Althoff, Dierre Hill Jr. roll past Casey-Westfield to Class 1A state semifinals

Althoff Catholic senior running back Dierre Hill Jr. delivered his biggest performance to date in the IHSA Class 1A playoffs.

Hill exploded for four first-quarter touchdowns and the always-potent Crusader offense turned a 34-0 first-quarter lead into a 54-7 running-clock mercy-rule victory over Casey-Westfield in a Class 1A quarterfinal Saturday at Althoff.

The undefeated Crusaders (12-0), which lost in the quarterfinal round the last two seasons, moves on to face the winner of Hardin Calhoun-Camp Point Central in the semifinals next Saturday at home.

It was another fast start and strong finish for Althoff, which has racked up 157 points in its three playoff wins.

“It was pretty fun to be a part of (it) and it’s nice when you can get the turnovers on defense and have the offense that’s as quick strike as ours,” said Althoff coach Austin Frazier. “...If we can get up a couple of scores that makes a significant difference.”

Jayden Ellington connected with Steven Brown on a 19-yard pass to put Althoff up 7-0 lead just three minutes into the game.

Then it was Hill’s time to leave his mark on the game.

Hill, who’s headed to play college football at top-ranked Oregon next year, went on to score touchdowns on runs of 15 and 40 yards then scored on a 25-yard dump pass from Ellington. He finished his four-score blitz with a bruising inside 2-yard touchdown run making it 34-0 as the first quarter ended.

Hill’s big first quarter was a first for him, but he took it all in stride as his part in the Crusaders’ style of football.

“I love playing ball and love being out here with my guys, so I just do what my team needs me to do,” Hill said. “Every week we’re trying to get better and we’ve got something to prove and we all want to be holding that championship.”

Hill finished the day with 117 yards on 10 carries.

Althoff put the game away in the second quarter thanks to a 33-yard Ellington to Kylin Jordan touchdown pass and a 26-yard Ellington to Coldon scoring strike, pushing the lead to 48-0 at the half.

Ellington had another strong day through the air, completing 10 of 12 passes for 188 yards and four touchdowns. Coldon, the Crusaders’ only two-way player contributed a first-quarter fumble recovery and four receptions for 71 yards and a touchdown.

Coldon’s fumble recovery set up Hill’s first touchdown of the afternoon.

“It was very big and we had a big emphasis to come out and play and dominate and I think we did a great job of that,” Coldon said.

Casey-Westfield (10-2) got its only touchdown in the third quarter on a 34-yard Kellen Sulivan run.

Despite the lopsided finish, Warriors coach Jeff Frictchnicht was proud of the effort his club turned in.

“It was a little lopsided but our guys played really, really hard despite everything,” he said. “I’m really proud of the season they had and proud of the way they way they played today and I’m really proud of their character.

A Drew McGee fumble recovery in the endzone wrapped up the scoring for Althoff in the fourth quarter.

Coldon and his Crusader teammates are glad to be moving onto the semifinals after being stopped there the past two seasons.

“It feels great and last year was kind of a full-circle moment being down 30-0 to Camp Point Central,” he said. “To get out here and put up 40 on these boys and get out of here feels great. But we’ve got to move on to the next one.”

This story was originally published November 16, 2024 at 6:48 PM.