(WJBC file photo)
By Greg Halbleib
The second of three regular season Intercity match-ups takes center stage on Friday night in Week 4 of high school football.
The WJBC Friday Night High School Football Extravaganza features Bloomington (3-0) at Normal West (2-1). West coach Nathan Fincham said his Wildcats face a solid Bloomington quarterback in Griffin Moore as part of a solid core.
“I think we have to slow down their athletes,” Fincham said. “They’re probably the most athletic Bloomington has been in a long time. Defensively, they do a great job of running to the ball. They get multiple hats to the ball carrier every time and they seem to know exactly what they’re doing.”
Normal Community (3-0) steps out of Big Twelve Conference play to host perennial Class 8A power Neuqua Valley of Naperville. Ironmen coach Jason Drengwitz cautioned against taking Neuqua Valley’s 1-2 record lightly.
“Their two losses are to 3-0 Stevenson High School, who’s an 8A powerhouse, and 3-0 Waubonsee Valley,” Drengwitz said. “We’re excited about the challenge but know we’re going to have to play some of our best football to date to win the game.”
U-High (0-3) makes the 90-minute trip to Jacksonville (1-2) in Central State Eight Conference play, while in the Illini Prairie, neighbors Central Catholic and Olympia go for their first win of the season in rural Stanford.
A pair of Heart of Illinois Conference Large Division games round out the Extravaganza as El Paso-Gridley (2-1) visits Tri-Valley (1-2) and Eureka travels to Deer Creek-Mackinaw in a game between 2-1 squads.
The Extravaganza begins at 6:10 p.m. Friday with scene-setters, followed by updates every quarter hour and post-game coverage including interviews and analysis until 11 p.m. Updates can be found on the WJBC Sports Twitter feed (@SportsWJBC).
Week 4 high school football schedule:
Big Twelve:
Bloomington at Normal West
Champaign (Centennial) at Danville (H.S.)
Peoria (Manual) at Peoria (H.S.)
Peoria (Notre Dame) at Peoria (Richwoods)
Urbana (H.S.) at Champaign (Central)
Illini Prairie:
Central Catholic at Olympia
Chillicothe Illinois Valley Central at Champaign St. Thomas More)
Pontiac at Prairie Central (live WJEZ 98.9 and WJEZ.com)
Rantoul at Monticello
Tolono (Unity) at St. Joseph-Ogden
Central State Eight:
Decatur Eisenhower) at Chatham Glenwood
U-High at Jacksonville
Rochester at Decatur MacArthur
Springfield at Springfield Lanphier
Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin at Springfield Southeast
Heart of Illinois Large:
Eureka at Deer Creek-Mackinaw
El Paso-Gridley at Tri-Valley
Fieldcrest at Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley
Heart of Illinois Small:
Fisher at Flanagan-Cornell-Woodland (at Flanagan)
Heyworth at Ridgeview-Lexington (at Colfax)
LeRoy at Tremont
Apollo:
Effingham at Lincoln
Sangamon Valley:
Clifton Central at Dwight
Central Illinois:
Clinton at Macon Meridian
Non-Conference:
Neuqua Valley at Normal Community
Milledgeville at Blue Ridge
Greg Halbleib can be reached at greg@wjbc.com.
