Cary-Grove faces Belvidere North in an IHSA Class 5A quarterfinal playoff football game on Friday, November 14, 2025, at Cary-Grove High School, in Cary.

The Herald-News prep football preview for Week 12 of the 2025 season, featuring key showdowns across the greater Will and Grundy county area as the IHSA playoffs continue.

Mount Carmel and Lincoln-Way East are set to collide in a Class 8A quarterfinal matchup. Brother Rice continued its dominance in 7A and will battle St. Charles North in the quarterfinals. Fenwick cruised into the 6A quarterfinals and will take on Burlington Central.

Here are previews and picks for Kendall County quarterfinal football playoff matchups.

A look at the football games around the Kane County Chronicle area heading into the IHSA state quarterfinals.

No. 1 Milledgeville (11-0) takes on 10-1 Amboy in a rematch of Week 1 and last year's 8-man state championship. Polo hits the road to South Fork looking its first state championship appearance since winning it all in 2019 and 2021.

Here are previews and picks for quarterfinal games for teams in the Suburban Life coverage area.

Dwight in 1A and both Morris and Coal City in 4A are preparing for quarterfinal IHSA playoff matchups.

Three teams in the Northwest Herald coverage area - Burlington Central, Cary-Grove and Richmond-Burton - are still alive in the state football playoffs. Get a preview of each team's quarterfinal game.

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

Brock Phillip was just looking for a chance to show what he can do. Now he's led St. Francis to its fourth straight Class 5A quarterfinal. Plus, notes on another dramatic St. Charles North comeback, Burlington Central rewriting history, and a conference clash in the quarterfinals

The Illinois High School Football Coaches Association announced its All-State teams this week, and several players in the Northwest Herald coverage area were selected.

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

CCL/ESCC football players from Mount Carmel, Marist, Nazareth, Fenwick, Joliet Catholic, Providence, St. Francis, Marian Catholic, Montini and IC Catholic Prep were named to the 2025 IHSFCA All-State team. Quentin Burrell, Jake Cestone and Israel Abrams were among the winners.

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

St. Francis junior running back Tivias Caldwell takes his game to another level in the playoffs, Montini set for trip down memory lane with matchup with Coal City and more in Bob Narang's Suburban Life football notebook.

Join hosts Josh Welge and Joel Boenitz as they preview the quarterfinals in the Illinois high school football playoffs in the western suburbs

Oswego is in rarefied air these days with the program's 10th quarterfinal appearance. It's especially special for its junior quarterback Drew Kleinhans and his dad, offensive coordinator Ben Kleinhans. "That’s what I dream of, doing it with my dad and those opportunities."

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.

Dixon showed no quit until the very end against Coal City. Newman's seniors left their mark, and three area 8-man teams are in the semifinals in this week's Sauk Valley football notes.

Mount Carmel and Lincoln-Way East are set to square off in the Class 8A state quarterfinals. Defending champions Nazareth and Montini are still in the hunt after two rounds. Here are all of the quarterfinal matchups featuring CCL/ESCC programs.

Join hosts Matt Rodewald and Steve Soucie as they break down the second round of the Illinois high school football playoffs

More from the Times-area’s sidelines from Week 11 (the second round of the IHSA football playoffs), including notes on Seneca and Dwight's second-round games and quarterfinal matchups.

Richmond-Burton, Burlington Central and Cary-Grove marched on with second-round wins, while Fox Valley Conference champion Prairie Ridge and Jacobs ended their seasons over the weekend.

Lincoln-Way East, Morris, Coal City, Lincoln-Way East, Dwight and Wilmigton all scored more than 40 points in second-round wins

Here is the 2025 All-Fox Valley Conference girls flag football team, as selected by coaches. A total of 38 players from nine schools received All-FVC honors.

"I’m going to miss these kids. They put us back on the map." The season ended Friday for Kaneland. The Knights reached the second round of the playoffs for the seventh time since 2015. And the 8-3 mark matches their best record since a 9-2 campaign in 2013.

Wilmington shut out Seneca 42-0 on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025 at Seneca High School. Check out photos from the game by MaKade Rios.

With the rain, wind and cold in Gurnee on Saturday night, nobody was going to do much through the air. So maybe it’s accurate to say Bolingbrook beat Warren at its own game, advancing in the playoffs with a 20-14 victory. TJ Lewis and Tyson Ward each ran for second-half TDs.

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.

Landon Arnold didn't want to give the ball up, and the Burlington Central senior QB delivered. Arnold ran the ball seven times for 80 yards on a game-clinching drive as the Rockets topped Harlem 24-14 to reach the quarterfinals for the first time since 2006.

Harlem faces Burlington Central in an IHSA Class 6A second-round playoff football game on Saturday, November 8, 2025, at Burlington Central.

Logan Abrams, Jackson Berndt and Leo Zavala each rushed for two touchdowns, while Jason Ritter Jr. had two interceptions as Cary-Grove dominated St. Patrick 55-21 in the second round of the IHSA 5A playoffs Saturday evening.

Like it did three years ago, Brother Rice made its way up to Algonquin for a playoff matchup and came away with a 46-0 win over Jacobs in a Class 7A second-round game Saturday night.

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.

Miss out on any of the high school football action in northern Illinois? Listen to the audio versions of our stories from Round 2 of the 2025 IHSA playoffs here

After a slow start to Saturday's Class 6A playoff tilt at Wheaton Warrenville South, Nazareth's ground game heated up in the second half to jolt the Roadrunners to victory. Charles Calhoun rushed for 159 yards and three TDs in the 28-7 win.

Dwight defeated Clifton Central 43-14 in the IHSA Class 1A second round playoffs on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025.

The Montini defense needed a little while to dig in and find its footing against a high-scoring Peoria Notre Dame offense. The Broncos offense, on the other hand, needed no such thing in a 47-17 Class 4A victory Saturday in Peoria.

South Beloit caused fits for unbeaten Milledgeville throughout Saturday's 8-man football playoff quarterfinal, but the Missiles capitalized on early miscues of the Sobos to push to the final round of four.

The Polo Marcos downed St. Anne in I8FA playoff action on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025 at Polo High School.

Providence Catholic defeated Kankakee 35-25 in the IHSA Class 5A second round playoffs on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025.

Grant Tustin ended the first quarter with a 53-yard pass and the Lincoln-Way West Warriors scored 21 straight points in the second quarter, including 14 in the final 11 seconds. They didn’t let up in the second half as they beat Kenwood 43-20.

An interception and a 44-yard return by Santino Bernabei late in the first half led to a field goal for Maine South, which carried that momentum into the second half and eventually came away with an exciting 33-29 win over Hinsdale Central.

Lincoln-Way Central held three one-touchdown leads on host St. Rita, but the Mustangs proved tougher in the final quarter and pulled out a 31-28 victory on Saul Ruiz’s 23-yard field goal as time expired in a Class 7A second-round

Prairie Ridge faces St. Francis in an IHSA Class 5A second-round playoff football game on Saturday, November 8, 2025, at St. Francis High School, in Wheaton.

Jake Thies rushed for 151 yards and scored four total touchdowns, and Fenwick rolled up a 31-point halftime lead and went on to a 45-7 win over Rolling Meadows in the Class 6A second-round game at Triton College.

For more than five decades, Mike Brown, best known as "Brownie," has been a fixture on the sidelines of area sporting events in the radio booth and press boxes for WLPO Radio. St. Bede’s last football game this season was also the last of Brownie’s long run.

The Oswego and Lane football teams met Saturday in a state playoff second round game.

The St. Charles North and Carmel football teams played Saturday in a second round playoff matchup.