Byron and Le-Win football eye historic runs at titles while Du/Pec looks to derail one

Durand/Pecatonica, welcome to the state quarterfinals in football — now go out and try and beat what I will call the best team in all of Illinois: Byron.

Or is the best team Lena-Winslow?

Sure, they stem from Class 3A (Byron) and 1A (Le-Win). And of course, there are still about three weeks of work left to do. Fans (and players) of the high-flying Du/Pec Rivermen won't like this column much. Many of them believe their team can end Byron's search for another state title this weekend.

"We believe we can beat them," Du/Pec's star quarterback Cooper Hoffman said. "You have to believe."

Yes, you do. But it doesn't always matter.

High school football: Durand/Pecatonica pulls away from Stillman Valley, earns shot at Byron in 3A quarterfinals

The doubters say...

And, there are other doubters out there who say that, if they get past the Rivermen, Lombard Montini could dispatch Byron in the semis. There are some who say the same could happen to Le-Win, which could face Belleville Althoff Catholic in the finals.

Both Lombard Montini and Althoff Catholic are down a class from where they had been most recently, and even down two classes to where they have been at times in the past.

No matter.

More football: Register Star experts Matt Trowbridge and Jay Taft give predictions for state quarterfinals

Would Byron and Le-Win be able to beat the 7A or 8A state champs? Probably not. But will they cruise in their own classes, and could they run the table in a class or two higher than where they belong? Probably.

That makes these two teams extra special. That's what we have in Le-Win AND Byron this year.

In fact, the Rockford area has two of the most dominant football teams in all of Illinois, in all classes, and a third Rockford-area football team to make it this far, Du/Pec, played one of them in the regular season, and now has to face the other in its first-ever state quarterfinal.

"We know what they are: They're a heck of a football program, and always a power in 3A," Du/Pec head coach Tyler Hoffman said of Byron. "But we have a lot of weapons over here, too."

How good is Byron? Du/Pec is about to find out

If you strictly go by the numbers, Byron is the No. 1 football team in Illinois.

Led by sophomore fullback Caden Considine (1,018 yards rushing and 21 TDs) and junior halfback Brayden Knoll (52-846, 16 TDs), who are fourth and fifth, respectively, in the Big Northern Conference in rushing, Byron has scored more points than any other team in the entire state, from Class 1A all the way up to 8A. After its 56-7 win over Peotone last week, its point total is up to 665, or 60.5 per game.

And that is with the starters coming out right around halftime — every stinking week. Byron's closest game was its 43-7 blowout of rival Stillman Valley in the regular-season finale.

The IHSA record for most points scored in a season is 805 by Peoria back in 2016. If the Tigers go all the way, they would have to score more than 46.7 points per game in each of the quarters, semis and finals to break it. Even at this stage of the game, that's doable for this team.

Byron's school record is 673 set back in 1999, when current head coach Jeff Boyer was the starting quarterback and when the Tigers won their first state title. Their second title came in 2021.

That specific school record, by the way, is about to fall.

BNC, NUIC stats: Highlighted by Cooper Hoffman nearing 2,000 passing yards, 800 rushing yards

"I've seen a lot of good teams around here," said Boyer, now 112-27 in his 12th year, "but I haven't seen anything like those numbers."

The Tigers are just as good on defense, where they have allowed the fewest points in the entire state this year at 52. That would be less than five points allowed per game, through 11 games.

But it's not just in the numbers where the Tigers appear unstoppable. This group looks to be unflappable as well.

This particular core has been here before. With a lot of the same players, Byron fell in the state semifinals last year, after making three straight 3A state finals. They took second twice (2018 and 2019) and won it in 2021 after the COVID-19 hiatus.

Du/Pec has been very good on both sides of the ball this year as well. The Rivermen played against 1A competition all regular season long (albeit the best 1A conference in the state), but they have a spread offense that's not like most of the offenses that you see at high school level. And they have skilled players in the spots that are needed.

"We have the capability to put points up on the board, it will just be a matter of can we stop them," said Coach Hoffman, who's son Cooper is the junior quarterback, and who's other son Hunter was the quarterback before him. "We can put it on teams pretty quickly."

Cooper Hoffman leads the entire area in passing after completing 156 of his 250 passes for 1,916 yards with 23 TDs and six interceptions. Du/Pec also has the area's second-leading receiver, Drew Williams, who has 39 grabs for 610 yards with 7 TDs. Only Hononegah's Isaiah Houi (41 catches for 728 yards and 12 TDs) has more catches, yards or touchdowns.

But, Byron has made strong teams, and players, look weak before. One early example: Lutheran's Gavin Sanders rushed for 305 yards and five touchdowns in the Crusaders' season opener. The next week, against Byron, Sanders had negative-1 yard of offense — total.

This is a special Byron team, and they are about to solidify that tag.

Lena-Winslow barreling right along

If it wasn't for Byron, Le-Win would be all the talk of the town. The six-time state champs have won three straight 1A state titles, which is a feat that no other team has accomplished before.

They appear to be bee-lining toward No. 4.

And when the Panthers are good, they are unstoppable.

Le-Win has made it deep into the playoffs six times. They have won the state title six times.

"Everybody knows about Lena (Winslow)," Cooper Hoffman said earlier this season. "When they are on, you have to look out."

He threw for a season-high 335 yards on 17-for-29 passing against Le-Win, but his team trailed 28-0 late in the first quarter and 34-14 at half. Dunker already had 203 yards rushing at halftime. The Panthers wound up with a 48-27 win.

And if it's not Althoff Catholic, Camp Point Central could be on another collision course for a state-title showdown with Le-Win.

Lena-Winslow crushed Camp Point Central 30-8 to win its third consecutive 1A state title last year. Dunker, who had a career-high 355 yards rushing and five TDs on his 38 carries this year against Du/Pec, rushed for 120 yards and three touchdowns in that game, by the way.

Now Dunker leads the entire area, and possibly the state, with 2,068 yards rushing and 36 TDs on the ground heading into the quarters.

Annawan-Wethersfield barely even made it this far, stopping Morrison on the final play to win 13-6 last week. On the other hand, Le-Win crushed its rival Forreston 46-14 and has had only two games closer than that all season long. And those were both three-plus-touchdown victories anyway.

"We want to beat up every team we face," Dunker said. "There is a lot on the line every week, and we're not stopping until the job is finished."

That job is nearly complete, for both of the area's juggernauts. There are three more weekends of football left to prove just how special they are.

(If only there was a fourth, and we could see Le-Win and Byron square off for the Rockford-area championship. I'm not about to predict that outcome.)

Jay Taft is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at jtaft@rrstar.com and follow him on Twitter at @JayTaft. Sign up for the Rockford High School newsletter at rrstar.com. Jay has covered a wide variety of sports, from the Chicago Bears to youth sports, since the turn of the century at the Register Star, and for over 30 years all together.

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Byron, Lena-Winslow churn toward football titles, unless Du/Pec spoils