Rockton

Hononegah opens the 2022 IHSA Playoffs Friday night

Indians host Ironmen at 7 p.m. in Round 1 of the 7A IHSA Football Playoffs

Harold Bone

Oct 27, 2022 — 2 min read

UPDATE: The score Friday night was 13-44, as Normal Community outscored Hononegah in a first-round matchup.

For the 15th straight season, the Hononegah Indians will be playing a game in the football playoffs. This year’s opening foe is the Normal Community Ironmen at Kelsey Field with kickoff set for 7 pm on Friday, Oct 28, 2022.

The Ironmen come into the game with a record of 6-3 overall and 5-2 in the Big Twelve Conference with a winning streak of 5 games. They finished 4th in the tough Central Illinois Big Twelve conference. The 3 teams who finished ahead of them were a combined 23-4 on the season. Normal West won the conference with a 7-0 conference record and gained themselves a #3 seed in 6A.

The Ironmen have been to the playoffs 14 years in a row, winning a 6A state title against Batavia in the 2006. They have scored 301 points on the season (avg. 33 ppg) so far while allowing 219 (24 ppg). Historically, Normal plays at the 6A level for football in the playoffs; however, due to some teams winning in 6A last week, they got bumped to 7A.

Hononegah is playing almost a mirror image of their own program, having finished this season at 7-2 overall and 7-2 in the NIC 10. Of course, every season has its own hurdles and challenges. This season may have been a bit tougher due to replacing many, many key players from last season’s conference championship squad and overcoming injuries to key players this season, while also having some changes at the top of the coaching staff due to health reasons.

With all that, the Indians really improved on the season and developed a toughness and grit that every coach and fan should be proud of. That doesn’t mean they don’t have a boatload of talent across the board, from QB Cole Warren on offense to DB Isaiah Houi on defense. The offensive and defensive lines have improved by leaps and bounds, creating holes for the ever-improving running game and wrecking game plans for opposing offenses.