NORMAL - Chad Hinshaw was exposed to the bright lights and large crowds of varsity football last season, earning playing time in the secondary on Normal Community High School's Class 6A state championship team.

Yet, Hinshaw also toiled in relative obscurity, learning a new craft on the NCHS sophomore team. Among his duties was returning punts and kickoffs for the first time.

"They put me back there and I had the help of the coaches, teaching me how to do it," Hinshaw said. "They were drilling me every day."

The results were immediate. NCHS special teams coordinator Jason Drengwitz said Hinshaw "probably ran back five or six punts and five or six kickoffs (for touchdowns), and probably had another five called back."

"We knew what he was capable of," Drengwitz said.

Now, everyone does.

Hinshaw has returned two kickoffs and one punt for touchdowns on the varsity this season, leading a special teams assault which has produced six TDs for the top-ranked Ironmen.

The 6-foot-1, 180-pound junior has averaged 36.8 yards per kickoff return and 15.4 yards on punt returns, establishing himself as a threat in week 2 against rival Bloomington.

Hinshaw returned a kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown to wipe out an early 7-0 BHS lead. Moments later, he took a punt back 64 yards to the Raiders' 2-yard line, setting up another score in NCHS' 47-35 victory at Hancock Stadium.

"A lot of it is from the blockers," Hinshaw said. "We have real good blocking on the special teams and that helps me out so much. I just try to find the holes and follow right through."

Drengwitz agreed blocking has been a key for Hinshaw and fellow speedy return men Kennedy Freeman and Travis Mullen. They run behind units consisting largely of non-starters who Drengwitz said "have really bought into the importance of special teams."

Still, Drengwitz and NCHS head coach Hud Venerable consider Hinshaw to be … well, special.

"Number one, he's extremely sure handed. You know he's going to catch it every time," Drengwitz said. "He also is deceptively fast, and he just seems to see seams open up and hits them. You don't think there's anything there, but he sees it."

NCHS

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Venerable called Hinshaw's vision "exceptional," adding, "He has a sense of how to set up blockers, and he knows how to utilize one move and really maximize that one move. When he hits it, he accelerates a lot faster than people realize. He has that ability to accelerate on the cut."

Hinshaw returned a quick kick by Danville quarterback Kendall Carter 57 yards for a touchdown in last week's 47-14 victory. The teams meet again at 7 o'clock tonight in the opening round of the Class 6A playoffs at Normal.

NCHS opponents now must decide whether to kick off to Hinshaw, or Freeman, last year's special teams standout, or perhaps Mullen, a track sprinter who has an 87-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

"They have to kick to one of us," Freeman said. "They can't kick it away."

Well, they might, the way NFL teams have begun to avoid Chicago Bears' return star Devin Hester. Even so, the Ironmen (9-0) are likely to make an impact on special teams.

They have returned two blocked punts for touchdowns, and in the season opener, hustling senior Matt Lucie knocked the Champaign Central punter out of the way to recover an errant snap for a touchdown. Venerable rates the play of his special teams the best he has had as a coach.

"I think our players view special teams equally as important as offense and defense," Venerable said. "They compete hard to try to get on those special teams. We have kids who are starters who sometimes we don't put on special teams and it upsets them. They want to be out there."