Week 1 high school football: Bloomington, Normal Community post wins

The 2019 high school football season kicked off Friday throughout the area, including at Bloomington High School’s Fred Carlton Field. (Eric Lapan/WJBC)

By Greg Halbleib

Opening night of the high school football season provided the setting for big wins for two Intercity squads.

Two area game remain for opening week as Normal West visits Peoria Notre Dame Saturday evening, which can be heard on WJBC.com beginning at 6:45 p.m. by clicking here. 
In eight-man football, Flanagan-Cornell-Woodland visits Elgin to face Westminster Christian Saturday afternoon.

Bloomington 36, Danville 0: The Purple Raiders pitched a shutout on their home field in Big Twelve Conference play. Ben Wellman completed 12 of 15 passes for 247 yards and two touchdowns as DaQuan Davis rushed for two more scores.

Normal Community 30, Richwoods 7: Ironmen quarterback Aidan Oliver completed 13 of 21 passes for 91 yards while rushing 15 times for 92 yards and a touchdown. Jake Hileman added two rushing touchdowns for the Iron.

Sacred Heart-Griffin 59, U-High 21: Cam Barclay connected on 15 of 27 passes for 176 yards and two touchdowns with three interceptions in his first start as U-High’s quarterback, but SHG sacked him eight times and U-High only rushed for 35 yards.

Pontiac 8, Central Catholic 7: The Saints scored on their first possession plus forced a fumble, intercepted a pass and held a goal line stand, but Pontiac surged in the second half behind more than 100 yards on the ground from Brady Monahan.

Week 1 high school football scoreboard:

Big Twelve:
Bloomington 36, Danville 0
Normal Community 30, Richwoods 7
Peoria 96, Champaign Centennial 14
Illini Prairie:
Pontiac 8, Central Catholic 7
St. Joseph-Ogden 36, St. Thomas More 8
Illinois Valley Central 21, Tolono Unity 20
Monticello 42, Olympia 32
Prairie Central 42, Rantoul 20
Central State Eight:
Sacred Heart-Griffin 59, U-High 21
Springfield 28, Decatur MacArthur 12
Jacksonville 59, Decatur Eisenhower 6
Rochester 55, Springfield Southeast 25
Non-Conference:
Decatur St. Teresa 41, Tri-Valley 0
Limestone 14, Lincoln 0
Clinton 50, South Fork 14
Ottawa Marquette 40, Dwight 14
Heyworth 22, El Paso-Gridley 6
Fisher 57, Hoopeston Area 0
Eureka 28, LeRoy 0
Tremont 31, Deer Creek-Mackinaw 7
Blue Ridge 38, Martinsville 12
Fieldcrest 47, Reed-Custer 7
Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley 32, Paxton-Buckley-Loda 8
Peotone 35, Peoria Manual 7
Ridgeview-Lexington 36, Rockford Christian 7

SATURDAY:
Big Twelve:
Normal West at Peoria Notre Dame (at Peoria Stadium), 7 p.m.
Eight-Man:
Flanagan-Cornell-Woodland at Elgin Westminster Christian, 1 p.m.

Sports Director Greg Halbleib can be reached at [email protected]

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…