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With the release of the 2025 statewide football schedule, here are the top games to watch in the Record Newspapers coverage area.
Week 1
Oswego at Naperville Central, 7 p.m., Aug. 29
Oswego opened its season the last three years against Neuqua Valley, winning the last two. The Panthers, coming off a 9-0 regular season, have swapped season-opening games with another strong Naperville-based program. Naperville Central, which reached the Class 8A semifinals last year, should provide a strong early test for an Oswego team that returns only a handful of starters. It’s the first of a tricky first two nonconference games for Oswego, which hosts defending Class 6A runner-up Geneva in Week 2 in another addition to its schedule.
Week 2
Oswego East at Willowbrook, 7:30 p.m., Sept. 5
The second of three straight road games for the Wolves to open the season is a fun new matchup with Willowbrook out of the West Suburban Gold. Willowbrook has been a playoff mainstay under head coach Nick Hildreth, making eight consecutive postseason appearances. Oswego East could make the same case for much of the last decade, but is looking to make a return to the playoffs after missing out the last two seasons. Stacking a couple wins before the grind of the Southwest Prairie West begins could go a long way toward realizing that goal.
Week 3
Plano at Sandwich, 7 p.m., Sept. 12
This will mark the 114th edition of the “War on 34″ rivalry that dates back to 1897. Sandwich won last season’s meeting 41-16, the Indians’ third consecutive win in the series. Sandwich has a new head coach this fall with Jason VanPelt, a long-time assistant and previously the team’s offensive coordinator, taking over.
Sandwich owns a 57-52-4 lead on Plano all-time so yes, this one can typically go either way.
Week 4
Oswego at Plainfield South, 7 p.m., Sept. 19
A matchup between last year’s champions of the Southwest Prairie West and Southwest Prairie East. The SPC West has dominated inter-divisional games with the SPC East since the conference split into two divisions, and Plainfield South lost both its matchups with SPC West foes last year.
But if a competitive inter-divisional game is to be had, the Cougars are likely the ones to be part of it.
Week 5
Yorkville at Oswego, 7 p.m., Sept. 26
Conference rivals from neighboring towns match up. Oswego won last year’s game 27-7, but Yorkville took the previous two meetings. The Foxes just missed the playoffs last year at 4-5, snapping a string of five consecutive postseason appearances.
Week 6
Romeoville at Oswego East, 7 p.m., Oct. 3
The Southwest Prairie Conference has tweaked its scheduling this fall, putting inter-divisional games in Week 6 instead of back-loading all five intra-divisional games to the end of the schedule.
Thus, this matchup.
If recent history was any indication, this would seem to be an assumed win for Oswego East, handily. Romeoville, though, finished 4-5 last season, and perhaps is not such a gimme opponent for the Wolves. If Oswego East is to return to the playoffs, it will need to bank a win here before a difficult closing third of the season.
Week 7
Oswego at Minooka, 7 p.m., Oct. 10
This is always one of the games to watch in the SPC West. Oswego won last year’s meeting 42-10 on its way to winning the league championship, but typically this is a matchup that goes down to the wire between two teams that like to slug it out in the trenches.
Minooka, along with Oswego East, returns the most varsity experience in the league, so would seem to be a potential SPC West favorite. But the Panthers won the league championships at the lower levels last season, and the conference has more often than not run through Oswego.
Week 8
Oswego East at Oswego, 7 p.m., Oct. 17
The 21st crosstown meeting. Oswego, which has won 18 of the previous 20 games, won last year’s meeting 23-7 to complete a 9-0 regular season and keep Oswego East out of playoff contention.
If the past is prologue, this matchup should be expected to have playoff implications in the penultimate game of the regular season, and be a factor in who decides the SPC West title.
Week 9
Sandwich at Marengo, 7 p.m., Oct. 24
Both these teams finished 5-5 last season, just qualifying for the playoffs, and were contenders in a Kishwaukee River Conference that sent five to the playoffs.
Marengo, with its playoff fate hanging in the balance, beat Sandwich 28-14 last year. This is the conclusion of a tough finish to Sandwich’s schedule, which includes games with Richmond-Burton, Woodstock North and Marengo over the final four weeks.