By WJBC staff
Central Catholic High School’s football team won the final Corn Belt Conference championship, while Normal West and Bloomington kept their playoff hopes alive Friday night.
Meanwhile, Bloomington became playoff eligible and Normal Community earned a Big 12 Conference win, while University High suffered a Corn Belt setback.
Central 14, Mahomet-Seymour 6
Max Moews threw two touchdown passes to Andrew Einck to complete the Saints undefeated run through to the Corn Belt and their seventh win in eight games with a homecoming victory.
Moews finished completing eight of 18 passes for 124 yards, while Einck had two receptions for 60 yards. The Saints stopped a potential game-tying Mahomet-Seymour drive at the Central 30 in the final minute.
The Saints forced four turnovers, including three pass interceptions. J.P. Sikora had two sacks of the quarterback.
West 49, Richwoods 20
The Wildcats forced seven turnovers to win their third straight and even their overall record to 4-4 at Richwoods. West must win its regular season finale next week at home against Peoria Notre Dame to be playoff eligible.
Quarterback Peyton Dillingham threw for four touchdowns, while completing 13 of 23 passes for 311 yards. Genesis Forrest rushed for 139 yards on 15 attempts and one touchdown, Malik Turner had five receptions for 170 yards and two touchdowns.
West bolted to a 21-6 first quarter lead on a 26 and 37-yard scoring passes from Dillingham to Turner and a 10-yard scoring strike to C.J. Davis. The Wildcats extended the lead to 35-19 by halftime on a 15-yard run by Dillingham and a 15-yard pass to Forrest.
The Wildcats added their final two scores in the third quarter on a 34-yard pass from Dillingham to Greg Thomas and a 49-yard run by Forrest.
BHS 51, Urbana 14
The Purple Raiders recorded their fifth win to become playoff eligible at winless Urbana by jumping to a 28-0 lead by halftime. BHS is 5-3 overall and could secure a playoff berth next week with a win at home against Danville.
Quarterback Colton Sandage accounted for 328 of the Purple Raiders’ 428 yards of total offense by completing 16 of 25 passes, while throwing for five touchdowns. Avonni Brown had five catches for 118 yards and a trio of scores.
BHS scored on four of its last five possessions in the first half and on seven of its 11 possessions.
NCHS 34, Danville 20
The Ironmen remained in a tie for second place in the Big 12 with a win over the Vikings. NCHS is 7-1 overall and 6-1 in the conference.
Varshuan Dixon did most of the damage for NCHS by rushing for 150 yards on 21 carries, while scoring three touchdowns. One of his scores came on a 34-yard pass from Grant Price and he also had scoring runs of 3 and 14 yards.
Other NCHS scores came from Price on a 20-yard run and a 60-yard pass from Price to J.D. Villafuerte. Price finished with 9 completions on 17 attempts for 179 yards and 59 yards rushing on 13 carries. Villafuerte finished with 88 yards on three receptions.
Pontiac 33, U-High 19
Levi Ransom opened the third quarter with an 86-yard kickoff return to spark Pontiac past U-High in a Corn Belt contest at Pontiac. The loss dropped the Pioneers’ record to 2-6.
Pontiac scored 20 points in the third quarter to break from a 7-6 halftime lead. Quarterback Kevin Gschwendtner gave Pontiac’s its first touchdown a 33-yard pass to Cam Dawson. U-High countered with a 66-yard scoring strike from Doug Holmes to Mark Widdel.
Noah Sandoval booted field goals of 28 and 35 yards after Ransom’s kickoff return to extend the Pontiac lead to 20-6 before Ransom scored on a 3-yard run. U-High cut the deficit to 27-12 on a 75-yard scoring strike from Holmes to Widdel early in the fourth quarter.
Gschwendtner followed with a 6-yard scoring run before Holmes completed a 27-yard touchdown pass to Lamar Conrad to bring about the final.
Holmes finished with 9 completions on 27 attempts for 250 yards and three touchdowns, while Widdel had three receptions for 152 yards and two scores. Ransom led Pontiac with 138 yards on 19 carries.
Dee-Mack 49, Eureka 14
Jared Reese and Conner Craig combined for five rushing touchdowns to help the Chiefs remain undefeated with a Heart of Illinois win at Eureka. The victory sets up a matchup of the state’s top two Class 2A ranked teams next week in Mackinaw as the Chiefs entertain Tri-Valley.
Craig finished with 160 yards on nine carries and Reese had 96 yards on 15 carries. Quarterback Derrick Baker completed 3 of 5 passes for 43 yards and rushed for 45 yards.
Dee-Mack jumped to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter on scoring runs of three yards by Reese and 49 yards by Craig. The Chiefs extended the advantage 28-7 by halftime on a 26-yard run by Baker and an 8-yard run by Reese.
Touchdowns by Reese on a 1-yard run and an 8-yard run by Jacob Carnicle gave Dee-Mack a 42-14 lead after three quarters before Craig completed the scoring in the fourth quarter on a 60-yard gallop by Craig.
SCORES
Intercity
Central Catholic 14, Mahomet-Seymour 6
Pontiac 33, U-High 19
Normal Community 34, Danville 20
Normal West 49, Peoria Richwoods 20
Bloomington 51, Urbana 14
Heart of Illinois
Deer Creek-Mackinaw 49, Eureka 14
El Paso-Gridley 49, Ridgeview-Lexington 14
Tri-Valley 54, Fieldcrest 0
Tremont 51, Fisher 0
GCMS 60, Flanagan-Cornell-Woodland 0
LeRoy 46, Heyworth 6
Corn Belt
IVC 51, Olympia 28
Champaign Thomas More 20, Prairie Central 14
Big 12
Peoria Notre Dame 35, Champaign Centennial 14
Peoria 74, Champaign Central 49
Peoria Manual 24, Macomb 14
