Football Preview: Decatur Eisenhower Panthers vs. Normal University Pioneers
Decatur Eisenhower has been on the road for three straight, but on Friday they'll finally head home. They will host the Normal University Pioneers at 7:00 p.m.
Decatur Eisenhower's offense might be in the hot seat on Friday considering what happened against Rochester on Friday. They took a blow against the Rockets, falling 55-0. While losing is never fun, the Panthers can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Illinois football rankings (they are ranked 419th, while the Rockets are ranked 53rd).
Meanwhile, Normal University hadn't done well against Glenwood recently (they were 0-7 in their previous seven matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Friday. Normal University blew past Glenwood 33-13. The Pioneers might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won four contests by 20 points or more this season.
Alek Weiland continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines, throwing for 375 yards and five touchdowns while picking up 11.0 yards per attempt, and also rushing for 39 yards. Normal University is undefeated when Weiland posts 300 or more passing yards, but 1-2 otherwise. Cade Cunningham was Weiland's top target, picking up 184 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Another reason for the win was Normal University's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for three sacks. Cole Matejka was particularly dangerous to the passing game, picking up twohimself. Normal University got some further help from Drew Rader: he picked up a sack and made nine total tackles (2.0 for loss).
Decatur Eisenhower dropped their record down to 0-6 with the loss, which was their ninth straight on the road dating back to last season. As for Normal University, they are on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four games, which provided a nice bump to their 4-2 record this season.
The upcoming matchup will be a clash of competing strengths. Decatur Eisenhower has deployed a run-first offense that has averaged 164.8 rushing yards a game. Meanwhile, Normal University has preferred to attack from the air: they average 335.8 passing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Friday? There's only one way to find out.
Decatur Eisenhower was dealt a bruising 37-0 defeat at the hands of Normal University in their previous meeting back in September of 2022. Can Decatur Eisenhower avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
