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For 50 members of the Immaculate Conception football team, typical mornings last August included meeting at Baron’s Park in Elmhurst at 5 a.m. to charge up “the hill.”

No coaches were present–Knights captains organized the sessions and kept attendance. And the focus was as much on commitment as it was conditioning.

“We wanted this to be their own thing,” Immaculate Conception offensive coordinator Bill Schmidt said. “We didn’t supervise it. We said, `If you guys want to go to the next level, this is how you get there.'”

Immaculate Conception, building for four months off of that dedication, now approaches the summit. The Knights (12-1) will face DuQuoin (12-1) in the Class 3A state championship game at 7 p.m. Friday at Memorial Stadium.

Playoff success has been a long time coming for Immaculate Conception. The Knights finished 4-5 each of the last two seasons, hadn’t qualified for the playoffs in a decade and hadn’t reached the semifinals since 1974, the first year of the state tournament.

But everything clicked this season as Immaculate Conception went 8-1 during the regular season and earned a No. 1 seed in its quadrant.

“This school and community, we’ve been waiting 10 years for this kind of resurgence,” said Schmidt, who along with Knights linebackers coach Aaron Thomas played on the school’s last playoff team in 1992. “The kind of electricity that’s going around town–it’s amazing.”

Offensively, the Knights are led by seniors Anthony Schreiber and Joe Mastrino. Schreiber has thrown for 1,243 yards and leads the team in rushing yards (834) and touchdown carries (13). Mastrino has gained 821 yards on the ground, caught 20 passes for 456 yards and totaled 17 touchdowns.

Schreiber threw three touchdown passes to Mastrino in last week’s 26-15 semifinal win over Wilmington.

DuQuoin, a No. 3 seed in its quadrant, has dominated in the playoffs, outscoring its four opponents 142-19.

Robbie Tilley (959 yards) leads a versatile ground attack, and quarterback Nick Hill has thrown for 1,451 yards and 19 touchdowns against only one interception.

Probable starters

IMMACULATE CONCEPTION   POS.    DUQUOIN
OFFENSE
Joe Mastrino           WR-SE    Terrence Spiller
Patrick Gibbons          LT     Zack Calvert
Bill Krefft              LG     Kris Ridgeway
David Suarez              C     Matt Darnell
Victor Corral            RG     Cody Edwards
Ryan Zerante             RT     Luke Scaglione
Dan Hauert               TE     Jordan Campanella
Dan Clancy             WR-RB    Robbie Tilley
Anthony Schreiber        QB     Nick Hill
Gabe Murphy              RB     Derek Beard
Kevin Mulligan           FB     Cole Endres
DEFENSE
Bill Krefft              DE     Cody Edwards
Patrick Gibbons          DT     Matt Beckham
Bill Bianchi             DT     Nathan Marks
Matt Jazwiec             DE     Jordan Campanella
Kevin Mulligan           LB     Chad Wilson
Brian Kowieski           LB     Cole Endres
Pat Grobe                LB     Chase Porter
Joe Mastrino             CB     Terrence Spiller
Gabe Murphy              CB     Reid Bastien
Marc Recio               FS     Derek Beard
Nick Naborowski          SS     Cody Ellemeyer