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By DICK GOSS Sports editor Herald News
The defending Class 6A state champions. Undefeated and ranked No. 1 all season. Seeded No. 1 and playing for a third state trip to the state finals on familiar turf, with the home crowd arriving in a frenzy.
No way this Normal Community High School team gets knocked down -- and nearly out -- in the first quarter. No way, unless the opponent is that Joliet Catholic Academy steamroller that appears ready to add state championship trophy No. 13 to the case at school.
The machine hit on all cylinders as the Hilltoppers, low-key before it all began, raced to a 21-0 first-quarter lead en route to an 45-13 victory over Normal on a picture-perfect Saturday afternoon in central Illinois.
The reward for JCA (12-1) is a berth in next Saturday's 1 p.m. 6A final at the University of Illinois in Champaign against Lemont, a 27-20 winner over Oak Forest on Saturday night.
The consolation prize for Normal (12-1) is the feeling the Ironmen's 26-game winning streak was quite a ride while it lasted.
"The first quarter was nothing but a blur," Normal coach Hud Venerable admitted. "We got in the big hole right away and never could fight out of it.
"All the credit goes to JCA. They moved the ball against our defense, and they didn't turn it over."
Normal's proud defense, which blanked Providence Catholic 29-0 a week earlier, had no answer from the get-go for senior fullback Brandon Geiss, a 180-pounder whose quickness never ceases to amaze.
Operating from the wing-T rather than their double-wing formation in deference to the power game, Geiss popped one big run up the gut after another to establish who was King of the Hill on this day. And the thing is, he has been nursing a broken bone in his right hand.
Two weeks ago, he missed his first varsity game, when JCA beat Crete-Monee. Last week against Bloomington, he carried 7 times with the right arm in a cast but had difficulty holding onto the ball.
This time, no cast, but plenty of results.
Geiss zoomed to 97 of his game-high 160 rushing yards (on 18 carries) as the Hilltoppers built their 21-0 lead.
"I was kind of nervous because of the hand," he admitted. "I had a piece on it last week and had some trouble holding on, but my teammates really picked me up. Connor (Krisch) and Tyler (Hudetz) were great, and I knew whoever came in for me would pick up the slack.
"But two weeks ago, when I was on the sideline, it was hard to watch."
Krisch, whose four touchdown runs included a 29-yarder, finished with 117 yards in 15 carries, thus joining Hudetz and Geiss in the 1,000-yard club for the season. Hudetz, who scored twice, went for 100 against Normal in 18 carries as JCA piled up 388 rushing yards, 464 total yards and a season-high 32 first downs.
Against No. 1.
"Teams could key on Tyler and me without Brandon in there," Krisch said. "You bring him in, and they can't."
"The best way was to run right at them, catch them off guard," Geiss said of the wing-T alignment. "That first quarter was unbelievable. We came out all fired up and had it all going our way."
"We had some misdirection ready out of our double wing, but we never really got off Page 1 of the playbook, the power game in the wing-T," JCA coach Dan Sharp said. "It was a credit to our kids and coaches that we stayed with it."
Time after time, the offensive line of center Nate Fonck, guards Joe Minor and Zak Pedersen and tackles Pat Kielian and John Kaminski, along with tight ends Sean Sheppard and Tim Bennett, delivered devastating blocks. And, there was more.
"We are strong up front and have fast backs, but our backs also are strong," Sharp noted. "Having Geiss at full strength was big because it gives us the inside-outside game in our power set without having to use the misdirection.
"That first quarter was just phenomenal."
The three scoring drives in the opening quarter covered 61 yards in 7 plays, 30 in 3 (after Jake Stockman caused a fumble that T.J. Barrett recovered) and 67 in 6, and the total time to complete all three was 5 minutes 13 seconds.
JCA hurt itself with penalties in the second quarter, and Normal, befitting a team of its ilk, battled back. A 54-yard pass play set up quarterback Alex Buck's 5-yard touchdown run to make it 21-7 early in the second quarter.
On the Hilltoppers' subsequent possession, they were facing a third-and-30 at their 23. Krisch's quick kick took a friendly bounce or two and rolled to a stop at the Normal 7, a 70-yard boot. That was huge because the Ironmen did march the ball across midfield before JCA junior cornerback Nick Ratajczak grabbed the first of two interceptions the Hilltoppers would have among their five takeaways.
JCA punted on its next possession, but after defensive end Kyle Kleeman made two big stops to force a Normal punt, quarterback John Ruettiger led the Hilltoppers down the field in the 2-minute drill. He passed 11 yards to Sheppard, 22 to Hudetz and 17 to Sheppard, and it was first-and-goal at the 4 with time winding down.
With 0:05.6 left, the Hilltoppers, operating with no timeouts, tried to throw for a touchdown, but Ruettiger's toss to Bennett was batted away with 0:00.4 on the clock. Gabe Suhadolc entered and nailed the 22-yard field goal to make it 24-7 and a three-score game at half.
"To be honest, I didn't want to run another play (on third down)," Sharp said. "I wanted to go for the field goal, but I got talked out of it. As it turned out, the field goal was big at the time."
Normal took the second-half kickoff and drove 71 yards in 13 plays to the JCA 9. But linebacker Nick Clancy's huge stop on second down forced a third-and-9, and Buck threw to the end zone. Cornerback Mike Budzinski stepped up to intercept at the goal line, returning it to the 15.
"That interception could have been the play of the year," Sharp said. "That's a huge momentum shift if it gets to 24-14."
Instead, JCA's offense made like it was the first quarter, marching 85 yards in 7 plays, scoring on Krisch's 29-yard run for a 31-7 lead. "Great blocking downfield, especially from Tim Bennett," the rugged Krisch said of the uncharacteristic length of that TD run.
When Nick Madsen recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff (Alex Foreman would add one later), the Hilltoppers were back in business. This time, they overcame a 12-yard penalty with Hudetz's 11-yard run and Ruettiger's third-and-10 strike of 26 yards to Sheppard setting up another score for a 38-7 lead. Ruettiger finished 4-of-6 passing for 76 yards.
"We've really come out this year and stuck it to some teams in the second half," Krisch said. "But today, I was very happy with the first quarter and how fired up we were. It reminded me of the Carmel game in Week 9 (when JCA led 31-0 at half en route to a 45-8 victory)."
The Hilltoppers added the crowning blow when they marched 99 yards in 12 plays early in the fourth quarter for a 45-7 lead. Normal scored against a defense comprised largely of reserves to account for the final.
By then, all the steam that had built up in the Ironmen during their 26-game streak had long since evaporated.
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