In case you missed it, in...

...1A Lena-Winslow defeated Tri-Valley, 28-21. The Panthers' Tyler Oakley recovered two fumbles and returned them for 60- and 65-yard touchdowns before Le-Win even ran its second offensive play.

In 2A, Newman Central Catholic scored with 1:06 remaining to make it 40-13 over Staunton. They couldn't take a knee? Naperville Central did in the final minute against Loyola. I thought that was much classier.

In 3A it was Stillman Valley over St. Joseph-Ogden, 43-41, in overtime, in possibly the best game of the weekend.

In 4A Rochester coach Derek Leonard, above right, won his fourth consecutive title as Rochester defeated Geneseo, 16-8.

Meanwhile, in 5A, Ken Leonard, above left, captured his fourth state crown as Sacred Heart-Griffin beat Montini, 38-28.

The Leonards became the first father-son duo to win a state championship in the same weekend.

In 6A Batavia avenged its earlier loss to Richards, 34-14, and Mount Carmel blanked Lake Zurich, 30-0.

Finally, Naperville Central won the 8A crown over Loyola, 13-10. The Redhawks had lost three straight to DuPage Valley rivals Wheaton Warrenville South, Glenbard North and Wheaton North. And in the final, the offense didn't score a touchdown. When was the last time that happened?

My final tally for the playoffs was a dismal -9 after going -2 in the final weekend. (Even my fiendish plan didn't help.) Here's how I did:

1A: Lena-Winslow over Tri-Valley +1
2A: Staunton over Newman Central -1
3A: Stillman Valley over St. Joseph-Ogden +1
4A: Geneseo over Rochester -1
5A: Montini over Sacred Heart-Griffin -1
6A: Richards over Batavia -1
7A: Mount Carmel over Lake Zurich +1
8A: Loyola over Naperville Central -1

Ouch!

And here are the 37 teams I saw in 26 games this year (in alphabetical order):

Aurora Central
Bartlett
Benet  
Bolingbrook
Crete-Monee
De La Salle
Fenwick
Glenbard North
Glenbard South
Glenbrook South
Homewood-Flossmoor
IC Prep
Joliet Catholic
Lake Zurich
Lincoln-Way North
Loyola
Marist
Montini
Mount Carmel
Naperville Central
Neuqua Valley
Niles North
Niles West
Notre Dame
Phillips
Providence   
Richards
St. Francis
St. Patrick
St. Rita
Stevenson   
Taft
Warren
Wheaton North 
Wheaton Warrenville South
Whitney Young
Willowbrook 

It was a great season!