Head Coach Nathan Fincham and the Normal West Wildcats football team hope to shock the state with a win over nationally-ranked East St. Louis.
ESL has played “bully ball” on West for the past two years, and the Wildcats are getting set to face them for a third straight year in the second round of the 6A playoffs.
Normal West is coming off a huge win against state-ranked (#7) Simeon.
Simeon was bigger than West’s team; however, despite the size difference, West controlled the whole time and came out with the win 20-15, in the end.
Junior Maliq Givens had three interceptions and a diving catch for a touchdown.
Givens’ play isn’t new at all, though; he has been such a huge help to the Wildcats all year and has stepped up when they needed him the most.
“Maliq is a special talent and is someone that is dynamic no matter where he is on the field: receiver, running back, quarterback, defensive back, returner, etc. Maliq has been a key to our success, especially on this 6-game win streak,” Fincham stated.
Having the momentum of a six-game win streak is big and could play a huge role in pulling off a Wildcat upset against a very tough East St. Louis team.
“This year’s ESL squad is basically the same as previous years…just different names on the roster, but big, fast, and physical like they are every year,” Fincham states.
However, if the Wildcats stay focused and make ESL guessing, Fincham and crew hope to make ESL make mistakes.
“Obviously, ESL brings many challenges, but the key for us is to not stay static and to try and keep them guessing what is happening next,” Fincham added.
Specifically, ESL is known for their “hard count,” forcing players to jump offsides for an easy five yards.
However, the Wildcats have been practicing this all week and are ready.
“It [the hard count technique] is very effective and has gotten [to] us the past two years as well, so it is something that we practice every day,” Fincham noted.
No matter the preparation, though, Wildcat football has even bigger challenge for them: they’re the smaller school, size-wise, and ESL is especially the bigger school, in this case.
“Unfortunately, there are a lot of people with size in our school that don’t play football. It is something that is an every-year-every-week challenge. We [have actually been] the smaller team against everyone we have played this year,” Fincham said.
Another challenge the Wildcats will face is the loss of a key player.
Junior Keagan Brown suffered an injury Saturday against Simeon High School.
“Keagan’s injury came at an unfortunate time, but we have had injuries all season. So we will do what we have done all year, and that is having a next-man-up mentality,” Fincham expressed.
Normal West hopes to have an underdog story with this win against ESL. With the right players stepping up and not playing “static,” anything is possible, especially for this year’s football team.
Game time is set for 2 pm at East St. Louis High School on Saturday, November 9.
