NORMAL – A total of six turnovers committed by Normal Community High School upended their opportunity to advance in the IHSA Class 6A Playoffs, as Peoria Richwoods took advantage of NCHS’ errors, defeating the Ironmen, 45-10 in the first round contest played at Ironmen Field.

Junior running back Kendrick Foster put the first points on the board for Peoria Richwoods (7-3), on a five yard run just one minute and 15 seconds into the contest. His score was followed by an extra point by sophomore kicker Justin Cole, giving the Knights a fast 7-0 lead.

An interception thrown by Ironmen senior quarterback Nick Burlingmair led to the Knights getting their next points on a four play, 34 yard drive, topped off with an 11-yard pass from senior quarterback Wes McCormack to junior tight end Brandon Roberts at 8:09 in the first quarter. Cole’s next extra point increased Richwoods’ lead to 14-0, a lead they carried into the second quarter.

NCHS (7-3) had their first drive of the second quarter open on Richwoods’ 40 yard line, but a stingy Knights defense forced the Ironmen into settling for a field goal to get on the scoreboard. Senior Spencer Smith’s 23 yard field goal at 5:08 in the second quarter cut Richwoods’ lead, 14-3.

Richwoods went on a 21-3 lead on an 81 yard run by senior wide receiver Clayton Glasper with 4:19 left in the second quarter, followed by a successful extra point by senior kicker Daniel Sinclair. Glasper’s score was the first of three straight unanswered scores by the Knights before the half came to a close. Going into halftime, Peoria Richwoods owned a 31-3 lead.

McCormack scored from five yards out with 2:13 left in the third quarter to give Richwoods a 38-3 lead, following another Sinclair extra point.

Foster scored from 1 yard out with 32.5 seconds left in the third quarter, followed by another extra point by Cole to give Richwoods a 45-3 lead. Because that touchdown gave Richwoods a 40-point margin over their opponents, game officials employed the use of the IHSA Mercy Rule, using a continuously running clock, stopping it only for team timeouts or injury timeouts.

Ironmen senior running back Luke Halverson scored the only touchdown for the Ironmen on a three yard run with 2:16 left in the contest. Smith kicked his final extra point as an Ironmen player to achieve the final score.

During their traditional post-game huddle, NCHS head coach Wes Temples could be heard speaking in low conciliatory tones to his players after the loss.

“Richwoods is a darn good football team and you can’t take away anything from what they did,” Temples told reporters afterward. “I feel bad for our seniors. You know, those guys have worked so hard to go out the way we did. We didn’t play well and that’s obvious. We made some mistakes we haven’t made.

“You have to tip your hat to Richwoods,” Temples said. “They put us in that position to make those mistakes.

“We didn’t handle the pass real well and that just adds to the problems we had,” Temples said. He said once the Knights got on a roll and his team started having problems, it became difficult for his team to reverse their situation.

“It’s unfortunate how we went out,” Temples said. “It doesn’t matter how many turnovers you have, once you do that, you’re going to get beat.”

“Our guys probably get sick of hearing me say it, but, your team is always defined by your seniors,” Temples said. “That group of young men that have just left the field have, in my four years, been the best group that I have ever worked with. They’ve done everything year-round and that’s why this is so hard. You feel for those guys. They left a footprint of how successful you have to be in this league.”

Temples concluded his thoughts on his team by saying, “Today was not a definition of what kind of kids these are and what kind of football team we are.”

“We came out and we made some things happen,” Richwoods head coach Roland Brown said. “We took advantage of some opportunities. They had some turnovers and we capitalized on them.”

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