The Mercer County Golden Eagles captured the first state championship in the school’s history by defeating Belleville Althoff  14-7 in the Class 2A Football Championship game Friday afternoon at Memorial Stadium at the University of Illinois.  Mercer County found themselves trailing 7-0 after one quarter of play when the Crusaders took advantage of the Golden Ealge’s first of four fumbles on the day.  Althoff was able to march 59 yards in 19 plays and score when Eric Martens hit Luke Frazier with a 19 yard pass to put the Crusaders on top.  Mercer County tied the game just before halftime when Jesse Snyder capped a 49 yard, 11 play drive  with a two yard run with :15 left in the half.  Mercer County then took a 14-7 lead when Althoff fumbled deep in Mercer County territory and Devin Morford scooped it up and scampered a state record 95 yards the other way with 8:31 left in the third quarter.  The Golden Eagles defense, which caused seven fumbles in the game, kept the Crusaders out of the end zone the rest of the game to preserve the win.  Mercer County finished the season with a perfect 14-0 record.  A welcome home ceremony will the be held Sunday afternoon at 3:00 P.M. in the high school gymnasium.