straight state semifinal.

Montini started slow but finished strong in its Class 4A quarterfinal with Coal City, topping the Coalers 35-0 to advance to face Morris next weekend.

The Montini and Coal City football teams met Saturday in a quarterfinal playoff game.

Join hosts Steve Soucie and Josh Welge, along with Mason Schweizer as they preview the quarterfinals in the Illinois high school football playoffs

It appeared early on that the Class 3A bracket was going to provide some blockbuster matchups in later rounds. That time has arrived now. Steve Soucie breaks down the quarterfinal round of the 2025 IHSA Class 3A Playoffs.

A playoff field that started with seven undefeated teams is down to just three. But the group is still chock full of teams that can make a serious run to the title. Steve Soucie breaks down the quarterfinal round of the 2025 IHSA Class 2A playoffs.

Coal City visits Montini in Class 4A and Wilmington welcomes Tri-Valley in Class 2A in the Daily Journal's quarterfinal football previews.

The NUIC and WIVC conference hold five of the eight spots in the 1A quarterfinals, are the two conferences heading toward a state final showdown? Steve Soucie breaks down the quarterfinal round of the 2025 IHSA Class 1A playoffs.

Ranging from the area's biggest school to the smallest, seven Daily Journal area football standouts made IHSFCA All-State teams.

A Roxana High School proposal that would expand the playoffs and provide a regional schedule model has released regional mockups for Class 7A and Class 8A. See the proposed regions here.

One of the city's most successful seasons came to a collective end, Wilmington and Coal City marched on, and more in this week's Daily Journal 2-Minute Drill.

A number of ranked teams bowed out in the second round of the playoffs shaking up the Friday Night Drive Power Rankings considerably. Check out the new rankings here.

Here are the quarterfinal round pairings for the 2025 IHSA playoffs.

High seeds had a rough go of it in Round 2 of the playoffs, while the CCL/ESCC flexed its muscles in numerous classifications. Steve Soucie takes a look at what we learned in Week 11.

Each week, we’ll have 22 players – 11 on offense, 11 on defense – to make the Friday Night Drive Team of the Week. Vote for your favorite players for Round 2 of the playoffs!

Dwight scored three touchdowns on offense, two on defense and one on special teams in a 43-14 win over Clifton Central in the IHSA Class 1A second round on Saturday, advancing to quarterfinals for the second season in a row.

Despite a few dazzling plays from Cedric Terrell III to pull the Kays to within a field goal, Providence did enough down the stretch to earn a road win at Kankakee in the second round of the IHSA Class 5A playoffs Saturday.