Byron got more than a momentum-changing turnover early against host Richmond-Burton.

Almost immediately afterward, Tigers all-stater Caden Considine got his confidence, or at least he rediscovered his “explosive-play ability,” as he called it. That might have shaken the confidence of the Rockets’ stingy defense, which had held seven of its 12 opponents going into Saturday’s Class 3A state semifinal to single-digit points.

A confident Considine crushed the home team. Considine rushed for 287 yards and five touchdowns on 24 carries, as second-seeded Byron rallied from an early deficit to beat No. 1 Richmond-Burton 44-10 in Richmond.

The win earned Byron (13-0) a berth in the state championship game against Tolono Unity (12-1). The teams will play at 4 p.m. Friday at Illinois State University’s Hancock Stadium in Normal.

R-B, which was seeking its first appearance at state since it won the Class 4A title with a perfect record in 2019, finished 12-1.

“Like I told the boys, today doesn’t define our season,” Rockets coach Mike Noll said.

R-B’s early turnover against Byron didn’t define its performance, but Considine said it “switched the momentum of this game.” The Rockets had struck first, with all-stater Hunter Carley (23 carries, 87 yards) capping a game-opening, 15-play, 73-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown run with 3:25 left in the first quarter.

Then after Byron went three-and-out on its first possession, R-B’s Luke Johnson, who’s been wearing a club on his left arm during the playoffs, fumbled the ball on a sweep after a 5-yard gain, and Byron recovered at the R-B 37.

Byron hard-hitting junior defensive back JJ Edmonson forced the fumble.

“We thought they were going to do a little jet pass with [Johnson], but we didn’t know how he was going to throw that ball with a club on his hand,” Considine said. “We weren’t trying to blow him up because of the club on his hand, but I think that’s a little bit of the reason why he fumbled that ball.”

Considine carried for nine yards, then three and then 25, scoring on the third carry, 35 seconds into the second quarter to even the score.

The previous week, IC Catholic had held Considine to 70 yards. Dawson Criddle and Kole Aken provided the ground production for Byron with IC Catholic committed to stopping Considine, as each player had more than 100 yards rushing.

“Those first couple of runs felt good, especially after last week,” Considine said. “IC Catholic did a great job containing me, but it was good to get my explosive-play ability back this week.”

After Trey Maziarz kicked a 20-yard field goal to give R-B the lead back at 10-7 with 5:32 left before halftime, Byron needed only one play to answer. Considine busted off an 81-yard TD run, breaking tackles and outrunning Rockets to the end zone, and the Tigers had the lead for good.

Considine’s 19-yard TD run capped a five-play, 44-yard drive, after the Tigers stuffed Carley on fourth-and-1, and Byron went into halftime up 21-10.

Considine scored his fourth and fifth TDs in the third quarter, from 13 and 2 yards, respectively. Aken added a fourth quarter TD from 1 yard out.

“We couldn’t tackle [Considine],” Noll said.

Unlike against IC Catholic, Considine said he was able to get outside against R-B. When he did, the 6-foot, 210-pound senior either outraced defenders, knocked them over, stiff-armed them or shook off attempted tackles.

Considine has offers from Iowa (preferred walk-on), Western Illinois and North Dakota State.

“It’s been a long season and hadn’t really found somebody who runs like he does,” Rockets senior middle linebacker Trevor Szumanski said. “He runs hard, and he’s a good athlete. It stinks that we had to go out like that, but he’s a good player. [Byron) plays hard, and they deserved the win, so good luck to them at state.”

Byron did not throw a pass, but Considine’s effort led a ground attack that gained 379 yards against a Rockets defense that hadn’t allowed more than 20 points in a game all season.

R-B totaled 204 yards of offense, including 135 on the ground. Quarterback Ray Hannemann completed his first five passes and finished 6 of 12 for 69 yards.

“First drive [of the game] was good,” Noll said. “But we just made too many mistakes, penalties (six for 24 yards). We just couldn’t maintain anything consistently. We knew we had to be perfect today, and we weren’t close. [Byron] is very good.”

Noll had no regrets, insisting the Rockets got the most out of their players this season and that anyone would have taken 12 wins at the beginning of the season.

“We’re in the semifinals, and the last two years I was on varsity we lost in the first round, so it’s a lot different this year,” said R-B senior outside linebacker/tight end Luke Robinson, who had two catches for 36 yards. “It’s just a testament to my class, the juniors, the sophomores and even the freshmen who came up for the playoffs. Just like a band of brothers, we’re a family, all the way through.”