Join hosts Steve Soucie and Josh Welge as they preview an exciting Week 1 in Illinois high school football on the Friday Night Drive podcast

Kankakee hosts Nazareth for the first of two games with state champions to open the season while Bradley-Bourbonnais and Bishop McNamara also start their seasons at home. Check out previews on those games, as well as the rest of the Week 1 slate for the Daily Journal area.

Join hosts Mason Schweizer and Steve Soucie as they preview Week 1 in Illinois high school football for Kankakee County on the Friday Night Drive podcast

The wait is over. The many, many questions that teams have for the 2025 season are about to begin getting answered. Steve Soucie takes a look at the games to watch in the first week of the IHSA football season.

Kankakee made a strong statement to start the boys soccer season and more in Tuesday's Daily Journal roundup.

The winner of the annual Kankakee and Crete-Monee matchup has determined the Southland Athletic Conference champion for the last six seasons. Who can rise up to challenge the Kays and Warriors this fall?

Team-by-team previews of the Daily Journal area's girls volleyball teams for the 2025 season.

Team-by-team previews of the Daily Journal area's boys soccer teams for the 2025 season.

Bradley-Bourbonnais hosted the Bill Breeden All-Area Classic as teams from Bishop McNamara, Kankakee, Beecher, Coal City, Grant Park, Herscher, Manteno, Momence and Peotone teed off at the Kankakee Elks Country Club on Monday, Aug. 18, 2025.

Beecher secured a five-peat at the Bill Breeden All-Area Classic on Monday at the Kankakee Elks Country Club, shooting a 340 to edge out host Bradley-Bourbonnais by four strokes, while senior Peyton Serafin placed first individually with a 78.

Here are five boys soccer players from the Daily Journal area to keep an eye on for the 2025 season.

Kankakee's flag football and Herscher's football teams continued their first week of practice Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025.

The Hazelett family will impact multiple Kankakee sports this year. Father, Ed, is the new football coach while son, EJ, is an Indiana state basketball commit.

The football coaches at Bradley-Bourbonnais, Kankakee and Bishop McNamara all used the same word to describe their moods on the first day of practice Monday – excited.

The first day of prep football practice was Monday in Illinois. Check out action from the Daily Journal's All-Area teams.

From returning starters in the Big Ten to redshirt freshmen with new opportunities as transfers, seven football players from the Daily Journal area will play at college football's highest level this fall.

Mason Schweizer examines a handful of things to look for from the Daily Journal area once the football season starts.

Here are some of the top storylines to watch for from several fall sports this upcoming season.

After spending four years back in his native Indiana, new Kankakee head coach and former defensive coordinator Ed Hazelett has seen the same hungry mindset from the Kays he remembered as the program wrapped up summer camp this week.

As the final week of IHSA summer contact days winds down, Kankakee football got together for one of their last days of camp Thursday, July 31, 2025.

The 2025 boys soccer season is nearly upon us, so here are a handful of storylines to keep an eye on this year.

Kankakee basketball star Lincoln Williams was alongside Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo in a shoe commercial for Nike's newly-released Giannis Freak 7's.

Mason Schweizer looks at a handful of storylines to keep an eye on during the upcoming girls volleyball season.

The Vipers Track Club's 4x400 mixed relay team won a national title at the USATF National Junior Olympic Championships over the weekend where 24 athletes in total, six of which are from the Daily Journal area, earned All-American honors.

With the IHSA releasing the state’s football schedules on Friday, here are the top games to watch in the Daily Journal area for the 2025 season.

Steve Soucie and Mason Schweizer discuss the upcoming IHSA football schedule release and how it affects teams in Kankakee County on the latest Friday Night Drive podcast

Herscher's Drew Rogers and Kankakee's Nevaeh Lowe and Jayon Morrow all put their talent on display in the 2024-24 college cross country and track and field seasons.

A total of 16 teams took part in the annual Central 7 on 7 and Lineman Challenge on what was a busy Saturday of football at Central High School in Clifton.

