Providence’s Broden Mackert could have put the icing on the cake late in the fourth quarter with a breakaway run that could have easily gone for a score.

Instead, Mackert went into a slide around the 10-yard line allowing his team to go into victory formation on a 31-21 victory over Oak Forest in a Class 5A semifinal game Saturday afternoon.

As it turned out, all Mackert and the Celtics wanted was the cake.

“It was a long fourth quarter and it was kind of like, hey let’s hurry it up,” Mackert said.

Oak Forest was probably grateful it didn’t have to make any other defensive decisions in regards to stopping a myriad of viable Providence offensive options.

Providence (10-3), playing in its 15th state title game, will face either Wheaton St. Francis or Belvidere North in the state championship game at 10 a.m. on Saturday at Illinois State University’s Hancock Stadium.

Oak Forest closed its season with an 11-2 record.

The Celtics established their game plan quickly using a brute force attack to move down the field. Providence’s two-headed rushing monster of Mackert (19 carries, 174 yards) and Brayden McKay (9 carries, 136 yards) had the Bengals grasping at straws for most of the game.

“Having those two, you don’t even know which one you want to put in the game because they are such ball players” Providence coach Tyler Plantz said. “The way that they move, the way that they see the game and obviously some great blocking up front.”

That blocking cleared paths for two McKay touchdowns in the first half, from 16 and 19 yards as Providence carried a 14-0 lead into half.

The Celtics started the third quarter with more physical play and continued to win in the trenches, which sparked a 48-yard run by Mostert that put the ball at the 1-yard line. Three plays later Dominic Vita pushed the ball in from the 1-yard line and Providence built a 21-0 lead. With Oak Forest struggling to sustain drives it looked like the Celtics were going to waltz into the final game.

“I think that’s kind of our goal in every game,” Plantz said of Providence winning at the point of contact. “One of the things these kids do a great job of is just being able to accelerate our contact and an ability to go and play for four quarters. So absolutely, it’s something that we want to do every game.”

Oak Forest did show some signs of life, getting a touchdown on its next drive on a 31-yard touchdown pass from Bengals All-State quarterback Daniel Chopp to Andrew Dawson that trimmed the lead down to 21-7. But Providence needed just four plays to answer, showing the diversity of its offense with a 40-yard touchdown pass from Vita to Xavier Coleman to once again build the lead to three touchdowns.

The second half got a little bit choppy with a number of penalties being flagged but Providence’s substantial lead held up and the Celtics were never really threatened.

Not too shabby for a team that looked like it might have trouble making the playoffs midway through the year.

“It’s been gradual for sure,” Plantz said. “The best thing about this group is their coachability. So every time we make a mistake we improve on that mistake.

“The hard thing about it is it I feel like we’ve made every mistake and I’m the worst coach in America, but the cool thing is when you get in the playoffs and you’ve stepped on your tail that many times you know how to make adjustments to that.”

Providence may get the chance to avenge one of its three regular season losses against Wheaton St. Francis (which beat Providence 47-35 in Week 5) but this is different Providence team than the one that hit that field two months ago.

“They are a great team,” Plantz said of St. Francis. “Either of those teams, we know it is going to be a great matchup, obviously a contrast of styles between the two of them.

“Whichever team we end up playing we couldn’t be more excited for it.”