NORMAL – Ninth seed Normal Community High School kept 24th seed Burbank Reavis High School scoreless for three quarters while simultaneously putting points on the scoreboard to advance to the second round by beating the Rams, 36-14 in the opening round of Illinois High School Association Class 7A playoffs. Senior wide receivers Camron Jackson and Dylan Tracy each scored two touchdowns helping to provide the Ironmen with enough distance from the Rams during the contest.
As a result of the victory, head coach Jason Drengwitz’s team will travel to the Chicago suburbs to face eighth seed Chicago Phillips who carry an 8-1 record into the contest.
Jackson scored first for NCHS (8-2) on a five yard run capping a 6 play 52 yard drive which began after a Reavis punt which gave the Ironmen the ball at their own 47. Freshman kicker Ryan Millmore followed up with an extra point to put NCHS up, 7-0.
Burbank-based Reavis’ ensuing possession ended in a punt, giving NCHS the ball at the Rams’ 43 as a starting point. Two plays later, senior quarterback Aidan Oliver connected with Tracy for a 40 yard touchdown strike with 39 seconds left in the quarter, followed by Millmore’s extra point to give the Ironmen a 14-0 advantage going into the second quarter.
Reavis (7-3) started their ensuing possession at their own 20 but wound up turning the ball over on downs after an attempted fake punt turned pass went awry giving NCHS the ball at the Rams’ 37. Five plays later, Jackson scored from a yard out, followed by Millmore’s extra point increasing NCHS’ lead, 21-0, with 7:29 left until halftime.
NCHS received the second half kickoff and continued their march down field scoring on the third play from scrimmage with Tracy scoring his second touchdown of the game as he connected from 85 yards receiving Oliver’s pass for a touchdown, giving NCHS a 27-0 lead after Millmore missed the extra point.
Reavis senior defensive back Tyler Matthews picked off an Oliver pass to help stop an Ironmen possession at the Rams’ 23 but the opponent’s possession was fraught with penalties which pushed their line of scrimmage back to inside their own 5 yard line. When Rams junior quarterback Brendan Keane attempted to punt the ball, it struck a teammate first before hitting the ground and the Rams retrieved it only to be met by NCHS defenders in the end zone for a safety. That extended the Ironmen advantage to 29-0 with 5:41 in the quarter.
Oliver scored NCHS’ final points on the night, putting the Ironmen up 36-0, from 23 yards out, dashing past defenders and having to dive past the goal line to avoid them further for the score with 2:33 left in the third quarter followed by Millmore’s extra point.
Reavis’ points all came in the fourth quarter, the first was a 56 yard pass from senior quarterback Matt O’Malley to senior wide receiver Tizoc Covarrubais followed by O’Malley scrambling between defenders to get a successful 2-point conversion, cutting NCHS’ lead, 36-8. The second score came with 59 seconds left in the game as senior running back Nick Baez dashed in from 2 yards out followed by another O’Malley conversion play resulting in the final score.
“No team has been able to run the ball effectively on us,†explained NCHS head coach Drengwitz. He credited the complete coaching staff for “just putting our kids in the best position to execute the game plan and then our kids in the best position to execute it. We made Reavis one dimensional which made them have to throw the ball, and controlled the line of scrimmage.†He added this game was the “closest we’ve come to putting all phases of the game – offense, defense, and special teams – together all year.â€
“We felt we could run the ball a little better than we did tonight – a lot better,†admitted Reavis head coach Tim Zasada. “Today, we couldn’t run the ball at all and that’s a credit to Normal’s front seven players. Their linebackers and defensive linemen are really good, really physical.â€
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