Copyright Shaw Local Enewspapers
It’s not often that all the Kane County Chronicle-area football teams that play have something in common. The first round of the 2025 IHSA playoffs were one of those exceptions. Of the seven teams that qualified for the playoffs, all seven of them came away as victors to advance to the second round of their respective brackets. The victories came in a variety of fashions on the week. Three teams (Batavia, St. Charles North and Kaneland) each won their games by 30+ points, while both St. Francis and Burlington Central had their games decided by seven or less points. Some of the matchups went about as predictably as expected. Batavia, the 13th seed in the Class 7A bracket, easily handled No. 20 Hoffman Estates in a 56-0 victory to advance to the second round for the 10th straight season. St. Charles North also easily handled business, with the No. 3 seed in Class 7A getting a comfy 42-12 victory over No. 30 United Township. Aurora Christian, a sixth-seed in Class 2A also joined in with a nice victory, walking away with a 37-12 win over Erie-Prophetstown. Some, not so much. There were a pair of upsets based on seeds. The Spartans, a nine seed in Class 5A got a 35-28 victory over No. 8 Morgan Park, while Aurora Central Catholic, a No. 9 seed all the way down in Class 3A, defeated eighth-seeded Noble/Rauner 34-12, securing its first win in the playoffs since 2016. Burlington Central was the closest team to not getting a Round 1 victory, with the Rockets, a second-seed in Class 6A, needing a 34-yard touchdown connection from Landon Arnold to Sam Ames with 1:04 remaining to secure a 24-17 victory over No. 15 Libertyville. Kaneland, a seventh-seed in the Class 5A bracket, also put up a surprise, but in a very good way. In its first-round matchup against No. 10 Lakes, the Knights put up 68 points, the fourth most points in a first-round matchup, to secure a 68-21 victory. No Harm(s) in scoring Braden Harms knew heading into the season that he would very likely not be the top receiving option at St. Charles North. With a big name like Northwestern recruit Keaton Reinke leading the wide receiver room, Harms, who transferred in from Marmion last season, But over the last five weeks of play, he’s gotten plenty of opportunities, scoring five touchdowns over the stretch, including in one in each of his last three games. “I’m going to be honest, I’ve got to give all of my praise to my quarterback JT Padron,” Harms said. “Coming into this season with a star player like Keaton Reinke to kind of open me up. I think that it’s just a nice complement to have. JT knows how to find me, our connection is there, and it’s something that’s really tough for a defense to guard.” A lot of the success the senior has had has been due to his connection with Padron. While the two used to play on the same peewee football and basketball team growing up, it’s the shared connection of being transfers into the program that’s helped boost it even further. “It’s just a kind of understanding thing where I know what he’s going through and I’m here to work with him,” Harms said. “We put in the get extra work in to everything, and those things added up over the summer. Every day, we were getting out and working with each other to build chemistry and build the connection that we have to create those opportunities on the field.” And it’s shown throughout the season. Padron and Harms have connected for eight touchdowns so far on the season, including on an 80-yard touchdown in their Round 1 victory over United Township. And with Reinke sitting out in the game, it was another opportunity for Harms and receivers like senior EJ Mondesir and junior Christian Engers to show just how deep the North Stars’ wide receiver room goes. “We’ve got a saying in our room of ‘dudes being dudes,’ ” Harms said. “It’s really hard covering an entire receiving core, and it’s great to be playing with such great talent around me. I love being able to to play and compete with these other athletes around me that want the same goal. Everyone’s wanting to take that extra step and do what needs to be done.” The North Stars will face No. 14 Carmel in the second round of the playoffs, a team that has scored no less than 35 points in each of its last six games. And considering the offense they’re facing, Harms knows that the offense needs to be on point to advance to the quarterfinals. “I think we’ve just got to think like this is like any other team,” Harms said. “They’re going to come out and start firing. They’ve got a good quarterback that does good things. But at the end of the day, they still bleed the same blood, and we’re going to keep fighting to keep the pads on for another week.” Keeping up the family tradition Nick Jansey has a lot in common with his brothers. The youngest of the four brothers, he’s already carried on the tradition of being a linebacker for Batavia. Not only that, but he’s also appeared in a state championship game with the Bulldogs. But heading into the Class 7A first round playoff matchup against Hoffman Estates, there was one thing his three brothers had done that he hadn’t — score a touchdown. But in the second quarter, that all changed. After a backwards pass went incomplete, the senior proceeded to field the ball at the 19-yard line before running it into the end zone for his first career touchdown. “I never heard the whistle, so I just thought that I might as well pick up the ball and run,” Jansey said. “It was sensational. Finally got to check that off of my list.” Jansey’s scoop-and-score was one of five turnovers the defense forced in the contest, helping the Bulldogs to their first shutout victory since a 41-0 victory over Wheaton North back in Week 5 of the 2024 season. “I feel like defensively, we’re starting to look like ourselves,” Bulldogs coach Dennis Piron said. “We’re really finding ourselves and we’ve got a lot of nice rotational pieces. It’s just really a lot of fun.”
