BLOOMINGTON-NORMAL – The IHSA Gatorade state Player of the Year, Dierre, Hill, Jr., ended his high school career in glory, rushing for 436 yards on 31 carries and a state championship game record seven touchdowns as Belleville Althoff Catholic won the IHSA Class 1A championship with a convincing and comprehensive win over Lena-Winslow 57-14 Friday morning at Hancock Stadium, on the campus of Illinois State University, in Bloomington-Normal.
It’s the Crusaders’ first state football championship since 1990, and fourth overall. It’s also head coach and Althoff football alumnus Austin Frazier’s first-ever state crown, the first three won in 1980, 1989, and 1990 by famed head coach Glenn Schott.
Conditions for the game were rather cold, with snow flurries falling throughout. Temperatures were in the 20s, with a wind-chill of four-above zero.
And it was a game for the ages for Hill, as he scored seven of Althoff’s eight touchdowns in the game, the first six consecutively. Quarterback Jayden Ellington also had a big day, going three-of-five passing for 138 yards for two touchdowns, and ran twice for 48 yards.
Hill’s big day started on the third play from scrimmage, going 59 yards for his first touchdown, making the score 7-0. It became 14-0 early in the second quarter, when Hill went in from five yards away, then took off on a 65-yard jaunt for his third straight touchdown with 6:59 left to go in the first half, making the score 21-0.
The Panthers got their first touchdown on a four-yard run with 2:01 left, but missed a two-point run, leaving the score 21-6. Hill got his fourth touchdown of the game on the first play from scrimmage after the kickoff, going 90 yards with an Ellington screen pass with 1:34 left in the half to give the Crusaders at 28-6 halftime lead.
Le-Win cut the lead to 28-14 on a nifty 45-yard run and two-point convert run with 8:31 left, but on the first play from scrimmage after the kickoff, Hill scored his fifth touchdown of the game on a 78-yard un to make the score 34-14 after the conversion was missed. A seven-yard TD run by Hill, along with a two-point run, made the score 42-14 after the third quarter.
In the final quarter, Ellington hit Kylin Hill with a perfectly thrown pass from 45 yards out from Ellington, with another two-point run by Hill bringing Althoff to a 50-14 lead. Hill scored his record-breaking seventh touchdown from 49 yards out, with the conversion kick making the final 57-14 for the Crusaders with 2:06 left in the game. The touchdown triggered the running clock rule for the remainder of the game
Althoff’s season ends with a perfect 14-0 record, while the Panthers conclude at 13-1. The undefeated record is the best single-season mark in school history. It’s also the Crusaders’ first-ever undefeated season in the IHSA playoff era, which goes back to 1974.
