Illinois High School Football: Class 5A Championship Preview

The end of the 2012 football season is now in sight with the Class 5A championship game starting play on Saturday at the University of Illinois in Champaign. There will be tradition everywhere as the 11-2 and three-time defending Class 5A champion Montini Broncos face the 12-1 Morris Redskins at 10 a.m. Saturday.

Montini rallied for a 40-37 win over Joliet Catholic to advance to this title game and a chance for four straight state titles. Montini is in their fifth title game and are 4-0 in the previous four. The Broncos have a strong running game behind Dimitri Taylor, who has 1,366 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns on the year. Alex Wills has thrown for 1,726 yards while Joe Borsellino has 66 catches for 725 yards and 14 touchdowns to lead the team. The Broncos are balanced with their run and pass games. Montini has scored 449 points for the season.

Morris comes into this game off a 30-20 win over Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin in the semifinals. This will be the 10^th championship game in school history. The Redskins are led by running back Reese Sobol, who has 1,450 yards and 18 touchdowns for the season. If Morris needs to throw, it will be Zach Cinnamon who has completed 50 passes for 883 yards on the year. Anthonee Monson has 19 catches for 301 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Redskins. Danny Friend has four touchdown catches as well. Morris has scored 463 points this season.

This is two titans getting together for a morning game for the state title. Montini has been finding ways to win in recent weeks while Morris is getting back to their winning ways. This is going to be a high-scoring game especially on the fieldturf. I think Montini will be able to run all around Morris in the end. I’ll take Montini 49-34.