Welcome to the home page of the Rockford Register Star’s high school football coverage for the 2025 season, which brings all of our stories, photos and more into one big place.
Our sports staff, led by Jay Taft, will cover all the highs and lows of high school football in the Rockford area, from start to finish, and this is the only place you can find it all. Well, other than our high school link on the rrstar.com/sports site.
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But this is the easiest place to find it all. Because here you can find links that will get you to all of our photos, videos and stories about Rockford-area football, including preseason players-to-watch lists, all of our regular-season coverage, our top perfomers, key takeaways and more.
Bookmark this page to make sure you never miss a story from any of the top Rockford-area football teams.
Master football schedule for all: IHSA football 2025: Schedules for NIC-10, BNC, NUIC, Rochelle and 8-man teams in Rockford area
Belvidere North team members celebrate scoring a touchdown on Aug. 29, 2025, at Belvidere North High School.
Week 1 football coverage
➤ Big plays all day on both sides in Guilford-Belvidere North NIC-10 football showdown
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➤ Hungry Lena-Winslow football hammers Forreston to kickstart what it hopes is another title run
➤ Harlem’s Braxton Fausett leads Rockford football Week 1 Top Performers list
➤ Rockford Week 1 football takeaways: New stars emerge and an old power should bounce back
➤ Rockford-area Week 1 football scores and live updates as season begins
Lena-Winslow rolled over Forreston 50-12 during the season opener Aug. 29, 2025, in Forreston.
Our predictions for every game
➤ Here’s who our experts think will win Week 1 Rockford-area high school football games
Football players to watch lists
➤ Check out some of the top Rockford-area high school football linebackers for 2025
➤ Top 14 offensive linemen to watch in 2025 Rockford high school football season
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➤ Run to daylight: Here are the top 17 Rockford area running backs for the 2025 season
➤ Last line of defense: 11 Rockford defensive backs to watch in 2025 high school football
➤ Rockford’s top wide receivers and tight ends to watch in 2025 IHSA football season
➤ Not a lot of elite QBs return, but here are the top ones to watch from the Rockford area
➤ Rockford’s top 12 defensive linemen to watch for 2025 season starts with a Big Ten recruit
Football feature stories
➤ Inside how Lutheran football plans to rebuild on the fly under new coach Don Lee
➤ Byron, Lena-Winslow, Belvidere North: see who else is in our Top 10 Football Power Rankings
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➤ Gunners, kickers, long snappers and kick returners: Best special teams players in NIC-10
Guilford’s Messiah Tilson (11) avoids a tackle by Belvidere North’s Mason Snider (5) during a game on Aug. 29, 2025, at Belvidere North High School.
Girls flag football coverage
➤ New-look Guilford team, rule changes set table for Rockford-area flag football season
Football photo galleries
➤ Belvidere North kicks off football season. See photos
➤ Lena-Winslow pounds Forreston to kickstart 2025 high school football season. See photos
➤ Photos: Top 10 power rankings for Rockford football teams in 2025
➤ Friday Night Lights: Our week 1 game was Rockford Guilford-Belvidere North. See photos
➤ A look around the Rockford area as high school football kicks off everywhere. See photos
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Football videos
➤ Video: Watch Belvidere North edge Guilford 21-13 in NIC-10 football opener
➤ Video: Lena-Winslow shows how motivated it is in opener
➤ Video: Harlem’s Dwayne Broom replaces NIC-10’s all-time leading rusher
Jay Taft is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at jtaft@rrstar.com and sign up for the Rockford High School Sports Newsletter here at rrstar.com. Jay has covered a variety of sports, from the Chicago Bears and Blackhawks to local youth sports, since the turn of the century at the Register Star.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Rockford-area high school football: Complete 2025 season coverage
