BELLEVILLE — Like Houdini, Althoff senior Dierre Hill Jr. creates magic.
Hill conjured up touchdown runs of 56, 86, 55 and 18 yards to spark the Althoff Crusaders to a 49-21 nonconference football victory over the Belleville East Lancers on Friday night at SWIC West, formerly known as Belleville Township Stadium.
Althoff kept its record spotless at 3-0. Belleville East fell to 2-1.
Hill, a 6-foot, 190-pound University of Oregon commit, finished with 316 yards rushing on 11 carries. He also caught one pass for 10 yards.
"I feel amazing right now," Hill said. "It all starts with my O-line. They block for me so I do what I can do. They open the holes for me so I can be the playmaker that I am."
Althoff coach Austin Frazier continues to be dazzled by what Hill can do on the gridiron.
"I've had the good fortune to watch him now for a year and three games," Frazier said. "I've seen some special stuff. That was different (Friday night). I've seen a lot of games here at Township Stadium because I came here as a kid.
"What Dierre did tonight was a good as anything ever done in this stadium."
Lancers coach Michael Harrison was impressed.
"(Hill) showed us why he is the Gatorade Player of the Year and all of that," Harrison said. "He makes moves. He can run past you. He can run through you. He can make you miss. He can put you down.
"You can tell for sure who the Division I football player is."
Hill is human. He ran for 76 yards late in the first half and was tackled at the 13-yard line.
"Honestly, I got a little gassed," Hill said with a grin. "It was a long run."
Rivalry reborn
It was the first time since 1995 that East and Althoff have played football against each other. The teams are scheduled to do it again in 2025.
"We scheduled Belleville East because we knew they'd be a good opponent," Frazier said. "Coach Harrison and his program are first class all the way.
"We knew we'd see some adversity in this game and have to respond and that happened."
Harrison is glad to be playing the game.
"It was a great atmosphere," Harrison said. "It was a great game. Althoff has a great team."
Hill was happy Althoff prevailed.
"This was a great win for us. It was very important for us to win this game," Hill said. "It was just a fired-up game. I glad we came out on top."
Quick strikes
East junior running back Jaedon Beamon took a toss and went around left end and found a seam. He darted untouched into the end zone for a 59-yard run on the second play of the game.
The extra point by senior Grayson Parker made it 7-0 just 1 minute and 17 seconds into the game.
Althoff sophomore Steven Brown took the kickoff at Althoff's 17-yard line. He weaved from the left side to the middle and then raced down the right sideline for an 83-yard touchdown at 10:30.
"Oh man, that was great," Brown said. "It was huge. I wanted to do something big for my team. They trust me as a sophomore to do this.
"My teammates made some blocks, and I ran with it. I thought I could score."
It was his first return touchdown on the varsity.
The extra point attempt by freshman Austin Wilkinson was blocked.
Lead changes
Sophomore quarterback Jayden Ellington hit senior Kylin Jordan in stride for a 27-yard touchdown pass with 7:38 left in the first quarter. The extra point by Wilkinson put the Crusaders up 13-7.
East needed eight plays plus two penalties to go 63 yards for a score. Beamon bolted around right end for the final 5 yards on a fourth-and-2 play. The successful kick made it 14-13 for East with 4:13 left in the opening quarter.
Beamon finished with 97 yards on 17 carries.
"We executed early when it was a close ballgame," Harrison said. "When we could run the ball, Jaedon did a great job."
Big run
Althoff wasted no time after Jason Dowell recovered East's onside kick attempt.
Dowell, a University of Missouri commit, was ready.
"It was a phenomenal game for us," said Dowell, who plans to go to Columbia on Saturday to see No. 6 Missouri play Boston College. "We came together today and did what we wanted to do.
"What we want to do is win a state championship. This was a big win for us. It was pretty surreal."
Hill Jr. galloped 56 yards around left end to score untouched. Hill then ran in the 2-point conversion, giving Althoff a 21-14 advantage with 4 minutes showing in the first quarter.
"Every time I touch the ball, I see the end zone," Hill said. "I just want to score every time."
Hill romps again
After East was forced to punt, the ball rested at the Althoff 14.
Hill took the handoff and did a 360-degree spin move that befuddled three Lancers. He zoomed 86 yards for the score with 1:15 left in the first quarter. Althoff led 28-14.
"I watch a lot of film, and I watch myself a lot to see what I can work on and what moves I can make," Hill said. "I just did it. I didn't think too much about it."
Frazier was awed by the run.
"The balance and the body control he has is just special," Frazier said. "He is just a special talent."
Lancers score
Senior Kyle Henry caught a 20-yard TD pass from sophomore Kingston Jones with 8:55 left in the first half to cut the Althoff lead to 28-21.
"We were going score for score with them for a little while," Harrison said.
Hill scores third TD
The Crusaders scored with 7:40 remaining in the half on a 55-yard run by Hill, who broke several tackles before reaching the end zone.
"He definitely took over that game in the first half," Harrison said about Hill. "He can play."
Hill sets up Crusaders score
The Lancers managed to halt Hill for a 76-yard gain, bringing down the elusive back at the 13.
Three plays later, Ellington scored on a 6-yard run with 3:36 remaining for a 42-21 lead.
"We just let it get away from us there," Harrison said.
Hill scores fourth TD
After not getting into the third quarter until the final series, Hill made up for lost time.
He scored on a nifty 18-yard run with 11:22 to play, giving Althoff a 49-21 lead.
Coin toss
Belleville East won the toss and elected to receive the football.
The Knights improved to 3-0 and have only allowed 10 points all season.
Althoff running back Dierre Hill Jr. (left) is congratulated by teammate Kyle Jordan after Hill scored a touchdown. Hill rushed for more than 300 yards and four touchdowns in Althoff’s 49-21 victory.