With football practices underway ahead of the start of the season on Aug. 29, here are five storylines to watch for the 2025 football season in the Daily Chronicle area.

Kaneland, Sycamore look to preserve long playoff streaks

The Interstate 8 rivals have been playoff staples for a while. The Knights last missed the postseason in 2016 and Sycamore last missed out in 2017. The last time both teams missed the playoffs in the same year was 1994, according to IHSA archives.

The Knights return a little more in the holster than the Spartans this year, starting with senior running back Carter Grabowski. He was also strong defensively for the team and ran for 631 yards. Senior Jake Buckley is a force on both lines and junior Rogan O’Neil had 63 tackles, 10 for losses last year.

Sycamore lost a lot more from last year but still has some strong pieces returning. Senior fullback Kevin Lee surged late last year, earning his way to more carries. And with linemen Owen DePauw and Will Rosenow returning ahead of him, the Spartans have a few key pieces in place.

DeKalb single-minded on playoff return

The Barbs nearly went winless last year but ended the year with a 41-0 win against Stagg to finish the year 1-8. They started the year with a pair of tough losses to teams that made the playoffs - 35-28 to Sycamore, 17-14 to Plainfield South.

The next four were double-digit losses, including 35-12 to a Neuqua Valley team that was the only team the Barbs lost to that missed the postseason.

The Barbs made the playoffs every year from 2013 until 2019, but have only returned once, in 2022.

Seven of the nine teams on the Barbs’ schedule this year made the playoffs last season.

An open race for the best player in the area

Two-time Daily Chronicle Football Player of the Year Burke Gautcher graduated from Sycamore and is now playing at Iowa.

DeKalb senior wide receiver Davon Grant, committed to Illinois, is a strong candidate for another big year. He’s a two-time Daily Chronicle Boys Athlete of the Year. He had 67 catches for 1,016 yards and is closing in on the school record in both categories.

A Sycamore player has won the award four years in a row - two-way lineman Lincoln Cooley won in 2021 and 2022. Lee, DePauw and Rosenow could be in play to win for the Spartans, as could Cooper Bode, a standout linebacker who could also fit in at running back.

Genoa-Kingston has qualified for eight of the last nine postseasons. And while their backfield tends to be more by committee out of the Wing-T, someone like Owen Zaccard could emerge as a candidate as a two-way threat.

Coaching carousel remains still for another year

The two newest head coaches in the area, Hiawatha’s Kenny McPeek and Kaneland’s Michael Thorgesen, enter their third years on the job.

Derek Schneeman at DeKalb and Cam Davekos at Genoa-Kingston each enter their fifth year as head coaches at their current schools, while Joe Ryan will begin his 22nd year as Sycamore’s head coach.

The carousel will begin spinning next year, at least a little bit. Ryan announced that he plans on this year being his last. Sycamore is expected to begin its coaching search after the season ends.

A bevy of interesting early-season, nonconference matchups

Genoa-Kingston will have a nonconference game for the second year in a row, and likely the last time for a while before the Big Northern Conference returns to 10 teams with the addition of Durand-Pecatonica. For now, the Cogs will face Seneca in Week 4.

There is also a lot of early-season crossover between the Western Big 6, which has eight teams, and the Interstate 8, which has six teams. Kaneland will head to Rock Island in Week 1, while Rochelle hosts former Northern Illinois Big 12 foe Geneseo in its opener.

In Week 2, Sycamore heads to Moline to face the second-largest school on its schedule (1,938 enrollment) a week after facing the largest (DeKalb, 2,117). Sycamore’s enrollment is 1,149.

DeKalb hosts Phillips in an intriguing Week 2 matchup in a battle of teams looking to get back to the postseason.