Brother Rice shuts out St. Rita for Class 7A football championship; Mt. Carmel takes Class 8A
Brother Rice defensive lineman Kameron McGee made a statement.
“I think we have the best defense in the country,” McGee said after Brother Rice shut out St. Rita 16-0 to win the IHSA Class 7A football championship at NIU’s Huskie Stadium on Wednesday.
McGee and the Crusaders backed their words up with strong play, generating 12 tackles for loss, six pass breakups and two sacks, both by McGee, against a St. Rita team that totaled 110 points across its previous two playoff wins.
It’s the third shutout this postseason for Brother Rice (13-1), which secured its first state football championship since 1981 with Wednesday’s victory.
“We did what we’ve been able to do all year,” McGee said. “We bought in from when we first started in January. We were able to stick together. Our offense has its flaws and our defense has its flaws, but we pick each other up and we play as a team.”
Riding a seven-game winning streak, St. Rita (9-5) sought its first state title since 2006. But the Mustangs trailed early as Brother Rice received the opening kickoff and controlled the clock for a shade under six minutes. The Crusaders went 77 yards on 15 plays and scored on a 6-yard touchdown run by quarterback C.J. Gray.
“It was very important for us to set the tone for the game,” said Gray, an Army recruit who ran for 80 yards on 16 carries. “For us to go out there and do that on our first drive ... we wanted to play fast and physical. We wanted to drive the ball down and score.”
Mt. Carmel 20, Oswego 3:
Oswego tried to turn Wednesday night’s Class 8A championship game against Mt. Carmel into a slog.
And on that front the Panthers most definitely achieved their goal.
But even with that goal achieved, Mt. Carmel found a way to do just enough in a game in which offensive success stories were far and few between and claimed a 20-3 victory at NIU’s Huskie Stadium.
The win was Mt. Carmel’s fourth consecutive state title after winning the last three state championships in Class 7A. Mt. Carmel (14-0) has won 17 state titles, most for an individual program in state history.
“It’s hard to win. This is something we can definitely get to used to and it’s not common,” Mt. Carmel coach Jordan Lynch said. “It’s the second time in Mt. Carmel history that we’ve done it, but a lot of the credit goes to all these guys up here, especially the seniors that have put up a lot of hard work in the four years and lots of sacrifice and these guys deserved it.”
Both of Mt. Carmel’s touchdown scores came either directly from or benefitted greatly from special teams plays as its vaunted offense was limited to 194 yards.
But despite Mt. Carmel’s offensive struggles, the Caravan’s defense was rather staunch. They limited Oswego (11-3) to just six first downs and the Panthers average less than two yards per carry on 22 rushing attempts.