The Bradley-Bourbonnais football program has never won a game in three straight postseasons, something the Boilermakers are looking to achieve this fall.

And in the opinion of longtime head coach Mike Kohl, they’ve also never had talents like Lyzale and Ky’ren Edmon, brothers who aren’t going to settle for just one or two playoff wins, around the program at the same time.

“They’re definitely both top five kids at our program since I’ve been here for 25 years (as head coach and assistant),” Kohl said. “They’re both really explosive with the ball and really athletic.”

The elder of the Edmon brothers, Lyzale, a senior wide receiver, defensive back and return extraordinaire, took a leap last fall, when he was the lone junior to make the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association Class 7A All-State first team.

He had 29 catches for 489 yards and eight touchdowns, took one of his three interceptions back for a touchdown, and totaled five special teams touchdowns (four kickoff, one punt) for a Boilermakers team that went 9-4 and advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time since their 2015 semifinal run.

As fun as last year was and as proud as Lyzale was to be recognized at the state, Southwest Valley All-Conference and Daily Journal All-Area levels, it’s now in the past as his senior year has arrived.

“I’m blessed and I’m trying to do the same thing,” Lyzale said. “ ... The to-do list is to go win it all. Personally, it’s to make all-state again, but the whole team, I want to win it all for my last year.”

Interceptions are “cool” and catching touchdowns is “fun,” but it’s the thrill of returning a kick – attempting to evade a field full of defenders with a full sprint head start – that’s his favorite part of football. But wherever the coaching staff puts him at any moment is fine by Lyzale.

“I split between offense and defense regularly [in practice], so it’s whatever,” he said. “Wherever I play, wherever they feel they need me most, I’ll play it.”

While Lyzale was becoming the latest Boiler to break out as a junior, baby brother was doing something no freshman had ever done before at the school – starting out of the backfield.

After turning eyes over the summer and forcing his way onto the field by the fall, Ky’ren credited Lyzale for helping him prepare.

“I’m very grateful and glad I can have my brother with me,” Ky’ren said. “He taught me a lot coming into school. I had to stay in the gym, eat healthy, keep working out and stop messing around with the team and stuff.”

Ky’ren was part of a three-headed monster with Lyzale’s classmate, Isaac Allison, and the recently graduated Kenvontae Sutton. He turned 91 carries into 620 yards and a team-high nine touchdowns and added another pair of scores through the air.

“I had a lot to prove to myself and I worked on it,” Ky’ren said. “I set a goal for myself to do as good as I could freshman year, get on varsity and get as many college looks as I can.”

Both brothers have NCAA Division I aspirations, and with the comparisons Kohl has recognized for each of them, they’re on their way. He said that Lyzale reminds him of 2017 graduate Camron Harrell, who began his college career at Iowa and finished it at Southern Mississippi.

“I just wasn’t sure if he was a track kid or a football kid; it turns out he was both,” Kohl said of Lyzale, who qualified for four events at the 2024 Class 3A Track and Field State Finals.

It took Kohl, a 1993 Bradley-Bourbonnais graduate, to the backfields of his own high school days to find running backs with skillsets like Ky’ren.

“He reminds me of Corey Akerman as far as his balance as vision, and you look at Conrad Coleman, who went to [Southern California],” Kohl said. “He’s gonna go down as one of the best we’ve ever had.”

Ky’ren’s first scholarship offer came from Ole Miss and both brothers have offers from Ohio University. While they’ve thought about reuniting as college teammates, they both smiled when Ky’ren mentioned the idea of playing against one another.

The thought of competing against each other isn’t new. They both said that pushing one another makes them both better, a mindset Kohl has seen between them and their teammates.

“There’s definitely some competition there, but you can tell they love each other,” Kohl said. “You can tell their parents do a great job with them, they care about each other and they support each other.”