York’s Bruno Massel is pursued by Loyola Academy's Tommy Ghislandi (left) and Donovan Robinson during last season’s Class 8A championship game in Normal. Mark Busch/Shaw Local News Network

Time for the scary part of our countdown to prep football.

All summer, week after week, we’ve provided insight related to the 2025 season for teams, players and coaches throughout our coverage area. We’ll hit No. 1 on opening night, Aug. 29.

We started in June with 10 of the area’s top senior football recruits and continued with nine area quarterbacks and eight non-quarterbacks to watch , seven new coaches , six awesome season openers , five of the toughest schedules and four Saturday games to see .

Now — buckle up — it’s time for three bold predictions for the upcoming football season

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