2-Minute Drill: The starts and ends of eras in Kankakee County football

It was quite a wild weekend to kick off the football postseason, and through all the ups and downs, five of the area's 10 teams that qualified for the playoffs have made it through to the second week.

Those five wins came in a variety of ways, from the running clocks Kankakee and Wilmington put on its respective opponents to the one-possession thrillers squeezed out by Bradley-Bourbonnais and St. Anne, and even a Coal City win that saw Landin Benson continue his career-long onslaught on opposing defenses.

As the postseason continues, the number of teams remaining will drop, and the amount of student-athletes getting started on their basketball and wrestling seasons will continue. But as we begin to look ahead to the second round of the playoffs this weekend, some of those winter sports coaches may be waiting a little while to get their entire collection of talent in the gym.

Quick Recap

Here are the area's scores from the first week of the playoffs:

• (17)Bradley-Bourbonnais 34, (16)Jacobs 27 (Class 7A)

• (3)Kankakee 42, (14)Glenbard South 0 (Class 6A)

• (7)Coal City 41, (10)Johnsburg 13 (Class 4A)

• (10)Normal University 41, (7)Manteno 14 (Class 4A)

• (2)Wilmington 42, (15)Stillman Valley 7 (Class 3A)

• (7)Eureka 29, (10)Peotone 22 (Class 3A)

• (12)Dwight/Gardner-South Wilmington 41, (5)Momence 13 (Class 2A)

• (2)Lena-Winslow 70, (15)Central 32 (Class 1A)

• (8)St. Anne 22, (9)St. Thomas More 20 (I8FA)

• (5)Martinsville 52, (12)Milford- Cissna Park 22 (I8FA)

St. Anne makes history with first-ever playoff win

When Alan Rood was tabbed as the head coach for the St. Anne football team ahead of its return from a nearly 50-year football hiatus when they joined the Illinois 8-Man Football Association in 2023, he was very candid with me on his goal of quickly turning the Cardinals into an I8FA contender.

It didn't take long for him to make good on that.

Thanks to a three-touchdown performance from Chris Link, who became the first area running back to reach 30 rushing scores on the season this year, and Matthew Langellier's late endzone pass break-up, the Cardinals scored their first football playoff win in school history with their 22-20 win over St. Thomas More.

Link has certainly dazzled, leading the area with 2,006 rushing yards and 31 touchdowns, and if there was an I8FA Player of the Year, there's little doubt he's the guy. But as sensational as he is, he's not the only reason St. Anne is now just two wins away from a trip to the state championship.

In just two short years, St. Anne has gone from no football program at all to a program in which every single player, coach, parent and fan has completely bought into the culture Rood has created, a hard-working bunch that knows what they want and goes and gets it.

The task couldn't be much more challenging this weekend, as they head to top-ranked and undefeated Pawnee for quarterfinal action Saturday. But with the state's most-feared talent and a group that believes in themselves, don't be surprised if the Cardinals return to Kankakee County with quite an upset under their belts.

Tipping a cap to a legend

Central head coach Brian Spooner officially became a hall-of-fame coach when he was inducted into the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame five years ago, but the Comets coach for the past three decades has been a hall-of-fame person for much longer than that.

As a lifelong local who had family that both lived in Clifton and even played for Spooner's Comets, I'd long heard how great of a coach and person he is, but over the past seven years, I've gotten to see that up close for myself. His 23 career playoff appearances are second to only Wilmington's Jeff Reents as far as active area coaches go, and the fact he and the Comets never went back-to-back years without making the postseason is mind-boggling.

But even more than a coach, Spooner's hands-down one of the most genuinely kind people I've come across in my professional time here. I remember making the cross-state trek to Orion my first year to cover the Comets in the second round of the playoffs there, where a last-second field goal broke their hearts and ended their season.

It was my first time covering a team losing in the postseason, and I can recall how timid and nervous I was to address a coach in the immediate aftermath of such a tough loss to take. I'm not sure if he could sense that, or if he was just being the good person that he is, but within seconds I was at ease with how gracious coach was, both with a young, nervous reporter, and also the perspective and wisdom he showed in the loss.

In the moments following the Comets' loss at Lena-Winslow Saturday, Spooner made it public that he would be retiring after an incredible career. I know that the 2-Minute Drill isn't the greatest place to first deliver that news, but in the very near future, I will have my final sit-down with Spooner as a coach and share his story in print.

But for now, coach, thank you for your graciousness, your football wisdom and for all the wins and memories you've provided the Central community over the past almost three decades.

Boilers, Kays impress with wins

Last fall, I wrote a story on how Bradley-Bourbonnais and Kankakee won a playoff game in the same postseason for the first time since 1989. Now, they've done it two years in a row.

The wins came in different forms, as the Boilermakers held tough for a one-score win at a Jacobs program that seems to always be in the thick of the Class 7A chase. Meanwhile the Kays continued steamrolling teams with a 42-0 win over Glenbard South in front of their home crowds.

Threes were wild for both teams, as the Boilers' Lyzale Edmon scored three times, two on receptions from Gavin Kohl and another on a kickoff return, while Kohl ran for one to account for three touchdowns himself. For the Kays, Cedric Terrell III and Zeke Sherrod hooked up on three touchdown connections through the air, with James Stampley adding another touchdown trio on the ground.

The two teams have never made quarterfinal appearances in the same season, and there's obviously no sure thing in the playoffs. But with both teams at home this weekend — Bradley-Bourbonnais against Whitney Young Friday night at 7 p.m. and the Kays against Bloomington at 2 p.m. Saturday — I encourage any fans who are able to do so go catch both games for a chance at witnessing history.

Trojans end playoff drought in dominant fashion

It was just a couple short years ago that our coverage area slightly condensed and we no longer continued to cover the Dwight Trojans on a full-time basis. But when I saw that the Trojans would be visiting Momence for first-round action in Class 2A, I knew that no matter what, I was making that trip east of town for a local rivalry, one intensified by the fact Dwight co-ops with Gardner-South Wilmington, Momence's River Valley Conference rival in every sport but football.

And I couldn't be happier that I went. While my heart went out to a generational senior class and wildly talented junior quarterback in Erick Castillo at Momence, it was incredible to get to witness the Trojans win their first playoff game in 41 years by putting 41 points on the scoreboard.

Comprised largely of a deep sophomore class, the Trojans sped up their schedule a little bit with the terrific fall they've had, one that started with a three-game winning streak, and after dropping three in a row in the middle of the season, now heads into the second round as winners of four in a row. The enthusiastic hugs, backflips and other celebrations that followed the final buzzer was the textbook definition of what high school football is all about.