NORMAL - Omar Clayton and Normal Community High School's football team looked like they were going to press the pedal and cruise to another easy victory Friday night.

The shifty quarterback scored on runs of 12 and 21 yards to cap off the visiting Ironmen's first two possessions against rival Normal West.

But if the No. 1-ranked Class 6A team had designs on another blowout, the Wildcats had other ideas.

West put the clamps on Clayton and the Ironmen's high-powered offense. Instead, NCHS relied on its defense to hold off the stubborn Wildcats 14-7 in a Big 12 Conference slugfest.

"After the first two series they kind of got a feel for our offense. They were bringing pressure where they needed," said Clayton. "It looked like they did a great job of predicting where we were going to take the ball."

NCHS improved to 6-0 overall and in the Big 12 while clinching a playoff spot. The Ironmen's previous closest call was a 23-0 victory against Bloomington.

"I definitely think this team needed a close game," said Clayton. "Close games like this make you realize each and every play goes on to the final score, so we have to try to minimize our mistakes so we can win the game."

West (4-2, 4-2) cut the gap to 14-7 on quarterback Todd Albert's 23-yard touchdown pass to Mitch Bauman with 5:05 left in the third quarter.

The Wildcats got the ball back four more times, but the NCHS defense stiffened. The Ironmen allowed just two more first downs, and Austin Davis finally sealed the win with an interception deep in West territory with 1:28 left.

"Our kids played with their hearts tonight," said West coach Darren Hess. "Anytime Normal Community and Normal West play, it's a hard-fought game. I don't think records or rankings matter.

"Our kids wanted to prove something and they have a lot of pride. I think that's how we played tonight."

The Ironmen outgained West in total yardage, 273 yards to 113. The Wildcats didn't make a first down in the first half before putting together a 12-play, 58-yard drive on its first possession of the second half.

After the West score, NCHS got its offense untracked and drove from its own 14-yard line to the Wildcats' 15. West's Erich Bushong ended that threat with an interception in the end zone with 9:02 left.

The Wildcats never could get another sustained march going.

"I thought we did some good things in the fourth quarter. I thought our defense really came back after their long drive for a touchdown," said NCHS coach Hud Venerable. "Having the wind helped, but I thought our punt team did a nice job.

"I thought our players maintained their composure in the fourth quarter."

Linebackers Sam Smith and Jake Detmers paced NCHS with 10 tackles each, while linemen Nick Price and Jake Kretlow each had eight tackles.

Instead of protecting a shutout in the fourth quarter, the Ironmen defense had to protect the victory.

They were more than up to the challenge.

"All of us were psyched and ready," said Smith. "We had it in our minds that we weren't going to let them score. There's too much pride on our defense."

West's defense showed plenty of pride, too.

The Ironmen drove 57 yards on their first possession and 60 yards on the second. Clayton's second TD came on a quarterback draw with the Ironmen facing a fourth down-and-two situation.

"We went to more of a goal-line set in the beginning and we didn't do the things we normally do," said Hess. "We went back to our base fronts where our kids feel more comfortable. Shame on me, I guess, we should have went earlier.

"When you face a team like this you want to get people up to take away their run threats. It just cost us early."

Clayton completed 7 of 14 attempts for 108 yards and ran for a game-high 80 yards. Sophomore Darius Bell paced the Wildcats with 59 yards rushing.

"We came in expecting a dogfight and that's just what it was," said Smith. "They played hard and we played hard. We were fortunate to come out with a 'W.' "