Ironmen clinch 27th consecutive playoff berth with 42-10 win over Danville

Inkspot Staff • Oct 2, 2023

Mr. Jeff Christopherson

The Iron sit atop the Big 12 standings at 5-0. While rival Normal West is 5-1 in the conference, Community holds the conference tie-breaker, defeating the Wildcats 43-0 in Week 3.

2023-2024 Football Standings

Team	Conference	Overall
Normal Community	8-0	12-1
Peoria High	7-1	7-3
Normal West	6-2	8-3
Champaign Centennial	5-3	6-4
Bloomington	5-3	5-5
Danville	5-3	5-5
Peoria Notre Dame	4-4	6-5
Peoria Richwoods	2-6	3-6
Peoria Manual	1-7	1-8
Champaign Central	1-7	2-7
Urbana	0-8	0-9

The Normal Community Ironmen secured a 27th consecutive playoff berth with Friday’s decisive 42-10 victory over the Danville Vikings. The win solidifies the Iron’s position atop the Big 12 Conference standings as they move to 5-0 in conference action and 6-0 on the season.

Community’s defensive starters continued their dominant performance from Week 5, holding the Vikings scoreless through one half of play and adding a score to the stat sheet.

A Jace Wilson strip sack set the stage for Dexter Niekamp’s second defensive touchdown of the year. Niekamp scooped up the Danville fumble, taking it 45 yards to the end zone to put the Ironmen up 14-0 after a Will Castro PAT.

Community extended the lead to 21-0 when junior quarterback Kyle Beaty connected with Mar’Quan Gary for a 38-yard touchdown.

Beaty found the end zone on the ground with an 11-yard touchdown run to bring the score to 28-0 after Castro’s PAT.

Tailback Tommy Davis showed no signs of last week’s back spasms, breaking free for an 83-yard touchdown run, to make the Iron lead 35-0.

Beaty would add a second passing TD, tossing a 76-yard pass to Leo Capparelli to give Community a commanding 42-0 lead over the Vikings at the half.

Danville showed some signs of life as they opened the second half with a touchdown pass, putting seven points on the board to narrow the gap to 42-7. However, the Ironmen’s earlier efforts had already secured the victory.

Community faces just one team with a winning record heading into the final weeks of the season. The Iron host a winless Urbana Tiger’s team Friday before taking on 5-1 Peoria Notre Dame on Oct. 13.

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Inkspot Staff

Stories published under Inkspot Staff are unattributed to a single reporter because they: have been produced through a collaborative staff effort; individual staff member contribution is not easily distinguishable; and/or the story was disseminated from announcements or press releases.