St.Rita 42-21 Boylan: St.Rita punches their ticket to the State Championship Game.
With both offenses struggling in the first half it forced St.Rita into halftime with a tight lead and a chance to make some big second half adjustments. In the second half St.Rita came out of the gates on fire with a very impressive 3rd quarter overall. St.Rita outscored the Titans 28-14 in the second half. Boylan fought hard in this one but ended up coming one game short of the State Championship as they fall to St.Rita 42-21. This was actually the first time both schools made an appearance in the 5A state semifinals after both schools were moved down to 5A starting this past season. Boylan had one hell of a year after making it all the way down to the final four while the next closest NIC-10 team lost in the second round. The Titans dominated their NIC-10 regular season finishing 1st in total defense and 2nd in total offense only trailing Harlem. Saturday’s loss will be a tough one to overcome and will take awhile to recover but that’s exactly what Boylan needs to build off of going forward as they eye a trip back to the State Championship Game in 2020!
Byron 7-3 Princeton: The Tigers win the defensive battle as they punched their second straight trip to the State Championship Game!
Who would of thought that the Tigers late first quarter touchdown run would end up deciding the game that early. Well that ended up being the case for Byron as their defense was able to shut down Princeton’s offense consistently on 3rd down situations. Byron’s defense was on fire from the opening kickoff to the final whistle. The Tigers only allowed one single field goal late in the second quarter and held Princeton scoreless through the entire second half. Byron’s defense was tested again late in the fourth quarter as Princeton was making one last minute drive to save their season until Dayne Snodgrass intercepted a pass to end Princeton’s season and help Byron punch their second straight trip to the State Title Game! Byron will be playing Williamsville after they defeated Quincy over the weekend. This Friday should be a fun one as two of the best defenses in 3A meet head to head down in Dekalb!
Lena-Winslow 44-30 Annawan-Wethersfield: The Panthers punched their 4th trip to the State Title Game in the last 10 seasons!
Lena-Winslow has dominated every game they’ve played in so far this season and last Saturday was no different vs Annawan-Wethersfield. After being named to the all-state team earlier last week the Panther’s star RB Sean Ormiston was a star on the field again on Saturday as he was able to help guide his back to the State Title Game for the School’s 4th trip in the last 10 seasons. The NUIC conference has a whole has been dominant over the past couple of seasons as the conference will be making their 4th consecutive trip to the State Title Game and their 16th one in the last 17 seasons! Lena-Winslow’s Head Coach Ric Arand set a conference record, joining former Stockton Head Coach John O’Boyle for the most State Title Game Appearances in conference history. Credit goes to the NUIC Football account on twitter for that information. Lena-Winslow will have their hands full again late this week as they get to face arguably the best team in 1A right now in the Central A&M Raiders.