The homecoming dance is Saturday night for Kankakee, but the party started a day early for the Kays’ football team.

Kankakee scored 28 points off of four Bloom mistakes en route to a 48-0 shutout Friday night at Jess C. Gathing Track and Field. The win was the Kays’ first home win of the season in their first home game since Week 1 (5-2, 3-0), while Bloom dropped its third straight game (3-4, 1-2).

“It’s always good when you can come home and get a W,” Kankakee head coach Ed Hazelett said. “Last time we were home, we didn’t have that outcome, so it was just great to come home and get that W against a good team.”

Phillip Turner found a wide open streaking Zayden Henley for a 37-yard touchdown to put the Kays in front early, and the Kays wouldn’t look back from there. Later in the first quarter, Amari Davis would block a punt that set up the Kays deep inside Bloom territory and would later lead to a Henley 2-yard rushing touchdown.

“It’s great to actually see the product come full fruition,” Hazelett said about the complimentary football. “The dark side does a great job. They take pride in getting turnovers, they’re just hungry for it.”

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Football: Kankakee vs. Bloom Kankakee's Cedric Terrell lll leaps to avoid a tackle en route to a touchdown during the Kay's victory over Bloom on Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. (Tiffany Blanchette/Tiffany Blanchette)

Perhaps the two-play sequence that was a microcosm of how the game went for Kankakee was when Cedric Terrell III intercepted Bloom’s Isaiah Dunlap early in the second, and turned around and caught a 37-yard touchdown pass from Turner that extended the lead 28-0.

“That’s just what playmakers do,” Terrell III said. “Taking away the ball and then just coming back to score, it feels great.”

Defensively, the Kays got another interception by Zeke Sherrod and a fumble recovery from a kickoff by Elijah Cunningham. Both turnovers were converted into Kays points. Bloom was held to 55 yards of total offense.

Offensively, Turner was effective in the air, tossing three touchdowns with one each to Henley, Terrell III and Jaymari Hairston. The junior was 10-for-16 in the air for 134 yards.

Henley rushed for 16 yards on four carries and had two touchdowns. Kymani Billings had three carries for 14 yards and a touchdown. Terrell III added a touchdown on the ground with two carries and 20 yards.

“[Our goal is to] keep coming and getting better,” Terrell III said. “The ultimate goal is week 14 (the state championship), every day we say week 14. We’re just gonna keep winning and keep climbing from here.”

For Bloom, facing an opponent that has wreaked havoc on conference opponents on the road was a tough challenge, but sitting at four losses with a chance at the playoffs with two more games left on the season has the Blazing Trojans motivated for what is next.

“That’s the goal,” Bloom head coach Dante Culbreath said about the playoffs. “To come out, we’re gonna try to fight everybody that’s left and try to get in [the playoffs].”