The motorcycles start lining up an hour before kickoff in Wilmington. They are a vital component in the most unique pregame tradition in the area.
Wilmington’s football field has some woods behind one end zone. There’s a small trail that peaks out through the trees. First, the smoke starts, and then the motorcycles loudly roar through, one by one.
The bikes line a path onto the field and then the Wilmington players storm through the woods and the smoke as the motorcycles rev their engines.
“Running out with your brothers through that and seeing all the fans that come out to support us every week is just great,” Wilmington junior Ryan Kettman said. “It gets the whole community going and gets our energy up 10 times more.”
The tradition started in 2004.
“It’s a great atmosphere,” Wildcats coach Jeff Reents said. “It is small high school football at its best. Obviously we love it and our kids feed off it.”
Ten years after the intense pregame ceremony began, Wilmington won its first state championship. The Wildcats won another in 2021 and then one last year.
“Sure, I think getting the community so involved helped build what we have here,” Reents said. “We’ve had some success on the field and people want to be a part of it.”
Wilmington’s football stadium is named after Reents, the head coach since 1994. The Wildcats were 3-6 his first season. They haven’t had a losing record in any season since.
Reents’ double wing offense took control in the second half of Wilmington’s 21-14 win against rival Coal City on Friday.
Kettman had 22 carries for 140 yards with TD runs of four, 15 and 20 yards. Senior Kyle Farrell had 22 carries for 111 yards and several crucial first downs that helped seal the win in the final minutes.
Coal City led 7-0 after a 41-yard TD from Zander Meents to Gabriel McHugh. Kettman scored the next three TDs to give Wilmington (7-0, 5-0 Illinois Central Eight) a 21-7 lead.
The Coalers tightened it to 21-14 on Landin Benson’s four-yard TD with 6:02 to play. Coal City never got the ball back.
“Benson is a stud, he does a nice job,” Reents said. “We got them into some second and long, third and long situations which helped.”
Wow. Wilmington’s football pregame lived up to hype. pic.twitter.com/JKpshTGWX0
— Michael O’Brien (@michaelsobrien) October 12, 2024
Benson had 14 carries for 57 yards. Meents was 5 for 9 for 82 yards. There were no turnovers in the game.
“We settled down defensively after the first quarter,” Reents said. “Then offensively we were able to keep them off the field a little bit, especially in the third quarter.”
Coal City’s only loss was at Morris in Week 1. The Coalers (5-2, 4-1) are the first team this season to hold Wilmington to fewer than 40 points. The Wildcats’ closest game before Coal City was a 42-13 win against Herscher.
Wilmington will be a threat to win the state title in Class 2A or Class 3A.
“I don’t really like to compare this team to last year’s,” Farrell said. “But if we keep pushing, keep striving as a family I think we can finish it off like last year.”