2025 IHSA football schedule release: Kankakee County’s top games to watch, week-by-week

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.

Week 1: Nazareth (12-2) at Kankakee (10-2), 7 p.m., Aug. 29

There are teams that scheduled tough nonconference schedules and then there’s the Kays, who open the year – and era of new head coach Ed Hazelett – with the defending Class 5A state champions and then a trip to defending Class 8A champion Lincoln-Way East. This is the fourth straight Week 1 matchup between the Roadrunners and Kays, with the home team winning each of the first three by a touchdown or less.

Honorable mention: Wilmington at Morris, Oakwood at Momence

Week 2: Bishop McNamara (4-5) at Herscher (4-5), 7 p.m., Sept. 5

Sure, there are a couple games with larger statewide appeal this week, but there’s no doubt that this nonconference rivalry instantly became the biggest ticket in town when it came back in 2023. The Tigers return almost everyone from a 2024 squad that was a game shy of returning to the playoffs while first-year Fightin’ Irish head coach Greg Youngblood looks to snap a program-long three-year playoff drought.

Honorable mention: Kankakee at Lincoln-Way East, Crete-Monee at Bradley-Bourbonnais

Week 3: Waubonsie Valley (5-5) at Bradley-Bourbonnais (9-3), 7:30 p.m., Sept. 12

There’s plenty of talent for Bradley-Bourbonnais head coach Mike Kohl to replace, but with three returning All-Area first teamers – All-State receiver/defensive back Lyzale Edmon, tight end/linebacker Calvin Kohl and offensive/defensive lineman Joel Morrical – plus one of the state’s most intriguing sophomores in running back Kyren Edmon, the Boilers should be ready to roll for their SouthWest Valley Conference Green Division opener against the Warriors.

Honorable mention: Herscher at Manteno, Peotone at Wilmington

Week 4: Kankakee (10-2) at Normal Community (10-2), 7 p.m., sept. 19

The Kays will look to finish off arguably the most impressive nonconference schedule in the state when they visit yearly Class 7A contender Normal, a matchup Kankakee won at home 26-12 last year. As good as the Kankakee defense has been in its recent-year resurgence, the offense scored 40-plus points eight times last year.

Honorable mention: Chicago Christian at Bishop McNamara, Bradley-Bourbonnais vs. St. Mary’s Southside Catholic (Missouri)

Week 5: Clifton Central (5-5) at Watseka (3-6), 7 p.m., Sept. 26

Week 5: Clifton Central (5-5) at Watseka (3-6), 7 p.m., Sept. 26

New Comets head coach Jeff Perzee has one of the Vermilion Valley Conference’s deepest list of returning starters. The Warriors opened 2024 with a three-game win streak that matched their wins output from the prior two seasons combined before a six-game skid. A rivalry win here could help reverse that. There shouldn’t be a shortage of fun moments between Perzee, a former Watseka Junior High principal, and his former students.

Honorable mention: Manteno at Wilmington, Reed-Custer at Coal City

Week 6: Bradley-Bourbonnais (9-3) at Lincoln-Way Central (9-4), 7:30 p.m., Oct. 3

These two met in both the regular season and Class 7A playoffs last year, the Knights winning both meetings on their way to the state semifinals. Knights running back Luke Tingley scored twice in last year’s 28-16 playoff win, and the Boilers know they’ll have to find a way to get him to the ground to flip the result.

Honorable mention: Kankakee at Rich Township, Coal City at Manteno

Week 7: Momence (8-2) at Bismarck-Henning (11-2), 7 p.m., Oct. 10

As their past couple meetings have been, this game won’t likely alter either team’s postseason hopes, but it could certainly prove as the de facto conference championship game for the second straight year. Both teams eclipsed the 400-point mark last year, but the Blue Devils held Momence to their lowest regular season scoring total in last year’s 42-14 final.

Honorable mention: Coal City at Peotone, Wheaton Academy at Bishop McNamara

Week 8: Manteno (7-3) at Peotone (6-4), 7 p.m., Oct. 17

The Rumble on Route 50 is as heated as any local rivalry. The Panthers snapped a five-meeting skid with their 21-7 win a year ago, and after both made the 2024 postseason, 2025 could yield the rivalry’s first one-possession game since 2019.

Honorable mention: St. Anne at Milford/Cissna Park, Clifton Central at Iroquois West

Week 9: Coal City (10-3) at Wilmington (12-1), 7 p.m., Oct. 24

There figures to be some changing of the guard with a bevy of graduated seniors that had two and three-year starting roles, but the expectations remain high in Wilmington, where the Wildcats could very well be facing Coal City in a regular season finale to decide the ICE. Wilmington is 32-1 in the ICE since the COVID-19 pandemic, the only team better than the Coalers (26-7).

Honorable mention: Bradley-Bourbonnais at Andrew, Peotone at Herscher