State records, upsets and more: IHSA crowns its eight football state champions

The Illinois High School Association football state championships are Friday and Saturday at Hancock Stadium in Normal. Here is a game-by-game look at each championship.

All the scores: Championship box scores, plus every playoff score in all eight classes

Class 4A: Rochester 59, St. Laurence 38

NORMAL — Rochester won its ninth state title in program history and first since 2019.

Rochester's (14-0) prolific offense simmered throughout the chilly night. Senior receiver Henry Buecker scored the opening touchdown with a 12-yard run before dashing through a couple of would-be tacklers for a 14-yard TD catch on a screen pass from junior Bryan Zulauf. A pair of Nolan Mrozowski TD carries set up a 31-17 halftime lead.

Buecker caught 10 passes for 89 yards while also rushing for 57 yards. Mrozowski, a senior tailback, ran for 132 yards on 20 attempts.

A short TD plunge from senior Parker Gillespie and a fourth-down pass breakup from senior defensive lineman Jack Swaney early in the fourth quarter completely snuffed out any comeback chance for St. Laurence (10-4).

Rochester has now won each of its nine trips to the state finals since 2010, including eight in 4A and one in 5A. It was the team’s first unbeaten season since 2017 and third overall.

The full story: No. 9 by design: Rochester football captures ninth state title with win over St. Laurence

Class 3A: Byron 69, Mt. Carmel 7

NORMAL — Byron won the program's third state title and set the single-season state scoring record by wallopping another traditional power, Mt. Carmel.

Byron finished with 823 points on the season, surpassing the 805 scored by Peoria High in its 2016 championship season. The Tigers also eclipsed the touchdown record that Lena-Winslow set last year, finishing with 108.

"All I can say is this group of kids is unbelievable," Byron coach Jeff Boyer said. "What a season that these guys just had. I mean first and foremost, state champs was the main goal. But then to kind of put an exclamation point on it here, that kind of proved that they are probably one of the best teams in Illinois history."

Byron was led by freshman quarterback Andrew Talbert (154 yards on five carries with three TDs) and sophomore fullback Caden Considine (17-153 and two TDs). Junior halfback Brayden Knoll added 103 yards on six rushes with a pair of touchdowns.

The full story:Byron uses biggest blowout in IHSA state-final history to claim third championship

Class 2A: Wilmington 28, Athens 3

NORMAL — Quarterback Kyle Farrell outgained the entire Athens team with 192 rushing yards on 24 carries and Wilmington won its second state championship in three years and third in a decade.

Wilmington (13-1) set the tone by opening the second half with a 16-play, 61-yard scoring drive that ate 8 minutes, 23 seconds off the clock. When quarterback Cube McCubbin scored on a 1-yard run up the middle, Wilmington took a two-score lead. Early in the fourth quarter, Farrell scored on a 78-yard TD run to push it to a 21-3 lead. Wilmington proceeded to go up 28-3 on a 3-yard run from Jake Castle with 8:46 left.

Athens (11-3) had just 104 yards of offense in the Warriors' first trip to the title game after semifinal appearances in 2017 and 2019.

Athens running back Camren Bigard, who averaged more than a first down in his career (10.7 yards per rushing attempt), was held to 7 yards on 10 carries. Cory Craig Jr., who entered the game trailing only 2020 graduate Nic Laird in career rushing yards at Athens, finished with 40 yards on 13 carries.

The full story: Wilmington's defense clamps down on Athens' football state title hopes

Class 1A: Camp Point Central 14, Lena-Winslow 0

NORMAL — Camp Point Central won its first football state championship and snapped Lena-Winslow's three-season title streak, reversing the result of last year's title game.

Last year, Le-Win pounded out a 16-0 halftime lead over Central and then turned it up a notch in the second half, tearing off a 30-8 title-clinching victory. But on Friday, in this year's 1A title game, Central dominated, shutting out the powerhouse Le-Win for the first time since Week 3 of 2007. Central scored once midway through the second quarter and again late in the fourth, and that was all it took.

CPC halfback Elijah Genebacher rushed for 131 yards on 24 carries with two touchdowns, while quarterback Nick Moore was 4-for-8 for 72 yards through the air. CPC rushed for 174 yards as a team and finished with 246 total yards of offense.

The full story: Dynasty denied, or halted? Whichever, Lena-Winslow football falls in 1A state title game

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: 2023 IHSA football championship roundup of games and scores