Illinois
Rivals 2025 Illinois high school football Player of the Year honors
The high school football season around the country has wrapped up and with that comes honors for coaches and players from the 2025 season. One state out of the Midwest region that is starting to produce some impressive talent and teams from around the country is Illinois high school football.
The Illinois High School Association (IHSA) state finals ended a few weeks ago and we decided to get right to it when it comes to end of the year honors.
We continue into the Prairie State of Illinois as Rivals looked through the season and selected award nominees from this past season. Who were the best players for the 2025 Illinois high school football season, though?
Rivals give you the Illinois high school football honorees for the 2025 season.
Player of the Year: Israel Abrams, QB, Montini Catholic
There was no player more instrumental to his team’s success in Illinois than 2027 four-star quarterback Israel Abrams was to Montini Catholic. The junior signal caller could match up with the best of ’em as Abrams had himself a season to remember as he led the Broncos to the IHSA’s Class 4A state championship. On the season, Abrams finished the season completing 233 of 340 passes for 4,072 yards and 40 touchdowns to just six picks. Abrams was also the team’s third leading rusher, going for 224 yards on 82 attempts and scoring 10 touchdowns. A scary thought for Illinois high school defensive coordinators is they have one more year to try and scheme up on how to stop the quarterback.
Offensive Player of the Year: Trae Taylor, QB, Carmel Catholic
One of the state’s top offensive play makers all season long was the Trae Taylor (Nebraska commit) for Carmel Catholic. Taylor is coming off a tremendous junior campaign for the Corsairs, with the quarterback 81 percent of his passes (205 of 251) for 3,571 yards, 38 touchdowns and a mere three interceptions this past 2025 season while adding 666 and 12 scores on the ground. The junior signal caller led Carmel Catholic an 8-3 record after losing to St Charles North, 26-23, in the IHSA Class 7A playoffs. Taylor’s arguably best performance of the season came in a 55-54 loss to Montini Catholic where he completed 25 of 36 attempts for 505 yards and five touchdowns. Taylor also got it done on the ground in that same game, rushing for an additional three scores and 66 yards.
Defensive Player of the Year: Carmelow Reed, DL, Morgan Park
The 6-foot-6, 245-pound trench monster was just that for opposing offensive linemen as Morgan Park’s Carmelow Reed made life difficult for 48 minute on the opposition. Reed, who has officially signed with Ole Miss, helped Morgan Park reach the Class 5A playoffs as the Broncos finished the 2025 campaign with a 9-2 record. For Reed, he was undoubtedly one of the top defensive players in the state as the defensive lineman tallied 66 total tackles, 18 of them went for a loss, 10 sacks and also blocked three field goals.
Coach of the Year: Matt Battaglia, Fenwick
We close out the awards by giving this last one to Fenwick head coach Matt Battaglia. Playing for the state’s Class 6A state championship against a loaded and once nationally ranked East St. Louis bunch, the Fenwick Friars weren’t given too much of a chance to upset the Flyers heading in. Well, the unthinkable would occur, led by Battaglia and his staff, as Fenwick was able to pull off the upset of East St. Louis, 38-28, for the 6A title. Fenwick finished the season with an 11-3 record, which is a seven-win improvement from just a couple years ago when the Friars went 4-5 in 2023. With a state championship in hand, this validated Battaglia being given the Illinois Coach of the Year honors.
For Illinois high school football fans looking to keep up with scores around the nation, staying updated on the action is now easier than ever with the Rivals High School Scoreboard. This comprehensive resource provides real-time updates and final scores from across the Prairie State, ensuring you never miss a moment of the Friday night frenzy. From nail-biting finishes to dominant performances, the Rivals High School Scoreboard is your one-stop destination for tracking all the Illinois high school football excitement across the state.
Illinois
Produce Recall Issued In Parasite Outbreak Hitting IL
A number of Taco Bell locations have posted signs announcing they are “currently unable to sell Lettuce, Cilantro Onion, Pico de Gallo, and Guacamole due to a nationwide recall,” according to Detroit-area news radio outlet WWJ.
Taco Bell told the Post it would keep monitoring the situation and follow authorities’ guidance.
Taco Bell Lettuce Linked To Growing MI Parasite Outbreak: FDA
“Public health officials have not confirmed a link to Taco Bell or any specific ingredient, supplier, restaurant or retailer,” the company told the Post. “While authorities continue their broader review, Taco Bell has voluntarily and temporarily removed limited ingredients at select restaurants as a precautionary measure.”
In Michigan, where cases have been concentrated, media reports said notices were posted at some Detroit-area Taco Bell restaurants last week telling customers the chain was “currently unable to sell Lettuce, Cilantro-Onion, Pico de Gallo, and Guacamole due to a nationwide recall.”
Illinois
Illinois GOP trails badly in midterm cash
The Illinois Republican Party filed its quarterly campaign finance report on the July 15 deadline. The party reported having just $223K in the bank. The next day, the party sent a letter to the Illinois State Board of Elections saying they were “reconciling” their records after a leadership change, and then noted that their actual end balance was $101K higher than it had reported the day before.
