NORMAL – In what has become the traditional Unit 5 rivalry game, Normal Community High School and host Normal West each had the ball for two possessions before NCHS scored for the first time – on a two yard run by junior running back Travis Mullen, giving the Ironmen a 7-0 lead following the point-after by senior kicker Ethan Cashen.
That was the beginning of what would become a scoreless evening for Normal West in this Big 12 Conference contest, as NCHS chalked up another win in the rivalry, beating the Wildcats, 30-0, before nearly 2,000 fans at West Stadium.
NCHS (4-1) went up 14-0 with just 5.1 seconds in the first quarter when Ironmen senior quarterback Zachery Johnson connected with senior wide receiver Chad Hinshaw on a 58 yard scoring pass, followed by another Cashen extra point, increasing NCHS’ lead to 14-0.
West’s defense would stall NCHS during the second quarter, forcing head coach Wes Temples’ Ironmen to settle for a 35 yard field goal at the four minute mark before halftime, putting NCHS up, 17-0.
With 26.7 seconds left until halftime, NCHS employed a little razzle dazzle to go up 24-0 on the Wildcats – with Hinshaw throwing a 43-yard pass to senior receiver Tate Musselman, followed by Cashen’s extra point. The play started out looking like a simple handoff from Johnson to Hinshaw, but fans knew that wasn’t the case when they saw Hinshaw suddenly looking for a receiver.
The last score of the game came on a two-yard run by NCHS senior tight end Andrew Hamer at 3:59 in the third quarter, arriving at what was to be the final score after Cashen missed the extra point.
Mullen led all rushers with 114 yards on 24 carries. Normal West senior running back Darius Bell had 20 carries for 90 yards for the 1-4 Wildcats.
Temples said his team still needs to work on limiting an opponent’s kickoff return yardage, adding that, “there’s always things to work on, but I’m happy with a victory tonight.
“The victory is a credit to these guys,” Temples continued. “They come out every Monday through Thursday night, they come out and they’re ready to practice, and they practice hard. “(That hard work) is finally starting to carry over to Friday nights.”
“Here’s the thing…,” West head coach Darren Hess began, “We give up big plays. We can’t do that if we’re going to be very effective. We lost the battle of the line of scrimmage tonight, and (NCHS) was more physical…you can’t win many football games like that.
“Until we can eliminate (opponents’) big plays and put the ball in the end zone, we’re going to struggle.”
Friday night, Normal West visits Urbana, while NCHS travels to Decatur Eisenhower.