We have a simple mission at Friday Night Drive: produce in-depth quality high school football coverage for Illinois high school football fans. It’s our goal every day with our award-winning writers and editors to give our listeners high quality coverage of the teams, players and issues they care about in high school football.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/friday-night-drive--3534096/support.
Latest episodes
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6 min
La Salle-Peru, Princeton look to ‘clean things up’ before first round games: NewsTribune/BCR football notebook
The La Salle-Peru and Princeton football teams hope to 'clean things up' before their next playoff games, the opening round games featured more than 30 upsets by two, three or four…
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5 min
CCL football spotlight: Here are standout performers from the opening round of the 2026 IHSA playoffs
Providence's Dominic Vita, Marist's Jake Fleming, Joliet Catholic's Da'Sani Smart and Marmion's Henry Miller are just some of the standout performers from CCL teams during the open…
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1 min
Friday Night Drive Power Rankings: Unprecedented week leads to no poll movement
Due to the bye week effecting most of the top teams in the state there was no movement in the Friday Night Drive Power Rankings. Here are the complete Friday Night Drive Power Rank…
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27 min
Inside the Huddle: What did we learn in the opening round of the IHSA football playoffs?
Join hosts Steve Soucie and Matt Rodewald as they go Inside the Huddle and review what they saw during the opening round of the Illinois high school football playoffs.Become a supp…
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7 min
Burlington Central stays together, continues winning ways: McHenry County football notebook
Burlington Central's football team was once 2-2 but has won five of its past six games. The Rockets won a home playoff game for the third year in a row Friday night. Plus, news on…
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36 sec
IHSA playoff high school football: Who hosts our next game?
Is your team at home or on the road for its next playoff game? Pick your school in any IHSA class from 1A to 8A to see who hosts every round of the 2026 Illinois high school footba…
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5 min
Sycamore’s Crewe Bartelt shines in postseason again: Daily Chronicle Week 10 rewind
Sycamore and Genoa-Kingston picked up postseason victories on Friday, while Hiawatha won its regular-season finale. All three have playoff games this week, along with Kaneland.Beco…
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21 min
2026 IHSA football playoff pairings: First-round previews for CCL teams
A total of 20 Chicago Catholic League football teams are playing in the first round of the 2026 IHSA playoffs. Here are previews for each of the first-round games involving CCL tea…
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6 min
What we learned in Week 10 of high school football: ‘Opening round’ of playoffs has some thrills and spills
No one knew what to expect in the weekend that would determine the makeup up of the 384-team playoff field. What we got was chaos. Steve Soucie takes a look at what we learned in W…
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5 min
After opening-round byes, Coal City and Wilmington set for their first playoff games
After having an opening-round bye due to another stellar season, Coal City and Wilmington will make their playoff debuts Friday.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spre…
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8 min
CCL football roundup: Here are results, stats and highlights from 2026 IHSA opening round playoff games
CCL football teams combined for a 12-1 record in 13 IHSA opening-round playoff games this weekend. Here are results, stats and scoring plays from each of the games involving CCL te…
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2 min
Momence falls to Lena-Winslow 42-12 in opening round of 1A playoffs: Daily Journal football roundup
Momence took a loss to defending state champion Lena-Winslow in the IHSA Class 1A opening round while both Milford/Cissna Park and St. Anne/Donovan wrapped the 8-man football regul…
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50 sec
Friday Night Drive’s Team of the Week voting is open for the Opening Round of the 2026 playoffs
Vote for the Friday Night Drive Team of the Week for the opening round of the 2026 playoffs! Choose your favorite school and submit your vote by 8 p.m. MondayBecome a supporter of…
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5 min
Tyler Lacke’s tough catches highlight Hampshire’s Class 7A opening-round OT playoff loss to DePaul Prep
With his season on the line, Tyler Lacke went for 10 catches, 165 yards and two touchdowns to lead Hampshire in a 37-34 overtime loss to DePaul Prep during IHSA Class 7A opening-ro…
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4 min
Princeton makes mistakes but still beats South Shore to advance in 3A playoffs
The Princeton football team traveled more than two hours into Chicago and came away with a 64-20 win over South Shore in a Class 3A opening round playoff game Saturday.Become a sup…
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5 min
Manteno dominates Mendota 62-7 for 1st playoff win since 2016
Led by three passing touchdowns and three rushing touchdowns from quarterback Logan Bufford and six takeaways on defense, the Manteno football ran away with a 62-7 win over Mendota…
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4 min
Mike Schmid scores 5 TDs, leads Marian Central past Kewanee in opening round: McHenry County football roundup
Marian Central senior Mike Schmid ran 29 times for 317 yards and five TDs to lead Marian Central to a Class 3A opening-round playoff win against Kewanee. Prairie Ridge beat Comer f…
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5 min
Providence overwhelms outmanned Mount Vernon
Providence relished the opportunity to atone for some Week 9 mistakes in its opening round playoff game with Mount Vernon as it scored 49 points in the first half and rolled to a C…
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4 min
Fulton football rolls to a record-setting 70-15 win over Monmouth United in the Class 1A opening round
Fulton rolled to a school record 70-15 win over Monmouth United in the opening round of the Class 1A playoffs. The Steamers advance to face Stark County at 1 p.m. next Saturday.Bec…
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5 min
Newman beats Tremont 46-6 in opening round, sets up rematch at Rockridge in Class 1A playoffs
Newman sophomore quarterback Blaine Sprague tossed three touchdowns and Rylan Alvarado eclipsed 1,000 yards rushing for the season in the Comets' 46-6 Class 1A opening-round footba…