After Dixon erased a 14-point deficit to take the lead, Coal City answered with three long pass plays to pull out a 49-42 victory in the teams' Class 4A second-round playoff game Friday night at A.C. Bowers Field.

Dixon hosts Coal City, Friday, Nov. 7, 2025, in Round 2 of the 4A football playoffs. Coal City took the slugfest 49-42.

Dixon hosts Coal City on Friday in a rematch of last year's state quarterfinal. Newman is at 10-0 El Paso-Gridley on Saturday, Milledgeville and Polo host, while Amboy and West Carroll hit the road in Round 2 of the playoffs for Sauk Valley teams.

The Class 4A field was chock full of perennial powers on pairings night and most of them are still there as we head into Round 2. Steve Soucie breaks down the second round of the 2025 IHSA Class 4A Playoffs.

Join hosts Steve Soucie and Josh Welge as they preview Round 2 in the Illinois high school football playoffs.

Join hosts J.T. Pedelty, Sam Ramirez and Eddie Carifio as they preview Round 2 of the Illinois high school football playoffs in the western and southern portions of northern Illinois

The Class 2A field remains chock full of quality teams and the group has a collective record of 147-13 as we move into Round 2. Steve Soucie breaks down the second round of the 2025 IHSA Class 2A playoffs.

A Roxana High School proposal that would expand the playoffs and provide a regional schedule model has released regional mockups for Class 5A and Class 6A. See the proposed regions here.

Congratulations to these 22 Illinois high school football players who were voted onto Friday Night Drive's Team of the Week for Round 1 of the 2025 high school football playoffs

Dixon was dominant in 4A, and Newman rolled in 2A to open the playoffs. Amboy, Milledgeville, Polo and West Carroll also advanced in the 8-man playoffs.

Ranked teams did what they should do largely rolling to easy first round victories in the state playoffs. Check out the new rankings here:

Matt Rodewald, Steve Soucie, and John Sahly break down what happened with a fifth down in the PORTA vs. Fairfield first-round playoff game, and review what else happened in Round 1 in the IHSA football playoffs

EP fell to Aurora Christian in the first round of the Class 2A IHSA football playoffs on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025, by a score of 37-12.

If you like points being scored the opening round of the playoffs was definitely worth tuning into. Steve Soucie takes a look at what we learned in Week 10.

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 1 of the playoffs!

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

Coal City's Logan Natyshok rushed for 272 yards and five touchdowns while the Coalers defense allowed Sterling just 100 total yards in a 49-7 victory in Saturday's Class 4A playoff first-round game in Coal City.

Seneca defeated Port Byron Riverdale 35-21 on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025 at Seneca High School. Seneca will play Wilmington next Saturday at home. Check out photos from the game by MaKade Rios.

Amboy began its quest for a third straight Illinois 8-Man state championship with a 68-8 win over Milford-Cissna Park on Saturday.

Polo grabbed momentum early, then Hiawatha fought back. But the Marcos had the answers in the second half and went on to defeat the Hawks 36-14 in their Illinois 8-Man Football Association first-round playoff game Saturday in Polo.

Renner Rosengren, Asher Ernst and Riley Mason made plays in the secondary as Newman beat visiting Ridgeview-Lexington 43-8 to open the playoffs in Class 2A.

Polo beat Hiawatha 36-14 in the I8FA playoffs Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025.

Newman rolled to a 43-8 win over Ridgeview-Lexington Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025, in the 2A football playoffs.

After Rochelle denied Geneseo's two-point conversion with 47 seconds left, the Maple Leafs recovered an onside kick and Carson Peters' 36-yard field goal gave Geneseo a 16-14 win in a classic to open the playoffs.

Landon Knigge rushed for 238 yards and three touchdowns, and Dixon scored points on seven of its 11 drives while pitching a shutout to defeat Woodstock North 45-0 in their Class 4A first-round playoff game Friday night at A.C. Bowers Field.

After receiving feedback from IHSA membership schools, a Roxana High School proposal to change the postseason structure and regular-season scheduling process has some alterations.

Dixon hosts Woodstock North in round 1 of the Class 4A football playoffs Friday, Oct. 31, 2025. Dixon rolled to a big win to start the playoffs.

Join hosts J.T. Pedelty, Sam Ramirez and Eddie Carifio as they preview Round 1 of the IHSA football playoffs in the western and southern portions of northern Illinois

After rushing for a single-game school record 447 yards with five touchdowns to finish the regular season, Dixon senior Landon Knigge was named Friday Night Drive Team of the Week MVP. He has over 1,800 yards and 32 TDs this season. Here is his Q&A.

Here are the Associated Press IHSA Week 10 football polls released Wednesday for all eight classes. It is the final AP Poll of the season.

Join hosts Josh Welge and Steve Soucie as they preview the first round of the IHSA football playoffs.

A Roxana High School proposal that would expand the playoffs and provide a regional schedule model has released regional mockups for Class 3A and Class 4A. See the proposed regions here.

Enrollment changes lead to the 4A draw looking a bit different than it has in the past few years. Steve Soucie breaks down the opening round of the 2025 IHSA Class 4A Playoffs.

Dixon's defense continues to help set the tone heading into the playoffs. Newman was challenged by Mon-Rose to end the regular season, and Polo's 70 points were the most the Marcos scored since at least 1935 in this week's Sauk Valley football notes.

Seven of the state's remaining 26 undefeated teams reside in the Class 2A field and along with some other daunting teams the draw looks as deep as any classification. Steve Soucie breaks down the opening round of the 2025 IHSA Class 2A playoffs.

Congratulations to these 22 Illinois high school football players who were voted onto Friday Night Drive's Team of the Week for Week 9 of the 2025 high school football season

There's always the usual suspects in 1A, but some new names look poised to potentially crash that party. Steve Soucie breaks down the opening round of the 2025 IHSA Class 1A playoffs.

Join hosts Matt Rodewald and Steve Soucie as they review Week 9 in IHSA football and look ahead to Round 1 of the playoffs.

The race to filling the field of 256 teams took some surprising twists and turns. Steve Soucie takes a look at what we learned in Week 9.

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 Week 9!

Here is a look at the seven IHSA first-round playoff football matchups in the Sauk Valley area and what to watch for. Dixon and Sterling would face each other in Class 4A if they both win.

Here are the first round pairings for the IHSA playoffs.

Here is some insight on who Milledgeville, Amboy, Polo and West Carroll will face in this year's Illinois 8-Man Football Association playoffs. The 9-0 Missiles are the No. 1 seed.

Check here for live updates and changes to Steve Soucie's IHSA football playoff projection for all eight classes.

Sterling got a fifth win after beating Rock Island 42-14. EPC got its fifth win, Rock Falls fell just short to Rockford Lutheran and more in Friday's Sauk Valley football roundup.

Princeton scored on all five of its first-half drives - two set up by interceptions - and the Tigers rolled to a 48-0 rout of playoff-bound Erie-Prophetstown.

Princeton defeted Erie-Prophetstown 48-0 on Friday, Oct. 24, 2025 on Bryant Field at Princeton High School. Check out photos from the game from Mike Vaughn.

In an 8-man game pitting 7-1 teams, Polo's offense was potent against South Beloit in the regular-season finale for both teams

Monmouth-Roseville controlled the line of scrimmage, and Newman made too many mistakes in a 40-7 road loss to the Titans to close the regular season

Genoa-Kingston travels to Dixon to take on the Dukes. The game took place on Dixon's Senior Night, October 24th, 2025