Peoria High boasts the best receiver group in the state. