Football Game Preview: Peoria Lions vs. Normal Community Ironmen

The Peoria Lions will challenge the Normal Community Ironmen at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

Peoria would be wise to avoid a repeat of their last game when they take on Normal Community seeing as the team posted more yard in penalties than they did on offense (which somehow didn't cost them the game). The Lions blew past Bloomington 42-14 on Friday. The victory continues a trend for the Lions in their matchups with the Purple Raiders: they've now won six in a row.

Detaurion Pollard was a one-man wrecking crew as he rushed for 107 yards and two touchdowns.

Wins are hard to come by when you can't run the rock, something Peoria proved: they limited Bloomington to a paltry 0.6 yards per carry. The Lions' ground attack was stronger, having averaged 3.5.

Meanwhile, a well-balanced attack led Normal Community over Centennial in every quarter on their way to victory on Friday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that the Ironmen blew the Chargers out of the water with a 56-6 final score. The final result isn't all that surprising considering the Ironmen's considerable advantage in MaxPreps' Illinois football rankings (they are ranked 88th, while the Chargers are ranked 244th).

Normal Community's win bumped their record up to 7-1. As for Peoria, their victory bumped their record up to 6-2.

Peoria might still be hurting after the 40-18 loss they got from Normal Community in their previous meeting back in October of 2024. Will the Lions have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the action for a full breakdown of the game and more football content.