Oswego tried to turn Wednesday night’s Class 8A state championship game against Mount Carmel into a slog.

And on that front the Panthers most definitely achieved their goal.

But even with that goal achieved, Mount Carmel found a way to do just enough in a game where offensive success stories were far and few between and claimed a 20-3 victory at NIU’s Huskie Stadium.

The win was Mount Carmel’s fourth consecutive state title after winning the last three state championships in Class 7A. Mount Carmel (14-0) has now won 17 state titles, most for an individual program in state history.

“It’s hard to win. This is something we can definitely get to used to and it’s not common,” Mount Carmel coach Jordan Lynch said. “It’s the second time in Mount Carmel history that we’ve done it, but a lot of the credit goes to all these guys up here, especially the seniors that have put up a lot of hard work in the four years and lots of sacrifice and these guys deserved it.”

Both of Mount Carmel’s touchdown scores came either directly from or benefitted greatly from special teams plays as its vaunted offense was limited to 194 yards.

But despite Mount Carmel’s offensive struggles, the Caravan’s defense was rather staunch. They limited Oswego (11-3) to just six first downs and the Panthers average less than two yards per carry on 22 rushing attempts.

The contest turned into more of a punting exhibition than anything else. Mount Carmel, who punted just 13 times all season in its previous 13 games, punted nine times.

As such, it took Mount Carmel until the 2:43 mark of the fourth quarter to fully put the outcome on ice with a 4-yard touchdown pass from Emmett Dowling to Marshaun Thornton.

After a first half of Oswego stymieing Mount Carmel at nearly every turn, signs of cracking came quickly in the second half.

An early third quarter drive for Oswego stalled out and its punt was blocked by Mount Carmel’s Cullen Winters and was then scooped up by Gavin Conjar who took it in from 11 yards for a score and the Caravan had some breathing room with a 14-3 lead.

Oswego put together a promising drive in the end of the third quarter helped along hugely by a 39-yard pass from Drew Kleinhans to Teddy Manikas that got the ball to the Mount Carmel 7-yard line.

But the next four plays would net just one total yard for the Panthers and the ball was turned back over to the Caravan and the teams traded punts for most of the remainder of the game.

The first quarter was largely a standstill as neither team could get much footing offensively.

Oswego, however, did have considerably better field position for much of the quarter and a sustained drive allowed them to get a 3-0 lead off the foot of Kaleb Stumpenhorst’s 38-yard field goal at the 2:14 mark of the first quarter.

Mount Carmel spent most of the first half with almost as much penalty yardage as offensive yardage, but a play that looked like a disaster turned into a play of tremendous fortune.

The Caravan lined up to punt midway through the first quarter, the ball hopped back to the punter and he scrambled out of the pocket and managed to get a quick kick off that was nearly blocked.

Almost as if magnetized, the ball lofted to inside the Oswego 1-yard line, where Mount Carmel forced a three-and-out and got the ball back off an Oswego punt at the Oswego 43-yard line. Seven plays later, Dowling crashed in from the 1-yard line to allow the Caravan to claim a 6-3 lead after the extra point kick failed with 1:30 to play in the first half.

The end wasn’t what Oswego wanted, but the Panthers made a great accounting for themselves against a team that by pretty much all accounts was the best one in Illinois.

This marks Oswego’s third state trophy. The Panthers won state championships in 1992 and 2003.

“They will definitely be remembered,” Oswego coach Brian Cooney said of his Panthers. “I mean not just for making it to this stage but a lot of people didn’t have us slated to do much, even within our conference and within our area.

“I knew tonight was going to be a tough task, but in no way, shape or form were they going to back down.”