DANVILLE — The grinder went silent and the knives were dull for the Meat House on Saturday.

After not allowing a running back to run for 100 yards this season and not allowing a team to score in the second half since Sept. 25, Danville’s defense found a cut of meat they couldn’t chop up.

Tim Hanrahan ran for 116 yards and three touchdowns as the top-ranked New Lenox Providence Catholic Celtics scored 20 second-half points to beat the Danville Vikings 30-21 in an IHSA Class 6A semifinal before nearly 5,000 fans at Ned Whitesell Field.

“We knew we were a better football team from the get-go,’’ said Hanrahan, who scored on runs of 1, 2 and 15 yards. “It was just a matter of time until we started taking over.

“There was a lot of talking, it just matters of who comes out on the field and backs it up. We had people hanging on the sidelines, saying Meat House this and Meat House that. We didn’t let that bother us. We just go out and play. Fans can’t win you games, its players on the field that do.’’

Providence (12-1) took advantage of a pair of short fields late in the third quarter to turn a 14-10 halftime deficit into a 24-14 lead.

Three of the Celtics five scoring drives totaled just 41 yards but they accounted for 17 points.

“They had a couple of short fields against us, but that had happen to us before this season,’’ Danville senior Cameron Ford said. “We held them to a field goal one time. But, on the other two, they caught a little daylight and found the end zone.’’

Providence’s first scoring drive of the second half, 32 yards, was set up by Ford’s 5-yard punt.

The second, which put the Celtics up 24-14, came after Ray Ames’ second interception of Danville quarterback Malcolm Anderson.

“I didn’t see anything,’’ said Anderson, who was 12-of-21 for 223 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. “He just appeared there and it was too late.’’

Providence’s Steve Laski, an all-state nose guard, capped that 4-play 16-yard drive with his 2-yard scoring plunge.

“When they score once, you feel alright, but when they score again off the interception that makes it tough,’’ Danville coach B.J. Luke said.

The Vikings (12-1) didn’t go down without a fight.

Danville senior defensive back MykeTez Forman came up with his first interception with 10 minutes, 20 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

Four plays later, on fourth down-and-1, Mario Crosby went around right end for a 31-yard touchdown run cutting Providence’s lead to 24-21 with 7:44 left.

“We responded, we got ourselves back into the game,’’ Luke said. “Our kids stood toe-to-toe with them and gave an outstanding effort, as they have all year.’’

But it wasn’t quite enough as the Celtics milked the game away with a 14-play, 64-yard drive taking 6:11 off of the clock. Hanrahan’s 15-yard touchdown run put the finishing touches on the Danville season.

“They just kept running the ball,’’ said Danville junior linebacker Justin March, who had a game-high 21 tackles. “We did a good all year at stopping the run, but their running back was finding a small crease.

“They did a good job of moving the ball in the fourth quarter.’’

According to Hanrahan, Danville played hard, but Providence was just bigger and more physical.

“Ultimately, I think we just wanted it more than they did,’’ he said. “The offensive line just put it on their shoulders and dominated the line of scrimmage.

“When that happens, we are going to get a lot of yards and we are going to get a lot of scores. We didn’t do a whole lot different on that drive, we just executed a whole lot better.’’

Hanrahan also proved he was very adept at exploiting the smallest of holes in the Danville defense.

The 5-foot-11, 180-pound senior needed 33 carries to get his 116 yards and his longest runs were 10 and 15 yards. But, he also had only two carries for negative yardage as well.

“We hit him in the backfield a number of times. He just put his hand in the ground and found a seam,’’ said Ford, an all-state defensive end for the Vikings. “There was nothing we could do, it was just the way the game went for us.’’

Unlike last week’s game for the Vikings, Danville struck first against Providence Catholic.

Senior Keaton Britt hauled in a 71-yard scoring strike from Anderson, giving Danville 6-0 lead just 3:01 into the contest.

Providence took its first lead of the game with 6:51 left in the second quarter on Hanrahan’s first touchdown run. Celtics quarterback Joey Houlihan set up the score with his 43-yard jaunt on a third-down-and-4 option play around right end.

Danville answered with 11-play 90-yard drive as Derrick Cunningham gave the Vikings a 14-7 lead with an amazing catch of a 33-yard pass from Anderson with just 1:36 left in the first half.

Crosby’s 3-yard run on a fourth-and-2 play from the Danville 48 on a fake punt kept the drive alive.

Providence had its own big play on special teams as Peter Houlihan returned the ensuing kickoff 66 yards and with a 15-yard penalty against the Vikings tacked on, Providence started at the Danville 15.

Three plays later, Celtics kicker Alec Pickett made a 38-yard field goal cutting the Vikings lead to 14-10 at halftime.

With the victory, the Providence will go after its 10th state football title next Saturday against Cary-Grove, a 40-7 winner over Crystal Lake Prairie Ridge in the other semifinal.

The IHSA Class 6A State Championship will be at Memorial Stadium in Champaign. Kickoff next Saturday is set for 1 p.m.