Every community has them. Those families that have a seemingly endless amount of people in them, and they’re all beloved.

In Kankakee, the Terrell family is one of the best examples of that. Navigating through the city for a day, it would be a near impossible challenge to go that long without running into someone with the Terrell surname.

And it would be even more difficult to find someone to utter as much as a negative syllable about one of the youngest members of the family, Kankakee senior Cedric Terrell III.

Being a Terrell admittedly comes with a lot of pressure. But whether it’s on the football field – where he’s put together an all-state caliber senior season through nine weeks – the basketball court or the track, Terrell III, or as he’s more affectionately known as, Third, has handled that pressure.

“I’m very proud,” Terrell III said. “I hear a lot of good stories about my dad and grandad. To have their name and carry it on is a dream come true. I feel like I’m doing it right. ...

“It’s a lot of pressure. A lot of pressure,” he added. “Ever since I was young, they’ve all encouraged me to work hard and be the best.”

In his third year starting all over the field for the 6-3 Kays, primarily at wide receiver and safety and punt and kickoff returns, few programs at any level have had a player be as vital to their success as Terrell III has.

He finished the regular season with 44 catches for 641 yards and eight touchdowns, all team-highs, while adding 233 rushing yards and five touchdowns as well as a pair of touchdown passes. Defensively, he’s intercepted five passes, one for a touchdown.

His first touchdown of the year came, fittingly enough, on the third play of the season, a short pass he took from Phillip Turner and turned into an 87-yard score against Nazareth.

“Coming into the season, I was hungry,” Terrell III said. “I felt kind of disrespected that a lot of people weren’t woke enough to know what I can do. But I know what I can do, and I feel like it set the tone when I took it 87 yards.”

By the time he turned in his crowning jewel performance – for now, anyways – at Normal in Week 4, plenty of people had their eyes opened. Down 10-0 at the half, Terrell III caught a pair of second-half touchdowns, including the go-ahead score, and then sealed their 28-17 win with a pick-six with under a minute to go.

The Kays were 1-2 at the time, dropping their first two games to Nazareth and Lincoln-Way East. And Terrell III wasn’t going to let his team slide any further.

“A lot of emotions,” Terrell III said of the night. “I was kind of frustrated (at halftime), and my dad came and calmed me down. My teammates were telling me they needed me, so I had to step up. It was time. We couldn’t go 1-3, so there was no other way than to win.”

His dad, Cedric Terrell Jr., knows a thing or two about football. He starred on the gridiron at Bishop McNamara before his 2004 graduation. Terrell Jr.’s brother, Brandon Terrell, was an all-state running back for the Fightin’ Irish.

That meant Terrell III caught his fair share of McNamara games as a youngster, but his heart was always with the Kays. He began following the program, mostly former assistant coach Sam Jordan. He was in junior high when they began their resurgence and qualified for their first – and so far, only – state championship game in 2021. By the time he got to high school, Terrell III already knew what the new standard of Kankakee football was.

“You’ve got to be a dog,” Terrell III said. “You’ve got to be a dog, you’ve got to want it, and you’ve got to have that swag.”

As he’s watched his son develop into both the athlete and leader that he’s become, pride abounds in Terrell Jr.

“I’m soaking it all in, and it’s a lot,” Terrell Jr. said. “I’m trying to slow it down. ... I’m just hoping that he’ll be able to soak all these experiences in and build from it. I know he hasn’t scratched the surface yet, especially in sports.

“If he gets that opportunity, he’ll be bigger than he knows.”

Terrell Sr. said that the family’s passion and desire to excel in Kankakee athletics began with his older cousin James. As a football and baseball player at Kankakee’s Eastridge, where he graduated in 1982, Terrell Sr. continued that standard, as did his younger brother Harold, who continues to be one of the Kankakee School District’s biggest influences in a bevy of roles.

While he splits his time between Kankakee and Arizona, Terrell Sr. is sure to spend enough time around town to see his grandson in action.

“He’s carried it well,” Terrell Sr. said of the name he shares with his grandson. “He’s living up to expectations. Matter of fact, my cousin James, we have a running joke where we say, ‘What’s your last name?’ ‘Terrell.’ ‘OK, I’ve got something to live up to.’ ”

That includes the part of the Terrell family that’s spanned westward. Terrell III has a pair of cousins currently working in pro sports. Drew Terrell, a four-year football player at Stanford, is the passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach for the Arizona Cardinals. Another cousin, Christian Terrell, is the Golden State Warriors video coordinator after spending two years playing for their G-League affiliate.

As much familial love as he has, Terrell III has been missing one of the biggest pieces of his family for almost six years now. His mother, Domonique, died suddenly in 2019.

“That was my biggest supporter,” Terrell III said. “She was always loud, always recording my games, always there for me.”

He and his dad, who has grieved the loss of his wife while also being there for their children, both agreed that a family and community support system has helped them along. That starts with Terrell Sr. and his wife, Mary, who Terrell III calls his best friend and second mother, and includes too many people to count.

“We’ve got one of those supportive families, and our family helps out,” Terrell Jr. said. “I’m also surprised at how well he carries it. It still shocks me.”

On Nov. 24, the Terrell family will honor Domonique’s memory on the sixth anniversary of her death. And Terrell III hopes that he’ll also be spending that day, a Monday, beginning a week of practice for the IHSA Class 5A state championship game held that Saturday, Nov. 29.

After ending their regular season with a 27-14 loss to Crete-Monee, a game in which Terrell III was injured on the third play of the game before returning at halftime, the Kays have spent the week fine-tuning ahead of their first-round tilt with Lemont on Saturday.

In a bit of an ironic twist, Terrell III, who grew up a quarterback at the youth level, will return to the position after Turner suffered an injury last week. He’s stepped in as QB1 for parts of each of the past two postseasons as well and isn’t worried about doing so this year.

And as the team’s heart and soul, he knows exactly what the team has to do to achieve their dreams.

“The defense just has to keep playing how we’ve been playing,” Terrell III said. “The offense just has to put up more points.”