Illinois high school football: IHSA state football championships final scores, players of the game
Here are the final scores, recaps and our players of the game from each state championship game at Illinois State University's Hancock Stadium.
Saturday, Nov. 30
8A State Championship
Loyola 35, York 14
York's Bruno Massel ran for a touchdown that tied the final game of the evening at 14-14 in the second quarter. But, Loyola's offensive duo of Drew MacPherson and Ryan Fitzgerald combined to put York away.
Fitzgerald hit MacPherson for a 16-yard touchdown to put Loyola up 21-14 late in the second quarter. Loyola took control of the game in the second half with timely scores and good defense.
York had five offensive drives in the second half and never got past the Loyola 39-yard line.
MacPherson's three-yard run with 10 minutes left was all the insurance Loyola needed, and helped cap his day where he racked up 191 total yards and scored three total touchdowns.
Player of the Game: Drew MacPherson, Loyola
7A State Championship
Mt. Carmel 55, Batavia 34
With 5:14 left in the second quarter, Batavia pulled within 28-21 of Mt. Carmel. A touchdown capped five back-and-forth scores between the two schools.
From there, Jack Elliott turned it on.
The Mt. Carmel quarterback threw four unanswered touchdown passes. Two came before halftime, one was in the third quarter and his final touchdown pass in the fourth quarter put Mt. Carmel up 55-21.
Le’Javier Payne intercepted a pass and had a half tackle for loss for Mt. Carmel, as the defense forced two turnover on downs in the second half to help push ahead and claim the 7A title.
Player of the Game: Jack Elliott, Mt. Carmel
6A State Championship
East St. Louis 48, Geneva 28
For a while, East St. Louis looked like they would have an easy afternoon in Normal, Ill.
Geneva had other ideas. The Vikings, down 27-7, rallied in the second half to trail 34-28 with 7:01 remaining in the third quarter. East St. Louis responded in kind.
With two third-quarter touchdowns, separated by just about four minutes, East St. Louis pulled away. First, Kendrick Lyons hit Ronnie GoMiller for an 81-yard touchdown, and Larevious Woods added a 31-yard touchdown run.
It was one of three touchdowns on the day for Woods, who averaged 11.3 yards per carry with 113 rushing yards on 10 attempts.
Player of the Game: Larevious Woods, East St. Louis
5A State Championship
Nazareth 29, Joliet Catholic 27
Joliet Catholic provided all the drama in the waning seconds against Nazareth.
Vince Bremner scored a touchdown with 20 seconds left to bring Joliet Catholic within 29-27. The Hilltoppers went for a 2-point attempt to tie the game, but the pass was just wide.
JCA tried an onside kick to get the ball back, and it was a near-perfect kick. The ball bounced once and Nazareth couldn't get a clean hand on it at first. Somehow, Nazareth came out of the scrum with the ball.
That officially clinched the 5A title for Nazareth, who went ahead thanks to the quarterback heroics of Logan Malachuk. He threw for 336 yards and three scores.
Player of the Game: Logan Malachuk, Nazareth
Friday, Nov. 29
1A State Championship
Althoff-Catholic 57, Lena-Winslow 14
In the first game of the day, Oregon commit Dierre Hill Jr. was the best player for the entire day.
Hill rushed for 438 yards and six touchdowns as Althoff-Catholic won in a blowout win. Not to be outdone, Hill also added an 80 receiving touchdown with 1:34 left in the first half.
Hill capped the scoring with a 49-yard rushing touchdown with two minutes left in the game.
Player of the Game: Dierre Hill Jr., Althoff-Catholic
2A State Championship
Chicago Christian 47, Maroa-Forsyth 0
Christian Flutman was responsible for five total touchdowns, two through the air and three on the ground, as Chicago Christian claimed the 2A title in dominant fashion.
Chicago Christian led 21-0 at halftime, but turned a three-score lead into a rout with 26 second-half points.
Player of the Game: Christian Flutman, Chicago Christian
3A State Championship
Montini 49, Monticello 8
Jeremiah Peterson rushed for 134 yards and Israel Abrams threw for 225 yards as Montini methodically scored in every quarter to claim the 3A state title.
Peterson scored the game's first touchdown on a five-yard plunge, and Abrams threw for touchdowns of 53, 49 and 70 yards. Peterson and Abrams connected on the 49-yard score.
Brody Boyer added a sack and Max Bell intercepted a pass as Montini's defense took care of their end of the game.
Players of the Game: Israel Abrams and Jeremiah Peterson, Montini
4A State Championship
Chicago (DePaul) 40, Mt. Zion 6
Nick Martinez broke the century mark on the ground and scored three touchdowns as DePaul ran away with the 4A State Championship.
Martinez scored the first, third and fourth touchdowns of the game as DePaul led 27-0 midway through the third quarter.
Nicholas Hathcoat was active on both sides of the ball, intercepting a pass, rushing for 91 yards and rushing for a touchdown. Also on defense for DePaul, Gianni Giunta recorded 2.5 tackles for loss and Michael Casper recorded 1.5 sacks.
Player of the Game: Nick Martinez, Chicago (DePaul)