8 metro-east high schools played in the state football quarterfinals. Here are results
Class 1A - Camp Point Central 42, Althoff 22
Althoff Catholic faced its stiffest test of the IHSA football postseason and the Crusaders could not thrive on the road this time.
Top-seeded Camp Point Central exploded for 30 first-quarter points, cruising to a 42-22 win over the Crusaders in a Class 1A quarterfinal matchup Saturday afternoon.
“We spotted them essentially 21 (points) out of the gate with the special teams error and the turnover,” Althoff coach Austin Frazier said. “That didn’t help but when you’re playing a good team and program and you make some of those kinds of errors and uncharacteristic turnovers it (the lead) kind of became insurmountable.”
Althoff (10-2) scored three touchdowns in the third quarter to pull within 36-16 but the host Panthers scored another TD to extend the lead to 42-16 with nine minutes left in the fourth quarter.
Althoff’s final touchdown came on a 3-yard run, cutting the lead to 42-22 but the Crusaders with seven minutes left but would not get any closer.
“Even in the second half, we had opportunities to get back in the game and we just didn’t quite capitalize and all the credit to Camp Point,” Frazier said. “They did a good job and we got outplayed, outcoached, so kudos to them.”
Running back Dierre Hill scored two touchdowns and wideout Charleston Coldon scored one touchdown to pace the Crusaders’ offense.
Class 2A - Shelbyville 28, Breese Mater Dei 21
In a back-and-forth affair with plenty of offense, the Mater Dei Knights came up just a little short at the end in Shelbyville.
Mater Dei dropped a heartbreaking 28-21 decision in a Class 2A quarterfinal game on Saturday.
After trading touchdowns twice and being tied 14-14 after the first quarter, Mater Dei took the lead, 21-14. But the Rams answered with a pair of second-half touchdowns and their defense came up big with a fourth-quarter interception to seal the win.
Mater Dei saw its season end at 8-4.
Class 4A - Rochester 49, Breese Central 13
Class 4A powerhouse Rochester erupted for three second-quarter touchdowns and parlayed a commanding 28-0 halftime lead into a dominating 49-13 win over visiting Breese Central in an IHSA Class 4A quarterfinal Saturday afternoon.
Up 7-0 in the second quarter, Rochester’s Bryan Zulauf, Jr. scored on a 40-yard run and Nolan Mrozowski scored on a 20-yard run to make it 21-0 with five minutes left in the first half.
An 87-yard Zulauf, Jr. to Henry Buecker scoring pass upped the lead to 28-0 at halftime.
Late in the third quarter, Kaden Rakers got the Cougars on the board with an 8-yard touchdown run cutting the lead to 35-7.
The Cougars got their final touchdown of the day in the fourth quarter on a 12-yard Preston Baker to Griffen Becker connection through the air with three minutes to go.
Breese Central finished its season at 9-3.
Class 5A - New Lenox Providence 21, Highland 0
No. 3 seed Highland was looking to make its first semifinal appearance since 2017 on Saturday when it visited Providence Catholic in New Lenox, near Chicago.
However, the Bulldogs were turned away empty-handed up north as the Celts scored three first-half touchdowns and their defense put the clamps on Highland quarterback Blake Gelly, running back Hunter Frey, wide receiver Dylan Beadle, and the rest of the Highland offense, prevailing for a 21-0 Class 5A quarterfinal victory.
“They controlled the line of scrimmage on us, unfortunately, and they kind of had superior speed and athletic talent in the secondary so a lot of our explosive-type pass plays they took away from us early on,” Highland coach Jimmy Warnecke said. “Had we been a little more of a different team we could have attacked more in the intermediate (pass) routes, but it’s just not our strength as an offense. At the end of the day, I’m extremely proud of how the boys fought all season and in this game to the end.”
Two turnovers and a big Providence Catholic effort to stop Gelly on a fourth-and-goal at the Celts’ 1-yard line late in the third quarter hurt Highland’s chances for a comeback.
“I thought we could have had it (a touchdown) in the third quarter and they busted through and got us and played a tough goal-line stand and we didn’t get the job done,” Warnecke said.
Highland, which won nine straight games after losing to Mahomet-Seymour in week two, finished the season at 10-2.
Class 6A East St. Louis 39, Kankakee 13
On Saturday, the East St. Louis Flyers football team traveled north to Kankakee and kept their 2023 postseason run going thanks to a convincing 39-13 win in an IHSA Class 5A quarterfinal game over the previously unbeaten Kays.
East Side took a 12-7 halftime lead behind a 32-yard Robert Battle touchdown run and a 33-yard Battle to Jesse Watson touchdown pass.
East St Louis (11-2) broke the game open in the third quarter with a three-score blitz. Larevious Woods scored on a three-yard run with 8:58 left in the third quarter and a Christopher Bennett two-yard run and a 54-yard Battle to Watson bomb for a score pushed the Flyers’ lead to 32-13 to close the third quarter.
Late in the fourth quarter, Watson recovered a fumble in the end zone for his third touchdown of the day, closing out the scoring.
East St. Louis will face Washington next weekend in a Class 6A semifinal matchup.
Others
In 3A, Roxana (11-0) rolled past Stanford (Olympic), 56-30. The Shells will face Mount Carmel in the state semifinals.
In Class 8A, Edwardsville (10-2) fell to Elmhurst York, 36-29. And in 2A, Athens nipped Nashville, 28-27.
