Billy HeyenWed, December 3, 2025 at 7:56 PM UTC·2 min readBrother Rice vs. St. Rita live score, updates, highlights from IHSA Class 7A state title game originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Illinois high school football season was supposed to end over the weekend, but snow changed those plans.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementSo after an unexpected wait, the final day of the campaign comes Wednesday with two state championship games at Northern Illinois' Huskie Stadium in DeKalb. The first matchup, kicking off at 3 p.m. local time, pits two Chicago powerhouses against one another: Brother Rice and St. Rita.
Brother Rice enters the matchup with a 12-1 record and ranked No. 2 in the Chicago Sun-Times Super 25.
It's been a smooth ride to the championship for the Crusaders, with postseason wins of 57-0, 46-0, 42-18 and then 45-17 over Downers Grove North in the state semifinal.
Brother Rice has just one state championship, back in 1981 in Class 6A. They've been state runners-up twice since then (1985, 2018).
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementSt. Rita comes into the game at 9-4 and ranked No. 3 in the Chicago Sun-Times Super 25.
They've had a tougher path here, with wins of 30-20, 31-28, 56-42 and 54-34.
St. Rita won state in 1978 and 2006, along with two other trips to the title game (2019, 2021).
These teams played in Week 3, and Brother Rice won that game, 28-10.
We'll be keeping track live of everything that's happening in this state championship game right here.
BROTHER RICE 0, ST. RITA 0: PREGAME
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PREGAME
- A cool stat via social media: Brother Rice and St. Rita are located 4.6 miles apart on Chicago's South Side.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement- This game was slated to be played Saturday at Illinois State. An incoming snowstorm shut down campus that day, and it forced the Class 7A and 8A games to be pushed to Wednesday at NIU.
- This will be the first of two games on the day. Mount Carmel and Oswego will end the Illinois high school football season with a scheduled 6 p.m. kick for the 8A title after Brother Rice and St. Rita finish up.
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