Oak Park's Fenwick Friars built a 21-0 lead and held off St. Francis for a 28-21 win Sept. 18 in a Chicago Catholic League crossover game in Wheaton.

The victory moved the defending Class 6A state champions to 4-1. Fenwick entered the game ranked No. 3 in the Class 6A Illinois Media Poll after a 30-20 loss at St. Ignatius in Week 4 dropped the Friars from the No. 1 spot.

Junior quarterback Myles Hill controlled the game, completing 12 of 15 passes for 176 yards while adding 59 yards on six carries. Senior running back Jake Thies, an Iowa recruit from Oak Park, scored the game's first touchdown on a 3-yard run just 83 seconds in, Shaw Local reported. Rocco Nero added a 3-yard score to make it 14-0 before the first quarter ended.

Hill connected with Thies on a 39-yard touchdown to open the second quarter, pushing the lead to 21-0.

St. Francis (1-4) refused to go quietly. Tivias Caldwell scored on a 9-yard run, and the Spartans drove to the Fenwick 9 before halftime. Fenwick's Jack Rooney intercepted St. Francis quarterback Jadon Wilson in the end zone to preserve the two-score cushion.

Wilson, who finished 23 of 41 for 224 yards and two touchdowns, found Alijah Valeri for a 23-yard score in the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to seven. The Spartans forced a three-and-out and got the ball back with a chance to tie.

Fenwick's defense held on a turnover on downs at the Friars' 43. Thies ripped off a 32-yard run, and Hill followed with a 25-yard touchdown run to restore a two-score lead with 6:39 remaining.

St. Francis answered again. Wilson's 18-yard completion to Noah Turner set up a 1-yard quarterback sneak, making it 28-21 with 4:31 left.

Hill picked up two first downs on the next drive, burning clock and forcing St. Francis to use all three timeouts. The Spartans got the ball at their own 30 with 1:43 left. Wilson threw four straight incompletions. The last was a drop by Turner on fourth down with 1:24 remaining.

Thies entered the game with 430 rushing yards at nearly 11 yards per carry through four games, according to Shaw Local's Week 5 preview. He also recorded 20 tackles defensively in the Week 4 loss to St. Ignatius.

The Friars won the 2025 Class 6A state title with a 38-28 victory over East St. Louis under Battaglia.