5A State Championship Recap and Prospects to Know in ’22

Fenwick captured their first football state championship in school history after defeating Kankakee 34-15 this past weekend. Fenwick vs. Morgan Park was the first game I covered when the IHSA season kicked off back in August. After watching Fenwick put on a dominant performance to open the season, I’m not at all surprised they were the last standing in class 5A. Fenwick was a veteran team and not mention, they were loaded with talent that’ll be playing on Saturday’s next season. The games opening touchdown came on Fenwick’s first drive when Ball State commit <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="20859" first="Kaden" last="Cobb"]</strong> hooked up with talented and underrated receiver <strong>Bryan Hunt</strong> for a 21-yard touchdown reception. Fenwick would grab ahold of the game’s momentum and score three answered touchdowns after striking first. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="20890" first="Max" last="Reese"]</strong> accounted for two of the unanswered touchdowns with receptions of 22 and 67 yards, and <strong>Danny Kent</strong>, the heart and soul of the team added a rushing touchdown from three yards out to give Fenwick a 28-0 lead over Kankakee. With half-time approaching and Kankakee facing a 28-point deficit, Kankakee finally got in the endzone after senior quarterback <strong>Tomele Staples</strong> connected with junior running back <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="157736" first="Karson" last="King"]</strong> for a 6-yard touchdown reception to bring the score to 28-7 heading into the half. Kankakee was able to find the endzone on their first drive of the second half when<strong> Nate Hill</strong> punched it in from two yards out followed by a successful two-point conversion to bring the score to 28-15. Just as things were beginning to get interesting, Fenwick would march back down the field and answer Kankakee’s 14 unanswered points with a 2-yard touchdown run from [player_tooltip player_id="20859" first="Kaden" last="Cobb"] to bring the score to 34-15. Fenwick was able to control rest of the game with stout defense and some hard nose running by Danny Kent. I’d be remised if I didn’t mention <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="151181" first="Suleiman" last="Abuaqel"]</strong>; he’s one of the most persistent pass rushers I’ve seen this season and wreaked havoc on Kankakee’s offensive line. <strong>Danny Kent</strong> would continue to exploit the holes in Kankakee’s defense and finished the day with 31 carries for 212 yards and one touchdown as the Fenwick Friars were able to hold off Kankakee 34-15 to claim their school’s first ever football state championship. <hr /> <h4><em>Prospects to Know Going Into Next Season:</em></h4> <h4><em>Fenwick Friars</em></h4> Patrick Durkin | TE/LB | ’23 Luke Mizukis | OL | ’23 Aaron Johnson | OL/DL | ’23 Luke D’Alise | RB/LB | ’24 Aiden Boyle | OL | ’23 <h4><em>Kankakee Kays</em></h4> [player_tooltip player_id="157736" first="Karson" last="King"] | RB | ’23 Jyaire Hill | DB | ’23 Quan Mcelroy | WR | ’24 Caron Johnson | DB | ’23 Naz Hill | DB | ’23 <hr /> <h4><em>Sights and Highlights From the Game</em></h4> &nbsp; https://twitter.com/i/status/1464633097656410117 https://twitter.com/i/status/1464638570006827016 https://twitter.com/i/status/1464644972116942858 https://twitter.com/i/status/1464656225182883854 <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-240759" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/11/f1-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /> <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-240760" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/11/f2-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /> <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-240761" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/11/f3-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /> <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-240768" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/11/f4-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /> <img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-240770" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/redzone/uploads/2021/11/f5-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" />