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Bronzeville CPS School Wins Second State Football Championship

CHICAGO (CBS) -- A South Side CPS high school has a big reason to celebrate on Tuesday.

Students at Wendell Phillips Academy are on cloud nine thanks to their football team. The high school is having a big celebration on Tuesday to make a second state championship.

CBS 2's Susanna Song has more from Bronzeville on why this is such a big deal.

For the second time in three years, Wendell Phillips Academy Wildcats have won a state football championship. At 11 a.m. Tuesday morning, the school will celebrate its title with an all-school pep rally and assembly with the city recognizing their huge accomplishment.

Wendell Phillips Academy is the only Chicago Public School to ever win a state football championship. They did it the first time in 2015, winning the 4A title and putting CPS on the IHSA football map. On Saturday, the school beat Peoria's Dunlap High School 33-7 giving them the class 5A title.

Anthony Davis got a 64-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. Starter Craig Elmore had 18 carries for 77 yards and two touchdowns. He told reporters, as a senior it feels great to go out on top.

The school's football team is not the only success story for Phillips. Enrollment, attendance and test scores are also up. Their ACT scores are the highest that have been in the past 15 years and last year 100 percent of the senior class was accepted to college.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who will be on hand for the celebratory assembly Tuesday morning, released a statement congratulating them saying Chicago is proud of their success on and off the field.

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