NORMAL, Illinois — Fenwick junior Jake Thies had already played with a leg infection in the Class 6A state semifinal against Nazareth.
So the 6-foot, 180-pound safety/running back wasn’t going to miss the state championship game, which had been postponed from Saturday to Tuesday due to a winter storm.
“I knew I was going to play, but I didn’t know how good I would be,” he said. “Beginning of the (semifinal) week, I couldn’t even walk, missed a few days of school. I got it as good as I could before the Naz game, ready to play.
“This week, it started feeling a little better. It still bothers me a little bit. But it’s the state championship. I’m going to play.”
Thies most certainly did. Capping an impressive performance that included two touchdown runs, he returned an interception 39 yards to East St. Louis’ 3-yard line with 2:30 left, all but sealing Fenwick’s second state title. Senior quarterback Jamen Williams Jr. scored on the next play as the Friars won 38-28 at Illinois State’s Hancock Stadium.
“There was no one in my zone, so I started sinking, looking for work,” Thies said of his interception. “It’s a play I’ve made a few times this year. I saw him coming across the field, and I saw the quarterback look at him, so I just made a play on it.”
It may have looked like Thies was in the right place at the right time, but Fenwick coach Matt Battaglia would beg to differ.
“I think our defensive coordinator, John Grayson, has said on pretty much every interception Jake has had, he’s been in the wrong spot,” Battaglia said. “We allow our guys to play with freedom, play fast.
“Jake’s a great player. Everyone saw it (Tuesday). It helps when you have a great team around him playing complementary football.”
It still seemed like Thies, whose father, Scott, is Fenwick’s athletic director, was in the middle of every big moment. He led the Friars (11-3) with 100 rushing yards on nine carries, including two touchdown runs; with three catches for 61 yards; and with 19 tackles, including seven solo.
Williams completed 8 of 14 passes for 155 yards and two touchdowns to senior wide receivers Cameron Garrett and Raphiel Stewart. Thies’ older brother Tommy, a senior safety, and senior linebacker Mike Murphy, who also had a leg infection in the past week, each had 14 tackles.
East St. Louis (10-4) rushed for 354 yards, with junior running back Myson Johnson-Cook accounting for 181 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries.
Thies’ contributions started on the Friars’ first offensive play of the game. Fenwick got the ball at the Flyers’ 4-yard line after a bad snap on a punt, and Thies scored his 15th rushing touchdown of the season on the next play.
“Anytime you get the ball at the plus-four to start out your first drive, it’s a good thing to happen,” Battaglia said. “It’s just one play. That’s a really good team that we played against.”
It turned out to be a tone-setter, however. Tommy Thies, a Miami of Ohio recruit, could see the difference.
“They had a sense that they brought down their level,” Tommy Thies said. “We knew that any opportunity we could get we had to take advantage of and we had to go full force. We’re not coming to lose this game. We’re going to play as hard as we can, as long as we can and see the outcome.”
East St. Louis coach Darren Sunkett conceded as much after the game.
“We just started off on a bad foot,” Sunkett said. “We never really got into the flow of the game. We were right there, but we just never got totally going.”
One play after East St. Louis tied it at 21-21 in the third quarter, Jake Thies delivered again, taking the ball 74 yards to the end zone.
“I was just trusting my speed,” he said. “I knew once I got into the open field, they weren’t going to catch me. Good play call, coaches saw something, and I read it like we went over it in practice, found the gap and burst through.”
Williams had several key moments of his own after a rough start that included an interception when East St. Louis led 13-7. But his 37-yard touchdown pass to Garrett in the second quarter gave Fenwick a one-point lead at halftime.
“I started off real slow,” Williams said. “I think I was just either too amped up or I was pressing too much, and I just had to calm down, trust my teammates, trust my coaches. Then I made those big plays.”
When Williams scored the final touchdown, the emotions started to flow.
“It was a big play,” he said. “I was going nuts. I blacked out, saying some very rated-R words.”
Battaglia, who also led Fenwick to the 5A state title in 2021, offered a few words about his players.
“These guys are tough,” Battaglia said. “These guys are a special group of kids who play together as a team. We played a lot of really talented teams, but when you take everything that encompasses a team — the brotherhood, the bonding, the fighting each play, playing for each other — there’s no better team than these guys right here.
“This is a special group.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter.
