By Greg Halbleib

Out of four new head coaches of the five Intercity high school football programs, three earned wins in their first games leading their teams.

Bloomington held off a late Danville surge for a 21-12 victory for new coach Scott Godfrey.

“Defense was lights out tonight,” Godfrey said. “That was a point of emphasis for us. We knew if we were going to make the jump to the next level, we were going to have to start playing some defense and our defense was awesome tonight. I’m proud of our guys and the way they flew to the football.”

Normal Community rolled to a 43-7 victory at Richwoods for the Ironmen head coaching debut of Jason Drengwitz, who said offense and defense complemented each other.

“O picked up the D at times, and D picked up the O at times,” Drengwitz said. “Special teams made some plays. It really was a team effort and I’m just glad we were able to put them away at the end.”

Daylen Boddie rushed for 175 yards and two touchdowns for the Ironmen, and added 107 passing yards with two touchdowns.

Normal West surged to a 44-13 home win over Peoria Notre Dame to give new Wildcats coach Nathan Fincham his first victory.

“The guys did exactly what I wanted them to do,” Fincham said. “We told them to come out and be focused every play, come out and get after them every drive, and they really did that. They bought into our message all off-season, and they came out and performed exactly like I thought they would.”

West’s Carson Camp was 9-of-13 in the air for 189 yards and three touchdowns, and added four rushes for 35 yards. The Wildcats defense completed four sacks and only gave up four first downs in the first half.

Pontiac pulled away from Central Catholic 35-14, and new Saints coach Joe Walters said limited pre-season time hurt in the loss.

“We came out in the Wing-T and I thought we came out really well in the first drive,” Walters said. “Then we had some issues later and they adjusted well to us, so I have to give them credit for that.”

Pontiac’s Austin Norman rushed for 161 yards and three touchdowns.

Sacred Heart-Griffin rolled to a 42-0 win over U-High at Hancock Stadium in a game that ended with 9:16 remaining after a U-High player was seriously injured and taken from the field in an ambulance.

Tri-Valley came up short 27-14 at Decatur St. Teresa, but Vikings coach Josh Roop was encouraged in the loss.

“I’m excited about this football team, and I’m not sure I’ve ever been more excited in a loss,” Roop said. “The kids played hard and that’s what we needed to see.”

Week 1 scores:

Bloomington 21, Danville 12
Normal West 44, Peoria Notre Dame 13
Normal Community 43, Peoria Richwoods 7
Pontiac 35, Central Catholic 14
Sacred Heart-Griffin 42, U-High 0
Decatur St. Teresa 27, Tri-Valley 14
Monticello 51, Olympia 0
Prairie Central 52, Rantoul 28
Eureka 19, LeRoy 14
El Paso-Gridley 28, Heyworth 0
Deer Creek-Mackinaw 14, Tremont 13
Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley 28, Paxton-Buckley-Loda 0
Blue Ridge 28, Martinsville 0
Fieldcrest 34, Reed-Custer 20
Clinton 48, South Fork Coop 0
Lincoln 20, Macomb 13
Ottawa Marquette 28, Dwight 7

Greg Halbleib can be reached at [email protected].