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

Kyle Farrell rushes for 192 yards, touchdown in 28-3 victory

NORMAL, ILLINOIS – The Wilmington football team didn't play its best game against Athens in the Illinois Class 2A championship game on Friday afternoon, but veteran coach Jeff Reentz was still ecstatic.

The Wildcats were dominant defensively and used three second-half touchdowns to pull away for a 28-3 victory at Hancock Field for the program's second title in three seasons and third in nine years.

"It was a tough game, obviously," Reentz said. "I thought our kids did well defensively. I thought that's what really stood out to me today. Offensively I thought we did well. I thought Athens did a good job of defending us in certain situations, making us do different things. A lot of credit goes to them. Congratulations to them on their season. 

"Kyle (Farrell), obviously, with the big play to get us the one touchdown. We didn't play a complete game with some of the turnovers, but overall we are ecstatic to be state champions – just ecstatic."

Wilmington (13-1) racked up 256 total yards, all on the ground, and was able to dominate time of possession by converting six of 10 third-down attempts and both of their fourth-down conversion attempts.

Junior running back Kyle Farrell, who entered the game with 2,056 rushing yards and 32 total touchdowns, capped off his impressive campaign with 192 yards rushing and a touchdown on 24 carries. 

His 78-yard touchdown sprint down the right sideline with 11 minutes 26 seconds remaining gave the Wildcats a comfortable 21-3 lead.

"They stayed on their blocks well and gave me enough time and I was able to just keep running," Farrell said. "The whole time I'm thinking, don't get caught, don't get caught, don't get caught."

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

Athens (11-3), which was seeking its first state championship, was limited to 104 total yards and just six first downs on 41 offensive plays. The Warriors converted just three of 11 attempts on third down and none of their three attempts on four down. 

"We had a good game plan, I thought, against a good offense that they run," senior linebacker Brendan Moran said. "The coaches work really hard to make sure that we're all in the right spots and we all came out to play."

Moran led the Wildcats' defense with five tackles and a sack, while Joey Allgood added five tackles. Farrell added three tackles and a late fourth-down sack that set up a fourth-quarter touchdown.

ILLINOIS FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS COVERAGE

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ILLINOIS HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL 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 2A football championship: Wilmington - Athens

Photos by Nate Latsch

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