Anchored by strong athletes both on the track and in the field, check out this year's Daily Journal All-Area Boys Track and Field team.

From dominant freshmen to speedy seniors and everything in between, there's plenty of state pedigree on this year's Daily Journal All-Area Girls Track and Field Team.

After completing arguably the most prolific career in the sport's local history, Kankakee's Naomi Bey-Osborne is the 2025 Daily Journal Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year.

Whether at the plate, on the mound or in the field, top-tier players abound on this year's Daily Journal All-Area Baseball Team.

With 27 all-state standouts and several more all-conference selections that helped fuel spostseason runs, the Daily Journal All-Area Softball Team is as good as it gets.

Current Michigan football star and 2023 Kankakee graduate Jyaire Hill will host his second annual Suga Summer Camp at his alma mater next weekend.

From goalkeeper to forward and everywhere in between, this year's Daily Journal All-Area girls soccer team features some of the state's top stars.

Kankakee High School's Genevra Walters Community Center was one of two statewide sites for summer girls basketball tournaments last week, with college coaches on hand during the NCAA live period at the Kays' inaugural NCAA Live.

Take a look at some of the highlights of the area's prep sports postseason this spring, as seen through the lenses of Mason Schweizer and Tiffany Blanchette. Photos can be purchased at https://heraldnews.smugmug.com.

Bishop McNamara’s Trinity Davis, Kankakee’s TaLeah Turner, Bradley-Bourbonnais’ Nick Allen, Watseka’s Megan Martin and Reed-Custer’s Jacob Reardon all participated in the IBCA All-Star Games on Pontiac in Saturday.

Bradley-Bourbonnais' Jocelyn Zettergren, Beecher's Grace Durante, Peotone's Allie Werner and Wilmington's Alaina Clark earned IHSSCA All-State honors for the 2025 girls soccer season, with 19 more earning earning All-Sectional honors.

Seeded eighth in their eight-team sub-sectional, the Kankakee baseball team fought No. 1 Morris to the end, coming up on the wrong side of a 1-0 final. The Kankakee softball team also saw its season end in regional play in Wednesday's Daily Journal roundup.

Kankakee's Naomi Bey-Osborne put a bow on one of the best athletic careers in school history with three more medals, Reed-Custer's Sophia Burciaga won gold in the pole vault and more from the Daily Journal area at the IHSA Girls Track and Field State Finals.

The Manteno baseball team and Herscher softball team both won their regional championship games and more in Saturday's Daily Journal Roundup.

Kankakee's bid for a regional championship repeat game up a game shy, as the Kays saw their season end at the hands of Oak Forest in Friday's Class 2A Kankakee Regional championship.

The Kankakee girls track team qualified for the state finals in the 4x100 relay, 4x200 relay and 4x400 relay and had Naomi Bey-Osborne qualify in the 400 meters, and more in Friday's Daily Journal Roundup

Kankakee fell 3-1 to Oak Forest in the IHSA Class 2A Kankakee Regional championship on Friday, May 23, 2025.

Wilmington pitcher Kyle Farrell did not allow a hit for the first 6 1/3 innings Wednesday, finishing with a one-hit shutout for the Wildcats in the IHSA Class 2A Coal City Regional semifinals, and more in Wednesday's Daily Journal Roundup

Plainfield South qualified seven out of the Class 3A Minooka Sectional. Athletes from Ottawa, Bradley-Bourbonnais, Joliet West, Minooka, Yorkville, Joliet Central and Kankakee also advanced.

Kankakee's girls soccer team beat Morgan Park 6-0 in the IHSA Class 2A Kankakee Regional semifinals Tuesday and the boys volleyball team closed the regular season with a 2-0 win over Crete-Monee.

Storylines to watch for in the 2025 baseball postseason, including intriguing potential matchups between local Class 2A teams and a Bradley-Bourbonnais team looking to recapture some of last season's playoff magic.

From Beecher battling through a challenging Class 2A Seneca Sectional to Bradley-Bourbonnais looking for a regional four-peat in 4A, here are some storylines to look for as the 2025 postseason gets underway.