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Mullen leads NCHS past Urbana 56-14
NORMAL -- Travis Mullen had waited two years to become Normal Community High School’s feature tailback. The quick junior wasn’t about to postpone it any longer. | Photo gallery | Box scores, schedules, stats Mullen bolted 29 yards for a touchdown on his first carry Friday night, the start of a four-TD night which helped the Ironmen to a 56-14 season-opening victory over Urbana. Mullen also scored on runs of 25, 30 and 32 yards as NCHS, ranked No. 6 in Class 6A, extended its regular-season and Big 12 Conference winning streaks to 24 games. Afterward, Wes Temples cradled the football under his arm after winning his head coaching debut. But in the first half, it was Mullen who carried the load, scoring three times to spark NCHS to a 35-0 lead. Mullen was behind Dan Moore and others at tailback the past two years, contributing mostly on defense. “I knew they were better than me and I didn’t have the experience they did,” he said. “I respected what they did and learned from it. I think it’s my time now.” Temples said NCHS was “fortunate to have some pretty good backs” last year, but that Mullen “is more than ready” now. “He’s revved up,” Temples said. “He’s a special kid. We have to keep blocking for him and getting him the ball.” Mullen rushed for 151 yards on 10 carries behind linemen Jared Lammers, Tyler Mulford, Will Houk, Spencer Knapp and Mike Matthews and tight end Chris Majercin. Ronnie Westmoreland added 80 yards on eight carries, while Marcus Harris, Jared Mungo and Anthony Tucker each ran for a TD. Majercin also caught a 49-yard scoring pass from Zac Johnson to cap a 28-point first quarter. The Ironmen rolled up 477 yards of offense, including 380 on the ground. “There were wonderful holes,” Mullen said. “We had great blocks up front and from the tight ends and wide receivers. We came out strong.” Temples said the linemen all were making their first varsity starts, adding, “They were excited about it. They know if we get into people, we have back who can do some things.” It made for a memorable night for Temples, an assistant the past six years under Hud Venerable. Temples said he tried to remain calm, but admitted his first win was “special.” “But there were a lot of new kids playing and a lot of new coaches in new places,” he said. “It was a good first step for everybody.” Venerable, who retired after last season, was honored at halftime and watched as Johnson completed all four of his passes for 84 yards. Eric Miles rushed for 96 yards on 20 carries to lead Urbana. Marques Hightower led NCHS tacklers with seven. Zach Sheehan and Taylor Lierman had six each. “We just don’t match up with them up front,” Urbana coach Mike Hoskins said. “Normal has a nice team. They’re not as physical as last year, but I think they’re faster.” E-mail this story | Print this story | Search archives | RSS Show comments |  Hide comments | Hide comments on all stories |
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Athena wrote on Aug 30, 2008 12:04 AM:
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