By Bryan Bloodworth
It will all start with the offense for Normal Community High School’s football team this year and why not with the return of eight starters, including quarterback Grant Price.
The multi-talented 6-foot-1, 190-pound senior threw for 2,408 yards and 26 touchdowns to lead the Ironmen to a third straight Big 12 Conference title and a 20th straight playoff berth.
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“For the first time since I’ve been here, we’ve got a returning starting quarterback,” said NCHS coach Wes Temples. “He’s a pretty good player and really, really good kid.”
Price also will be surrounded by a number of returning skill players, some of whom are three-year starters. Leading that group are senior wide receivers Steven Towns and Dakota Cremeens, who caught 77 passes between them.
Towns hauled in 42 passes for a team-high 689 yards and seven touchdowns to earn all-conference honors, while Cremeens had 35 receptions for 584 yards and three touchdowns. Another returning letterman is senior J.D. Villafuerte, who played a lot as sophomore but suffered a season-ending broken leg in the first game of the year.
“Our skill guys are pretty battle tested as far as playing on Friday night,” said Temples, who has a 64-22 record in eight years. “But a lot of it comes back to how good you’re going to be up front. We have some rookies who are going to have to grow up pretty quick.”
Senior guard James Coleman and junior tackle Pete Bussone are the returning starters along the offensive line. They will be joined by newcomers Clay Merkle at center, Marcellus Johnson at tackle and Tony Maniscalco at guard.
The revamped running game will be keyed by junior Varshaun Dixon, who showed his skills in the the Class 7A playoffs when all-Big 12 running back Alec Bozarth was injured. Towns, who was the team’s third leading rusher, is back along with Cremeens.
Temples said things will be status quo on offense.
“There will always be some new wrinkles and some new things, but we kind of do what we do,” added Temples. “Our kids really enjoy the system we have in. It’s a fast paced, no-huddle system that the kids really love.
“You have to be balanced (run and pass) to win. I’d like to think we’ll be able to do both. You have to be able to run the football if you’re going to win. Our conference is a rugged conference, so you have to run the football or teams can make you one dimensional.”
The Ironmen, who were 10-2 last year, have just three starters back on defense in middle linebacker Ben Wong (the leading tackler last year), outside linebacker Miles Simington and inside linebacker Storm Simmons. All are seniors.
“Everywhere else we’re going to be somewhat young as far as playing experience,” said Temples. “But I’m excited to watch them because they are unbelievably talented. It’s just a matter of how quickly we can get them game reps and up to speed. They can run well. I’m not sure we’ve had a group that can run as well as they run, but they are rookies and they’re going to make mistakes.
“As long as they keep playing hard and practicing hard at some point in time, I’m really going to like where we’re at defensively.”
Soccer player senior Cooper Zoog also will the handle the kicking chores for the football team, which opens the season Friday at home against Urbana.
Bryan Bloodworth can be reached at [email protected]
