NORMAL — Chicago Christian’s Kenny Jager couldn’t have been any harder to tackle if he was slathered in butter.
The senior running back scored a memorable first touchdown Friday against Maroa-Forsyth, slipping through two tacklers before a third managed to grab on to him a few yards from the end zone.
No problem. Jager just dragged him across the goal line.
“It happens a lot,” Jager said. “When I get the ball in my hands, I feel like a whole different person. Everything feels so natural.”
Jager rushed for 225 yards as the Knights shut out the Trojans 47-0 to win the Class 2A state championship at Illinois State’s Hancock Stadium.
It’s the first state title in a boys sport for Chicago Christian, which is located in Palos Heights. The Knights have 35 players on their roster and were 5-5 last season. CJ Cesario, previously Mount Carmel’s sophomore coach, took over the program this season.
“What [Cesario] has been able to do here in one year is amazing,” senior lineman Brock Sperling said. “I’m just happy to be a part of it.”
The Knights scored on their first possession, led 21-0 at halftime and finished with 446 total yards of offense while holding Maroa-Forsyth to 23 yards. That’s a state record for the title game in any class. Joliet Catholic held LaSalle-Peru to 30 yards in 1978.
“With the new coaching staff coming in, we got a new level of confidence,” quarterback Christian Flutman said. “We connected on a whole other level. We knew we could make it to state if we put the work in.”
Flutman ran for touchdowns of 39 and 18 yards He was 12-for-16 passing for 132 yards and two touchdowns.
Niko Griggs caught a 59-yard touchdown pass, and Jared Hall had four receptions for 30 yards and a touchdown.
“It still hasn’t settled in yet,” Flutman said of the championship. “I’m extremely excited, but I know later it’s just going to hit me and I’m going to start bawling my eyes out. There is no better way to end my high school football career than this.”
Maroa-Forsyth, a traditional small-school power, has played in 10 state title games, winning two.
“They beat us in every phase of the ballgame,” Trojans coach Josh Jostes. “It’s on me. I didn’t have our kids ready.
“These kids had an outstanding career and season, and I wouldn’t trade them for anything.”
NOTE: Belleville Althoff beat Lena-Winslow 57-14 in the Class 1A state title game. Senior Dierre Hill, an Oregon recruit, rushed for a Class 1A-record 438 yards and scored seven touchdowns.