Camp Point Central tops Lena-Winslow to win Illinois 1A football championship

Camp Point Central wins first Illinois championship in any sport

NORMAL, ILLINOIS – Camp Point Central football coach Brad Dixon knew the road to winning the Illinois Class 1A football championship would be daunting, but knew his team had a chance.

Dixon's Panthers fulfilled that promise with a gritty 14-0 victory over Lena-Winslow on Friday at Hancock Stadium, avenging a loss to Lena-Winslow in last year's championship game and snapping the three-time reigning champion's win streak at 32 games.

"I told these guys in the playoffs, you look at the draw and it's alright we're going to play Calhoun again, then OK if you win that you play Althoff, you win that you probably got a chance at Greenfield, WIBC championship, then you're staring down Lena," Dixon said. "This community has been on the edge of their seat for a state championship. A lot of people over 50-plus years, 60 years, have poured their heart and soul into this program to try to see it get on top and to give this back and take it back to the community for the first state championship in school history in any sport is something that these guys will always cherish." 

Camp Point Central (14-0) entered Friday's game with 26 wins in their last 27 contests, with the lone loss coming against Lena-Winslow (13-1) in last year's championship game. 

Illinois high school football: Top standouts, best performances at state championships (11/24/2023)

Camp Point Central was led by junior running back and middle linebacker Elijah Genenbacher, who rushed for 131 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries and recorded a team-high 12 tackles. 

Lena-Winslow entered the title game averaging 44.9 points per game and 387.5 rushing yards per contest, but was shut out and held to 164 rushing yards (compared to 174 for Camp Point Central). 

The three-time reigning champs converted just two of 12 attempts on third-down and one of five attempts on fourth down. 

Lena-Winslow standout running back Gage Dunker, who entered the game with 2,492 rushing yards and 41 touchdowns, rushed for 112 yards on 28 carries.

"I look at the stats, we averaged four and a half yards a carry, they averaged 3.3. So the game is won there," Dixon said. "We knew it was going to be hard to move it. They are in an amazing 4-3 base defense with really good defensive linemen that outweigh our guys by 50 pounds. ... Obviously I thought we could stop them. I didn't think we could probably hold them to 3.3. Dunker is amazing. They have good halfbacks. But we were able to, this year moreso than years' past, we really sold out on the run." 

ILLINOIS FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS COVERAGE

Wilmington gets defensive to beat Athens in Illinois 2A football title game

Byron routs Mt. Carmel to win Illinois Class 3A football championship

ILLINOIS HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL STATE CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEWS

Players to watch at the Illinois football state championships

Illinois 1A title game preview: Lena-Winslow vs. Camp Point Central

Illinois 2A title game preview: Athens vs. Wilmington

Illinois 3A title game preview: Byron vs. Mt. Carmel

Illinois 4A title game preview: Rochester vs. St. Laurence

Illinois 5A title game: Joliet Catholic vs. Nazareth Academy

Illinois 6A title game: East St. Louis vs. Cary-Grove

Illinois 7A title game: Mount Carmel vs. Downers Grove North

Illinois 8A title game: Lincoln-Way East vs. Loyola Academy

Illinois 1A football championship game: Camp Point Central - Lena-Winslow

Photos from Nate Latsch

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- Nate Latsch | latsch@scorebooklive.com | @SBLiveIL