Week 4 football preview: Intercity battle between Bloomington and Normal West

Bloomington High School football practice had finished Wednesday before news of this week's state rankings had drifted out to the Purple Raiders players.

Yet as freshly ranked Class 6A No. 10 BHS prepares to face Intercity rival Normal West in a 7 p.m. Big 12 Conference game Friday at West, the message from Raiders coach Niall Mulcahy remains unchanged.

"It's cool but I want them to feel like we've still got a lot to prove," Mulcahy said. "We're a third of the way through the season and the season has started the way we want. But there is work to still be done."

At 3-0 overall for the first time since 2018 and 2-0 in the Big 12, BHS faces a West squad that is receiving votes in the 6A poll and owns 2-1 records both overall and in league play.

"It's always exciting to play an in-town team. Their running back is super impressive," Mulcahy said of Wildcats sophomore Cody Muhlbauer. "We'll need to contain him. They have some real good athletes and they distribute the ball well."

BHS has been a fast-starting team, outscoring opponents 48-7 in the first quarter and 67-14 in the opening half.

The Raiders are getting 295 yards rushing and 122 receiving from Rob Lanier. Quarterback AJ Codron has passed for 561 yards.

Jordan Norton has 153 receiving yards on just three catches. Keyontae Hamilton has nine receptions for 88 yards and Carter Tindall four for 137 yards. The top BHS tackler has been Kenyetta Gardner with 20.

"They're playing really well. They've got a lot of guys with a ton of experience, multiple year starters," said West coach Nathan Fincham. "They are very well built on the offensive side.

"Their defensive line has been playing for a long time, their linebackers run very well and are super physical and their back end is making a lot of plays for them."

Muhlbauer has rushed for 637 yards and averages 11.6 per carry.

Jrue Mangruem has completed half of his 44 passes for 270 yards. His favorite target is Maliq Givens with 12 catches for 151 yards. Torin Delaere's 26 tackles paces the Wildcats.

"We've got to be able to finish drives. Last week we had multiple drives we turned the ball over or didn't convert," Fincham said. "Defensively we're trying to play multiple styles against them. We're trying to find a balance to slow them down."

Tough foe for NCHS

In its only nonconference game of the regular season, 7A No. 6 Normal Community travels to 6A No. 4 Kankakee.

"It's a big matchup, a big challenge," Ironmen coach Jason Drengwitz said. "We're playing a great opponent that is really talented."

NCHS is 3-0 and has outscored its foes 159-19. The Kays are 2-1 with their only loss a 37-30 decision to defending 5A state champion and current second-ranked Nazareth Academy.

Both teams navigated undefeated regular seasons last fall with the Ironmen being ousted in the semifinals and Kankakee in the quarterfinals.

"We want to take on challenges like that in the nonconference if we can," said Drengwitz. "We will have to play really well in all three phases to have a chance to be successful."

The NCHS coach said Kankakee has several two-way players but "they are conditioned to do that at a high level on both sides."

Kyle Beaty has passed for 490 yards and nine TDs. Tailback Calen Taylor has accumulated 294 yards on the ground and returned two punts for touchdowns last week against Urbana.

U High getting healthier

University High welcomes the return of guards Landon Hinkle and Hagan Corry from injuries. Hinkle will be making his first appearance of the season when the Pioneers (2-1, 1-0) tangle with Lincoln (2-1, 0-1) in a Central State Eight East contest at Hancock Stadium.

U High's only loss came to Bloomington, while the Railsplitters were toppled by 4A No. 1 Rochester.

"Any time Lincoln is coming out to play you've got to stop their run game," Pioneers coach Brody Walworth said of Lincoln shotgun Wing T attack. "They have a lot of backs that run it well, and they do a good job with misdirection. We have to be sound defensively."

U High quarterback Alek Weiland has passed for 879 yards and 10 touchdowns in three games and played only the first half last week in a rout of Decatur MacArthur.

Lincoln's offense is led by quarterback Tate Johnston and running back Paytan Bunner.

Saints target rebound

A one-point overtime loss to PBL last week in Paxton halted Central Catholic's Illini Prairie win streak at 10.

Ranked seventh in 2A, the Saints (2-1, 2-1) take on Monticello (2-1, 1-1) at Bill Hundman Memorial Field in Bloomington.

"I think we reacted well. It's only one game. Get back to work this week," Central Catholic coach Kevin Braucht said. "We did some good things in that game but didn't do enough of them for a long enough period of time. You've got to give PBL credit, fix some mistakes and move on to Monticello."

Braucht knows what to expects from veteran Sages coach Cully Welter.

"It's the same Monticello every year," said Braucht. "They are extremely explosive offensively, and defensively they are always extremely aggressive and run to the football."

HOCIC excitement

The Heart of Central Illinois has several interesting matchups in week four.

In the Large School Division, El Paso-Gridley (2-1, 1-0) heads to Eureka (3-0, 1-0) and Deer Creek-Mackinaw (2-1, 0-1) meets Tri-Valley (2-1, 1-0) in Downs.

Small School Division play sends 1A No. 5-ranked LeRoy (3-0, 2-0) on the short drive to Heyworth (2-1, 2-1). Meridian (1-2, 1-2) heads to Gibson City to confront GCMS (3-0, 2-0).

GCMS broke into the 1A top 10 this week at No. 9. Jacob Chase is averaging 9.5 yards per carry for the Falcons while rolling up 604 yards.

Quarterback Brayden Elliott has passed for 214 yards. GCMS defensive leaders with 19 tackles each are Logan Ward and Ryker Grauer. Ward has four sacks.

Olympia running wild again

Olympia's vaunted ground game is clicking again. The Spartans are 3-0 overall and in the Sangamo as they trek to Athens (1-2, 1-2) this week.

The Spartans, however, have played just two games. One of their wins is a forfeit over Riverton, which is not fielding a team this fall.

Sophomore Jimmy Lollar has 345 yards rushing and six TDs. Cohen Alexander adds 223 yards and Brendon Hardimon 191. Alexander is averaging 17.1 yards per attempt with Hardimon at an even gaudier 23.9 on a mere eight carries.

Bobby Fairburn is Olympia's leading tackler with 19.