FOOTBALL: Illini West takes 3A title

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Ser Whitaker used his hands and his legs Friday to make sure Carthage Illini West was able to hold on against Stillman Valley 22-20 in the IHSA Class 3A State Football Finals at the University of Illinois' Memorial Stadium.

Whitaker scored a two-point conversion after a Drake Schmudluch touchdown with 9:26 left in the fourth to give illini West a 16-14 lead. He scooted 45 yards to give the Chargers an eight-point lead four minutes later and his interception of a Dane Green pass with 20 seconds remaining sealed Illini West's second state title in the last three years.

Whitaker totaled 97 yards on the ground, crowned by the three-yard gain after Schmudluch's 23-yard touchdown run. Stillman Valley's Nate Bond gave the Cardinals a chance to tie the game at 22 when he broke a record 98-yard kickoff return, but the Cardinals' two-point conversion failed. Stillman Valley got the ball back at its own 37-yard line with :48 left and quarterback Dane Green completed two quick passes to move the ball to the Illini West 22, but Whitaker jumped in front of Green's next pass for the interception that sealed the state title.

The game was a rematch of a 2009 semifinal game that eliminated Illini West, but Schmudluch insisted revenge wasn't the main motivator of his team.

<u>Other results:</u>

1A: Lena (L.-Winslow) 47, Tuscola 14

2A: Sterling (Newman Central Catholic) 48, Maroa (M.-Forsyth) 7

3A: Carthage (Illini West) 22, Stillman Valley 20

4A: Rochester 24, Rock Island (Alleman) 7

5A: Lombard (Montini) 34, Chatham (Glenwood) 21

6A: Rockford (Boylan) 48, Aurora (Marmion Academy) 19

7A: Wheaton (W. Warrenville South) 28, Lake Zurich 17

8A: Park Ridge (Maine South) 28, Chicago (Mt. Carmel) 7