After a summer of preparation, the Daily Journal’s 15 tackle football teams kicked off their seasons over the weekend, combining to go 10-5 across 11-man and 8-man action. Before delving into the highlights, let’s take a look at the scores from Week 1.

Week 1 Recap

• (7A-8)Bradley-Bourbonnais 42, TF North 0
• (3A-RV)Bishop McNamara 58, Lawrenceville 0
• (6A-2)Nazareth 33, (5A-4)Kankakee 12
• (4A-5)Morris 27, (3A-2)Wilmington 20
• (4A-4)Coal City 40, Pontiac 14
• Herscher 42, Canton 38
• Manteno 54, Sandwich 30
• (2A-RV)Peotone 48, Granite City 7
• El Paso-Gridley 28, Reed-Custer 14
• (1A-RV)Clifton Central 34, (2A-3)Bismarck-Henning 13
• Oakwood 27, (1A-8)Momence 26 (2OT)
• Iroquois West 21, Hoopeston 20
• Georgetown-Ridge Farm 22, Watseka 13
• St. Anne 30, Martinsville 0
• Milford/Cissna Park 34, Peoria Heights 20

Boilermakers, Fightin’ Irish, Cardinals start season with shutouts

Bradley-Bourbonnais’ speedy, explosive offense is the primary reason the Boilermakers got the eighth ranking in the Class 7A AP preseason poll. And while new quarterback Ellis Johnson and Co. did turn heads, the Boiler defense stood, blanking an improved Meteors’ offense. The first-team defense held them to just two first downs in three quarters. Offensively, Johnson threw for two touchdowns and ran for another, while Ky’ren Edmon ran for a pair of scores. Isaac Allison made the end zone as well.

Just a few blocks south Saturday afternoon, Bishop McNamara displayed a dominant defense, forcing four turnovers and allowing just four first downs. Offensively, Julius May had a rushing score hat trick, and Micah Lee – one of three signal-callers to rotate in for the Irish – ran for a touchdown and threw for two more. Coen Demack caught one of those scores and had two interceptions.

St. Anne, an intriguing team coming off its first-ever playoff appearance, traveled to a perennial playoff power in Martinsville and came home victorious. In addition to a shutout on defense, the ground game was electric enough to allow Quinton Thompsen, Grant Pomaranski and Matthew Langellier to score. Pomaranski completed all four passes he threw, including a touchdown to Thompsen.

Herscher completes road comeback; Wilmington comes up just short

A pair of Illinois Central Eight Conference schools found themselves in serious early holes Friday when Wilmington quickly fell behind 19-7 at Morris, and Herscher went down 24-0 at Canton. The Tigers rode a defensive line that wouldn’t quit, giving their offense momentum to catch fire in the second half and return home 1-0.

Meanwhile, the Wildcats, entrenched in one of the state’s most fun nonconference rivalry games Friday night, trailed 13-0 as well as 19-7 in the first half. They managed to bounce back and take a lead on Ryan Kettman’s touchdown with four minutes left, but Morris found paydirt on a 1-yard end-around in the closing seconds.

Elsewhere in the ICE, Coal City, Manteno and Peotone all impressed with blowout wins.

Excitement abounds in wide-open Vermilion Valley

With all but one starter back on both sides of the ball, Clifton Central knew it could give first-year coach Jeff Perzee quite a coming-out party this fall. While the season is only a week old, the Comets got off to quite the auspicious start when they went on the road and picked up a three-score win against a Bismarck-Henning team coming off of an 11-win, state quarterfinal season.

The Journal area also had a pair of teams play to one-point final margins, one apiece on each side of victory and defeat. After a winless 2024, a young, intriguing Iroquois West team snapped an 11-game losing streak by getting the best of Hoopeston. And in a matchup between a pair of projected playoff teams, Momence came up a point shy in a double-overtime, back-and-forth thriller with Oakwood.

Weekend’s best

Here are the area’s passing, rushing and receiving leaders from Week 1:

Passing

• Jones, Her: 15-25, 231 yards, 2 TDs; 26 rushing yards, TD
• Mi. Lee, Mac: 2-3, 167 yards, 2 TDs; 34-yard rushing TD
• Castillo, Mom: 15-24, 166 yards, 3 TDs, INT; 87 rushing yards, TD
• Johnson, BB: 8-11, 157 yards, 2 TDs; 16-yard rushing TD
• Turner, Kan: 7-18, 146 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs

Rushing

• Harrod, Man: 13 carries, 196 yards, 4 TDs; 4-5 passing, 53 yards
• Honkisz, Man: 18 carries, 186 yards,
• Kettman, Wil: 17 carries, 168 yards, 2 TDs
• Cain, Peo: 12 carries, 118 yards, 3 TDs
• Natyshok, CC: 13 carries, 102 yards, 2 TDs

Receiving

• Laid, Her: 9 catches, 146 yards, TD
• Terrell III, Kan: 4 catches, 92 yards, TD; INT
• Demack, Mac: 2 catches, 91 yards, TD; 2 INTs
• L. Edmon, BB: 4 catches, 79 yards, TD
• Kohl, BB: 2 catches, 67 yards, TD