Kankakee’s quest for a second straight regional title got off to a bit of a sluggish start in Monday’s IHSA Kankakee Regional opener against Plainfield South.

The No. 7 Kays (8-5) ultimately picked up a 40-26 win over the No. 10 Cougars (6-13) and advanced to play No. 2 Yorkville in Tuesday’s semifinal, but particularly on defense, they allowed some indecisiveness to lead to big plays for the Cougars and an eventual halftime score of 20-20.

After Plainfield South scored on the opening possession of the third quarter to go up 26-20, the Kankakee defense locked in. The Kays forced a punt, a turnover on downs and got two interceptions, both from Je’Mya Williams, on the Cougars’ next four possessions, all while the Kankakee offense started to pull away.

Senior Damariana Tooles, who had four sacks in the second half and five overall, said the defense did a much better job talking to each other as the game went on.

“I feel like in the first half we weren’t communicating as much, and it was making the game harder than it had to be,” she said. “Once we finally settled down and they listened to me as I’m reading what the offensive team was doing, we kind of figured it out.”

Kankakee coach Marques Lowe said Tooles’ veteran leadership on the field really helped the team pick up the slack in the second half.

“It’s just making sure they’re communicating on the field,” he said. “Too many times we think that we’re right and not communicating with one another, so I literally told them ‘listen to (Tooles), let her control the field,’ and that’s what she was able to do.”

Tooles had to battle through multiple blockers throughout the game to collect her five sacks, including one on a fourth down and with Kankakee only up 27-26 that seemed to fully turn the tide in the favor of the Kays. She also drew multiple holding penalties to put the Cougars behind the sticks.

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Girls Flag Football - IHSA Kankakee Regional: Kankakee vs. Plainfield South Kankakee's Jasyia Wesby runs in a touchdown during the Kays' 40-26 victory over Plainfield South on Monday, Oct. 6, 2025. (Tiffany Blanchette/Tiffany Blanchette)

Offensively, after a punt on the first possession, quarterback London Stroud connected with Jasyia Wesby on a 6-yard touchdown on the second drive that put the Kays up 7-0 after successful conversion pass from Stroud to Lamaryah Smith.

Stroud had a 33-yard touchdown run on the next drive, again connecting with Smith on the conversion, and then ran for an 86-yard score on the first play of the Kays’ next drive, which put the Kays up 20-14.

Stroud’s 22-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, and ensuing conversion pass to Kamryn Pullins, put the Kays up 27-26 and gave them the lead for good.

She connected with Wesby on a deep ball for a 34-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. Stroud also caught a pass from Smith on the conversion after the Kays’ final touchdown, a 19-yard run from Taniyah Sherman with 3:30 to go.

“I feel like the second half made us feel better,” Stroud said. “Like (Tooles) said, we weren’t communicating. Then she brought the energy out, she was leading on defense and I was leading on offense. We both had to come out and do our parts, and that’s what we did.”

Stroud ran for 222 yards and three touchdowns on 10 attempts while connecting with Wesby six times for 161 yards and two touchdowns.

Freshman quarterback Brooke McDonald had a huge start for Plainfield South, going 21 of 27 for 338 yards and three touchdowns at the end of the Cougars’ first possession of the third quarter, but was held to 4 of 8 for 18 yards and two picks the rest of the way. She found Carly McDonald 11 times for 150 yards and touchdown.

This was the Cougars’ first year with a flag football program, and head coach Alana Warren said the future looks bright.

“We played a great first half of football, and it’s just now building on to make it a full game of football,” she said. “The message to the girls is just to get back into the lab. We do have some seniors, but we’re a young core. So get back to the lab and get better for next year.”