NORMAL — As a freshman in 2022, Xavier Coleman was called up to Providence’s varsity roster for the postseason and stood on the sidelines for the Class 4A state championship game.
Since then, Coleman has been determined to bring the Celtics back to state. The senior receiver did that this fall as one of the leaders of a young team.
“It meant everything just to be here with these guys,” Coleman said. “After being here my freshman year, it felt like, ‘OK, let’s go get the job done.’”
Coleman did his best to push Providence over the top Tuesday night.
He hauled in four catches for 107 yards and a touchdown, but the Celtics came up just short in the final seconds, losing 39-35 to Wheaton St. Francis in the Class 5A championship game at Illinois State’s Hancock Stadium.
Broden Mackert ran for 126 yards and a TD on 17 carries for Providence (10-4). Dominic Vita ran for two TDs and threw for another, while Lamar Winfield piled up 3 1/2 tackles for loss and a sack.
A fifth TD run of the game by senior quarterback Brock Phillip, a 1-yarder on fourth down with 11 seconds left, lifted the Spartans (11-3) to the second state title in program history.
Providence also lost 44-20 to Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin in 2022.
“It’s how the game goes,” Coleman said. “Even if it’s a loss, I’m glad to do it with this group of guys.”
The decisive score for Wheaton St. Francis came two plays after a controversial second down as Phillip, under pressure, appeared to toss the ball underhanded into the end zone, stopping the clock on an incomplete pass with the Spartans out of timeouts.
The referees threw a flag, apparently for intentional grounding, then picked it up.
Providence coach Tyler Plantz thought the call should have gone a different way.
“I didn’t have a great angle of it, but from everything I saw, it looked like he fumbled the ball into the end zone which would have made it a touchback,” Plantz said. “Otherwise, they had no timeouts and he was inside the pocket. So, one of the two.
“Either intentional grounding or a touchback is what I thought.”
Before that finish, Coleman made several big plays to put the Celtics in position to win.
He had a 46-yard catch on Providence’s first possession of the game to set up Mackert’s TD run. Coleman then hauled in a 21-yard TD pass from Vita to give the Celtics a 14-7 lead.
Coleman, who also ran three times for 21 yards, capped his big performance with a 38-yard catch that set up Vita’s 1-yard TD run for a 35-32 lead with 6:16 to go.
“It’s not all about me,” Coleman said. “The guys up front, the quarterback, running backs and everyone else paved the way for me to have those opportunities to make those plays.
“Kudos to my team.”
The Celtics could not quite hold on to that lead, but they certainly fought to the end to cap a major turnaround season after missing the playoffs with a 4-5 record in 2024.
Vita, a sophomore, gained some major big-game experience he hopes will help him in the future.
“We’re definitely going to use this as a flame going into next season,” Vita said.
The Celtics started 11 underclassmen, so senior offensive lineman Bryce Tencza is confident that big things are ahead for the program.
“Without a doubt,” Tencza said. “We built it all this offseason. They’re going to build it stronger for next season. I know that. They know what to do. They’ve got it.”
And if this season was just the start, it sure was a fine one.
“It’s the brotherhood we built from the offseason, into the summer, all year,” Coleman said. “The blood, sweat and tears that we put into it each other.
“That was the glue that kept us together for 15 weeks. It was great.”
