The Northwest Herald football preview will appear in print later this month with top players, top games and info on every local team. Until the season starts Aug. 29, here are five storylines to look for in the 2025 season.

Will a team reach a state championship game?

Last year’s Class 6A state championship didn’t feature a Fox Valley Conference team for the first time since 2015.

Cary-Grove was denied a chance to defend its state title with a 28-26 loss to Geneva in the semifinals. C-G and Prairie Ridge appeared in every 6A title game from 2016-2023 (not counting the COVID-19-shortened season in 2020).

Prairie Ridge won the 6A championship in 2016 and 2017 and finished second in 2019 and 2022. Besides 2023, C-G won the title in 2018 and 2021.

Who will win the Fox Valley Conference?

The opening night of the season has “Game of the Year” vibes, as Prairie Ridge visits Cary-Grove in a match of the past two FVC champions. Both programs are perennially among the state’s best at running the option and have a history of producing dynamic players at the quarterback and running back positions. This year should be the same.

Cary-Grove went 9-0 last year and returns a senior group that includes FB/LB Logan Abrams, FB/LB Brady Elbert, OL/DL Andy Bolf, DB Jason Ritter and OL Jack Hissong. The Trojans will have a new starting QB after star Peyton Seaburg graduated. Abrams missed eight games last season because of injuries, after rushing for 1,590 yards and 26 touchdowns as a sophomore.

Prairie Ridge, which went 9-0 in winning the FVC in 2023, is led by QB/DB Luke Vanderwiel, who rushed for 1,005 yards and 15 touchdowns last season, despite missing four games because of a broken fibula. WR Eli Loeding and FB Jake Wagler also return for the Wolves on offense.

Prairie Ridge tied for second place last season with Burlington Central, which is out to prove that last year was no fluke. The Rockets, who made the playoffs for the first time in 10 years, graduated plenty of skill, including FVC Offensive Player of the Year Jackson Alcorn (UW-Platteville), but return the FVC’s only Division I commit in OT Zach Hultgren (Miami Ohio).

Watch for Jacobs, which went 7-2 in the FVC in 2024. The Golden Eagles feature RB Caden DuMelle (973 rushing yards last season) and also return twins Connor and Carson Goehring at QB and WR/TE, respectively.

Who will win the Kishwaukee River Conference?

Richmond-Burton secured the outright KRC championship for the second year in a row with a 63-0 rout of Plano in Week 9 last season. The Rockets have won six straight conference titles, including a three-year stretch from 2021 to 2023 when the KRC featured two divisions.

Richmond-Burton should be the team to beat again, as it returns the dynamic junior duo of RB Hunter Carley (1,097 rushing yards, 20 TDs last season) and LB Blake Livdahl (68 tackles). QB Ray Hannemman also returns after throwing for 780 yards and 10 TDs as a junior. All three players were named All-KRC.

Woodstock North, Johnsburg and Sandwich tied for second place, just one game back of R-B, with 5-2 records.

QB Carter Block (1,975 passing yards, 22 TDs) returns for Johnsburg, as does his top target, prolific WR Ryan Franze (66 receptions, 849 yards, 13 TDs). Franze was named Class 4A All-State honorable mention. The Skyhawks won the KRC in 2016 [the first year of the conference] and 2017.

Woodstock North features a new coach in Huntley graduate Jeremiah Homuth. He replaces Matthew Polnow, who stepped down after three seasons. The Thunder feature bruising FB David Randecker (1,345 rushing yards, 15 TDs), who was named Class 5A All-State honorable mention.

Which first-year coach will have the biggest impact?

McHenry County features three first-year head coaches in Matt MacCrindle (Crystal Lake Central), Colt Nero (McHenry) and Homuth (Woodstock North).

MacCrindle, a longtime assistant at Central, replaces Dirk Stanger at his alma mater and will look to get his Tigers back in the postseason after a one-year absence. Central went 3-6 in the FVC last season.

Nero, a Crystal Lake South graduate and former star defensive end at Minnesota State Mankato, is no stranger to McHenry. He served as an under-level coach last season and was head coach Jon Niemic’s defensive coordinator in 2018 and 2019. He takes over from Jeff Schroeder, whose Warriors went 2-7 in his second season last year.

Homuth, who starred at quarterback for Huntley (Class of 2004), has coached at Woodstock North for the past 10 years and was the defensive coordinator last season when the team won a program-best eight games, including one in the playoffs.

Who will be the player of the year?

A senior has been named the Northwest Herald Football Player of the Year for eight straight seasons. Will that streak end this year?

Prairie Ridge’s Samson Evans was the last non-senior to win the award, when he earned the honor as a junior in 2016. Evans was named player of the year three years in a row (2015-17).

The seniors to watch this season include Cary-Grove FB/LB Logan Abrams, Prairie Ridge QB/DB Luke Vanderwiel, Jacobs RB Caden DuMelle, Woodstock North RB David Randecker, Johnsburg QB Carter Block, Woodstock North QB Parker Halihan and Richmond-Burton QB Ray Hannemann.

Cary-Grove’s Trevor Ruhland (2014) and Marian Central’s Bryan Bulaga (2006) are the only linemen to win the award.