MONTICELLO, Ill. — Cullen Welter knows what lies ahead.

The Monticello football coach has squared off with Illini West coach Jim Unruh enough times in the past to realize the Sages will be the underdogs in next Saturday's Class 3A second-round playoff game at Fuzz Berges Field.

"That offense will be exponentially better," Welter said after Monticello knocked out Central-Southeastern 57-40 in Saturday's first-round matchup. "They are the defending state champions. They run that offense as well as they can run it. It's going to be a tall challenge for us."

He should know. Welter coached at Aledo from 1998-2008, going 4-1 against Unruh teams, including a 41-40 victory in the Class 2A state title game in 2002.

Memories of that game came to life Saturday when the Sages and Panthers turned their playoff game into a shootout, combing for 1,029 yards of total offense and 46 first downs.

"I think the only other time I've been in a game like this was some of the games I coached against Carthage," Welter said.

C-SE led 14-6 after Jacob Conley's 25-yard interception return for a score with 9:33 remaining in the first half, but Monticello scored three times before halftime to lead 25-14 as quarterback Ben Palla threw two of his five scoring passes.

Palla completed 21 of 34 passes for 400 yards.

"You can see why he threw for 2,000 yards this season," C-SE coach Bill Reed said. "He's got some good skill kids around him. We struggled trying to keep him off the field."

In the third quarter, though, C-SE gave itself a chance. Each team scored three times but C-SE could never get closer than trailing 38-34 with 1:05 to go in the third quarter.

"We didn't give up," Reed said. "We fought hard. We played hard."

Garrett Kestner finished with 112 yards rushing, while Patrick Flesner had 95 yards and Hull had 83 yards.

"We had 18 seniors ... and they were pretty upset," Reed said. "We talked about the positives of the years, getting to the playoffs for the second straight year. That's something they accomplished."

— sports@whig.com/221-3365