Domination.

That was the word Lena-Winslow coach Ric Arand used to describe his team’s play in the second half of a 30-16 win over Stockton in the Class 1A football state semifinals Saturday.

After a tense first half resulted in an 8-8 tie, the Panthers were unstoppable the rest of the way in earning their sixth straight title-game appearance.

“That was a tremendous team we beat,” Arand said of the Blackhawks, who handed Le-Win a 38-14 loss in Week 2 of the regular season. “It ended up being a good thing we lost to them. It made us better, and we grew from it.”

Fullback Aiden Wild, who torched Stockton with 193 yards rushing on 31 carries and two touchdowns, agreed with his coach.

“We’ve thought about that loss all year,” Wild said. “We learned from it, and then the next week we beat Rochelle. Coach said if we play like we did against Rochelle, we could beat anyone.”

Arand called Wild’s number on the first five plays of the second half, setting up a 20-yard touchdown by Alec Schlichting. Each of those runs came over the left side of line with guard Gannon Dunker, tackle Preston Shultz and end Miles Mahon clearing the way.

“Up front was where we were going to win. And being so hungry for a state title,” Mahon said.

After going up 14-8, the Panthers defense forced a punt. Taking over on its own 40, it was another steady dose of Wild. The 6-2, 220-pounder capped off a seven-play drive with a 2-yard score, making it 22-8.

The key play of the drive – and maybe the game – was a third-and-8 pass from Kasch Lessman to Koby Kearns for 22 yards. It was Lessman’s only completion in three attempts and prevented Le-Win from punting.

“We knew it was coming, but couldn’t stop it,” Stockton coach Sean Downey said.

The play was also redemption for Lessman and Kearns after Reece Demeter intercepted a first-half pass and held on to it, beating Kearns for possession.

“Kasch didn’t put his head down after the interception,” Kearns said. “The completion was right on the money.”

Jake Marek gave Stockton a boost with a kickoff return to the 37-yard line. Two consecutive pass interference penalties on Le-Win tacked on 30 more yards.

Quarterback Noah Larson (10-of-19 passing for 112 yards), who injured his throwing hand attempting to tackle Schlichting on the touchdown run, regained enough feel in it to toss completions to Carter Blair and Morgan Haas on the drive to move the ball inside the 10-yard line. From there, it was leading rusher Jack Mesendike scoring from 4 yards out to pull the Blackhawks within 22-16.

“We brought everything we had. It just wasn’t enough. Their line was standing us up,” Mesendike said.

Mesendike’s score came as the third quarter ended. The Blackhawks would only run four more offensive plays.

It was all Wild the rest of the way, with a reeling Blackhawk defense unable to stop him, let alone slow him down. A 55-yard run to the 1-yard line set up a score one play later. His 2PAT run upped the score to 30-16 with 10:32 left.

The Panthers were 2-for-5 on third downs in the first half, but 5-for-5 in the second. They also had 15 first downs compared to only five in the first.

“It was a battle. They wore us down,” Downey said. “In the second half, we couldn’t stop them off-tackle.”

An 18-yard scramble by Larson momentarily gave Stockton some hope, but an unsportsmanlike penalty and two interceptions stymied the drive. With 8:20 left and down by two scores, Downey had no choice but to punt on fourth-and-20.

In a telling stat, it was Stockton’s fifth punt of the game, compared to only four all year.

Taking over at it’s own 28-yard line after the punt, Le-Win ran 14 straight running plays before Lessman took a knee in the final minute.

“I’ll never forget this. It was a great high school experience,” Wild said. “What a crowd. It was awesome.”

With fans from all over northern Illinois ringing John O’Boyle Field, the game couldn’t have started better for Le-Win. On the opening kickoff, Mahon recovered a fumble at the 10-yard line. It was a slow-developing return, allowing kicker Mahon to recover it.

“Cooper Kroup, a sophomore on special teams, got the hit,” Mahon said. “I was in the right place at the right time.”

Schlichting easily scored after two rushes, and Le-Win was quickly up 8-0.

“That hurt giving up that score, but we found our footing,” Downey said.

After forcing a Panthers punt in the second quarter, Stockton went to its passing game, which was effective in the regular-season win over Le-Win. Larson found Demeter for 14 yards and then Blair for 42. It was Haas grabbing a 9-yard TD pass and adding the PAT run to make it 8-8 with 4:53 left in the half.

On the next possession by Le-Win, Schlichting was stopped short on third down, but an inadvertent whistle gave the Panthers an extra down. Fortunately for Stockton, Demeter intercepted Lessman on the next play.

In seeking its seventh state title, Lena-Winslow (12-1) will face Brown County (11-2) at 10 a.m. Friday in Normal.