By Greg Halbleib
First place in the Big 12 Conference is on the line as the co-leaders battle in the highlight contest of Week 6’s WJBC Country Financial High School Football Extravaganza.
Normal Community and Peoria carry 5-0 records into the 7 p.m. contest at Peoria Stadium. NCHS coach Wes Temples is excited about the game.
“Wow, what a challenge this week,” said Temples. “Peoria is a very good football team, very explosive and very well coached. It will be a great opportunity.”
Normal West (3-2) faces unbeaten Peoria Notre Dame in a baseball venue converted into a football stadium for one night as the teams square off at Dozer Park in downtown Peoria. West coach Darren Hess wants to push the Irish out of their comfort level.
“We want to try to get them to do things they don’t want to do,” said Hess. “Maybe we can get a comfortable lead to force them out of their game plan and make them hurry up a little bit more.”
Central Catholic (4-1) also visits Peoria County to take on winless IVC in Corn Belt Conference play. Saints coach Mike Moews liked his offensive line play last week and says it will take a similar effort to beat the host Grey Ghosts.
“(The offensive line) really came together,” said Moews of last week’s 38-21 win over Pontiac. “We rushed for 460 yards and I can’t remember the last time we did that. Up front, we won that battle.”
U-High (4-1) begins a big weekend at Hancock Stadium by hosting Olympia (1-4). Pioneers coach Mike Troll says as usual, success depends on execution.
“The offensive side has to make sure we get the block where we need it to be against their 4-4 because they’re going to do everything in their power to stop the run,” said Troll. “On the defensive side, our big thing is to stop the read, to be disciplined in running our keys and getting everyone where they’re supposed to be.”
The Extravaganza will also feature a Heart of Illinois Conference tilt as El Paso-Gridley visits Deer Creek-Mackinaw. Bloomington travels to Peoria Stadium to face Manual on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. as both teams search for their first win.
Extravaganza pre-game begins at 6:10 with updates on all games every quarter hour and post-game until 11 p.m. Scores can be found on the WJBC Facebook page and the special Friday night Twitter feed (@WJBCHSFootball, #WJBCHSFB).
Illinois State soccer will host Oklahoma in match at 11 a.m. in Normal and the ISU volleyball team hosts Drake at 7 p.m. Listen live on WJBC.com.
The Bloomington Thunder hockey team visits the Youngstown Phantoms in a 7 p.m. faceoff on WJBC.com.
