IHSA State Championship Preview (Part I)

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>1A Lena-Winslow vs Camp Point Central (10AM)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The first game of championship weekend will feature two undefeated teams. Lena-Winslow enters the game coming off a close 2 point victory over Chicago Hope last week. Lena-Winslow has been relying on their rushing attack led by their senior all-state fullback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='271910' first='Gage' last='Dunker']</strong>. Look for the Panthers look to get the ground game going early and often. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Camp Point has looked strong so far in the 2023 playoffs. They took care of business in the semi-finals taking down Greenfield/Northwestern 54-20. Camp Point runs a very similar style of offense as Lena-Winslow running the flexbone as well. <strong>Drew Paben</strong> has been the guy for Camp Point in the backfield earning all-state honors. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Prediction: <em>Camp Point Central</em> </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>2A Wilmington vs Athens (1PM)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Wilmington is coming into this game battle tested taking on some tough opponents to get to Bloomington. We should see a good dose of <strong>Kyle Farrell </strong>as he has been a staple of this Wilmington offense all season. He's an explosive running back who is in his junior season. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Athens beat Shelbyville last Saturday 39-6 to punch their ticket to this game. Athens will have to find ways to slow down Wilmington's rushing attack if they want to stay in this one. I will look for senior linebacker <strong>Brayden Leathers</strong> to step up to the challenge have a big game. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Prediction: <em>Wilmington</em> </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>3A Byron vs Mt Carmel (4PM)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Byron has ran its way into the championship. Another offense on Friday that is going to look to the run ball and control the clock. Byron features one of the top performing 2026 running backs in <strong>Caden Considine</strong>. Mt Carmel will have their hands full trying to slow him and the rest of the tigers rushing attack down. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mt Carmel has the ability to score a ton of points, they have proven that all year long, especially in their playoff run. Majority of the the offense has been coming from Illinois commit <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='132936' first='Blayne' last='Sisson']</strong>. Last week alone he ran for 316 yards and 5 touchdowns. I expect a lot of fireworks in the 3A championship. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Prediction: <em>Mt Carmel </em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>4A St. Laurence vs Rochester (7PM)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>St. Laurence has not had an easy road to get here. In the quarterfinals they had a one possession game against IC catholic and last week they had an overtime victory versus Wheaton Academy. The battle tested Vikings will rely on Illinois commit in <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='354051' first='Aaron' last='Ball']</strong> to help lead them to an upset victory over Rochester. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Rochester is no stranger to the state championship and will look to bring home another one on Friday night. The high powered Rocket offense has yet to be slowed down this year. Rochester's offense is lead by junior quarterback Bryan Zulauf who threw for 3 touchdowns last week in the semi-final game. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Prediction: <em>Rochester</em> </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->