Dierre Hill Jr. dazzles in leading Althoff to Illinois high school football title
Dierre Hill Jr. saved the best of a season full of outstanding performances.
The highly-recruited senior running back for Althoff Catholic High School broke loose for seven touchdowns, including four in the first half, to lead the Crusaders to their fourth Illinois state football championship.
Clad and all white amid the cold and occassional snow flurries, Althoff rolled to a 57-14 win over Lena-Winslow at Hancock Stadium in Normal on the Illinois State University campus. The Crusaders finished the season in Class 1A with a perfect 14-0 record and captured the program’s first state title since its Class 3A crown in 1990.
It was a record-setting day for the University of Oregon-bound Hill, who rushed for a Class 1A championship record 436 yards to go with 80 yards receiving and seven scores.
Hill shed tears with his teammates at the bittersweet end of a perfect season and a high school playing career.
“I was just thanking God for my brothers and I prayed on it. We all prayed on it,” he said. “I was really thanking god for this opportunity. To reach our final goal means everything to me.”
Althoff coach Austin Frazier called his players “deserving” of an outstanding because of their effort, but mostly was thankful they were rewarded with Friday’s experience.
“What a special year to be the only team in the state of Illinois to end up undefeated,” Frazier said. “I’m most fortunate because these guys are such great young men and they’re gonna be great students in college and great husbands and great fathers.
“This was really fun and I’ll never forget it and I just wish we had another three or four weeks of football. I’m gonna miss coaching these kids.”
Hill wasted little time putting the Crusaders on top, delivering a 59-yard touchdown run just one minute, and 17 seconds into the first quarter.
In the second quarter, he scored on touchdown runs of 5 yards, and 65 yards, putting the Crusaders up 21-0.
Lena Winslow (13-1) finally found the end zone at in the second quarter on a 4-yard Aide Wild touchdown run, cutting the lead to 21-6.
Althoff took the points right back with a highlight reel, 80-yard catch and run to make it a 28-6 game at the half.
“I just went out there with a mindset to win and my brothers picked me up the entire year,” Hill said. “I just have that mentality to get the job done and don’t really worry about records but just trying to score every time I touch the ball”
The Panthers pulled within 28-14 on a 45-yard touchdown run by Alec Schlichting with 8:14 left in the third quarter.
But Althoff’s big-play senior ripped off touchdown runs of 78 and 7 yards to extend the lead to 42-14 going into the fourth quarter.
In the meantime, Althoff’s defense kept Lena Winslow in check all day long.
“Discipline, dominance, and execution is what Coach Frazier preaches and we just go out and worry about our details,” Althoff senior defensive lineman Jason Dowell. “We just worry about our jobs.”
The Crusaders wrapped up their scoring spree with a pair of fourth-quarter scores as Jayden Ellington connected with Kylin Jordan for a 45-yard score and Hill finished his big day with a 49-yard run in the closing minutes.
“All in all I think we did some good things offensively and defensively there were times we played pretty well, but when we didn’t make tackles, they made us pay for it,” Lena Winslow coach Ric Arand said. “(Hill) is pretty strong. He’s whole package.”
This story was originally published November 29, 2024 at 4:03 PM.