Jeff Christopherson

Mar’Quan Gary leads the Ironmen in scoring after four weeks. Gary has nine touchdowns on the season, recording two against the Peoria Lions.

The Iron remain undefeated, tallying nine touchdowns on the way to a 63-42 win over the Peoria High School Lions on Sept. 15.

Partial credit for the win, Community head coach Mr. Jason Drengwitz said, belongs to the Ironmen’s special teams.

Ahead of the Week 4 matchup, Drengwitz said special teams’ play was a key to the game, as the Lions onside kick every kickoff.

“We have to be able to handle their onside kicks,” Drengwitz said. “Last year, we gave them four extra possessions.”

Peoria capitalized on those four kick recoveries, turning those extra possessions into points en route to a 60-34 win.

Friday, the Iron failed to recover just one of Peoria’s onsiders.

“We had guys that really wanted the ball kicked to them. All week, [they were] saying ‘I hope they kick it to me.’ I think that’s that’s a big deal,” Drengwitz said.

As for the one kick Peoria recovered?

“The one they got was a look they’ve never shown all year,” Drengwitz said. “On the 40 different onside kicks I’ve watched, they’d never shown that little dribbler. It was executed so darn well.”

Community’s hands team, its players tasked with receiving an onside kick attempt, didn’t just secure the kickoff, but excellent field position for the Iron.

“As dynamic as an offense that we have, if you’re gonna give us the ball on the 50–let’s go,” Drengwitz said.

Junior Quarterback Kyle Beaty led the offensive charge, accounting for seven of the Iron’s nine scores, throwing for four and rushing for three.

After Peoria’s opening possession, methodically marched downfield, the Ironmen trailed for the first time all season 8-0.

Community secured the ensuing onside kick, and, with a short field, junior receiver Ivo Austin (’25) would secure his first score of the season from 14 yards out.

The 6’1 receiver hauled in the Iron’s first touchdown of the game in the corner of the endzone with 5:46 remaining in the first quarter.

With a minute remaining in the first quarter, Beaty found Mar’Quan Gary, connecting with the Ironmen’s leading receiver from 25 yards out, giving Community a 13-8 lead.

With 20 seconds to play in the first, Beaty recorded his first rushing touchdown on the season, breaking the pylon on an inside zone run to give Community a 21-8 advantage.

Beaty’s ability to read the defense and keep the ball on the read, Drengwitz said, “speaks to his understanding of what we’re trying to do offensively and schematically. He’s only getting better.”

Peoria’s Jaivan Moore would take the kickoff to the endzone, cutting the Ironmen advantage to seven.

Early in the second quarter, Gary and Beaty connected again. Gary’s 15-yard score extended the Iron’s lead to 27-14 and put him over 100 yards receiving on the night.

Beaty’s second rushing score of the night put the Iron up 34-22 with 6:36 to play in the second quarter.

The Iron led 42-22 at the half after Austin recorded his second catch and score of the night.

Austin, Drengwitz said, “is an extremely talented wide receiver with a lot of gifts and a lot of extremely high-level skills.”

Austin finished the contest with 76 yards on four receptions.

Beaty’s third TD run on the night gave the Ironmen a 49-22 lead with 11:02 to play in the third quarter.

Beaty finished the night with 221 passing yards, completing 11 of 19.

Peoria’s backup quarterback threw two unanswered touchdowns, narrowing the score to 49-34 with just over six minutes to play in the third quarter.

Senior tailback Tommy Davis put the Ironmen back on the board, darting for a 28-yard touchdown run, extending the Community’s lead to 56-36 with a little over five minutes left in the quarter.

Dexter Niekamp capped off the Iron’s dominant win with a 44-yard pick-six, an interception made possible by pressure from linebacker Brady Augstin.

“Thank goodness [Augstin] got to him,” Drengwitz said, “because we had a busted coverage. There was a receiver running wide-open down the left sideline.”

“Thank goodness we hit him, [we] made a big, big play and got the ball because what was a huge play for us could have been flipped and been a huge play for them.”

The Iron’s eight offensive touchdowns, Community’s highest offensive output on the year, Drengwitz attributed the offensive line and the team’s skill players.

“If you can protect the quarterback, and you can run the football between tackles effectively, and you got the guys that can win one-on-one matchups and make plays–that’s a good recipe” for a win.

In the contest, Community’s defense allowed a season-high 42 points.

[Peoria] is “really good around the ball between the tackles. They’re big, they’re physical. They get off the ball. They always have big, strong dynamic backs.”

Behind a Peoria offensive line that boasts several players tipping the scales over 250 lbs., Lions’ tailback Maliek Ross recorded two touchdowns, rushing for 292 yards on 47 carries.

Peoria’s offensive output, Drengwitz said, reflects “how good they are and how talented they are. But some of it was on us.”

“We didn’t tackle as well as we needed to,” Drengwitz said, “We have to be better … moving into this week.”

The Iron host the Raiders of Bloomington High School in a Homecoming showdown Friday, Sept. 22.