Kankakee’s quest for a second straight regional title got off to a bit of a sluggish start in Monday’s IHSA Kankakee Regional opener against Plainfield South .

The No. 7 Kays (8-5) ultimately picked up a 40-26 win over the No. 10 Cougars (6-13) and advanced to play No. 2 Yorkville in Tuesday’s semifinal, but particularly on defense, they allowed some indecisiveness to lead to big plays for the Cougars and an eventual halftime score of 20-20.

After Plainfield South scored on the opening possession of the third quarter to go up 26-20, the Kankakee defense locked in. The Kays forced a punt, a turnover on downs and got two interceptions, both from Je’Mya Williams, on the Cougars’ next four possessions, all while the Kankakee offense started to pull away.

Senior Damariana Tooles, who ha

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