But that bit of found money was basically the end of the “good news” for the GOP last week.
Republicans no longer have a pet billionaire. Bruce Rauner and Ken Griffin have fled the state. The legions of wealthy business titans who once contributed and raised money have either retired to sunnier climes or passed away. Several prominent party members have publicly shunned labor unions and their hefty political war chests, although the state GOP legislative leaders have at least tried to rebuild ties to trade unions and even the Illinois Education Association. But the heavily gerrymandered legislative map combined with the current political climate means they’ll mostly receive scraps.
And, yes, the House Democrats are struggling this month with scandals, including a state representative who resigned under pressure and another who was indicted. I’m not trying to downplay that at all. But Democrats have the national political environment, the local infrastructure and tons of cash behind them. The Republicans have little to none of that.
The GOP’s gubernatorial candidate, Darren Bailey, raised $1.3 million in the second quarter, which ended June 30. That sounds like a lot, but he spent almost all of that on direct mail fundraising costs. The huge expenditures do give him a prospect list for future fundraising, but he ended the quarter with a mere $128K in the bank. That was still a whole lot more than the rest of the statewide ticket.
Attorney General nominee Bob Fioretti, a perennial candidate, raised $31K, spent $39K and had $28K on hand at the end of the quarter along with almost $15K in recent debt. Secretary of State candidate Diane Harris raised $6K, spent a bit over $4K and had a paltry $1,816.42 in the bank. Treasurer candidate Max Solomon, who ran as a write-in during the primary because the party failed to recruit anyone, raised less than $3K, reported no spending and ended the quarter with less than $8K. Comptroller candidate Bryan Drew raised $30K and received $47K in in-kind contributions from a company owned, ironically, by independent gubernatorial candidate Collin Corbett, spent less than $3K, ended with $54K and had $25K in debt from earlier this year.
Man, that’s just downright pathetic.
But I suppose it doesn’t really matter anyway unless we see a massive sea-change in national opinion in the coming months or the federal government finds a way to not certify certain election results. Regardless of where individual candidates are at this moment, they’ll have the money to compete. Unlike the Republicans, the Dems do have a pet billionaire (JB Pritzker) and, I assume eventually for most of them, organized labor.
The Republican legislative leaders have tried to scrape and claw as much as they can, but they’re vastly outgunned. Senate Republican Leader John Curran raised just $75K in the second quarter. He spent $71K and reported having a bit more than $3 million in the bank. His caucus committee reported having $160K in the bank.
Leader Curran has three Republican-held districts to defend in the Chicago media market that have all trended Democratic in the last three cycles. Depending how bad things get, he could be defending a couple, two or three more.
The Senate Democrats have a ton of money to do whatever they want. Senate President Don Harmon has about $20 million in his personal campaign account and $1.7 million in his caucus account.
Over in the House, Republican Leader Tony McCombie has at least four Democratic-trending or swingy districts to defend and just $1.3 million in her personal campaign account and another $363K in her caucus account so far.
In contrast, House Speaker Chris Welch had $11.4 million in his personal account and $1.2 million in his caucus account. Like Senate President Harmon, he has more than enough money already, but more is never enough when there’s so much out there, so those numbers will likely rise by November.
Rich Miller also publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, and CapitolFax.com.
Illinois
Hillsboro grad, Springfield golfer Alex Eickhoff 2nd at state amateur
BLOOMINGTON — Springfield’s Alex Eickhoff nearly had a magical Thursday as he tied for second place in the 95th annual Illinois State Amateur Championship at Crestwicke Country Club.
Eickhoff, a 2020 Hillsboro High School graduate and former standout on the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s men’s golf team, shot a 4-under-par 68 in Thursday’s third round and followed that with an even-par 71 to finish the three-day, four-round event 1-over 285. He tied for second with Bloomington’s Logan Stauffer.
Eickhoff briefly took the lead through nine holes of his fourth round when he sat at 1-under par. Chicago’s Charlie Kulwin finished both of Thursday’s rounds under par and finished 2-under 282. He was the lone golfer to finish under par for the tournament.
Eickhoff was The State Journal-Register’s Small School Boys Golfer of the year twice in his high school career: once as a freshman in 2016-17 and again as a senior in 2019-20. After high school, he golfed for the University of Minnesota for two years before transferring to SIUE.
He began the tournament with a 3-over 74 on Tuesday and shaved off a stroke Wednesday with a 2-over 73. He closed out the event with an even-par 71 in Thursday’s final round.
Other area golfers who made the cut were Springfield’s Charles Hoogland (7-over 291, tied for 20th) and Jacksonville’s Brady Kaufmann (8-over 292, 25th).
The last golfer from The State Journal-Register’s coverage area to win the Illinois State Amateur was Jay Davis. Davis, a Jacksonville Routt graduate, won the 1991 and ‘92 tournaments.
Contact Ryan Mahan: 788-1546, ryan.mahan@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR.
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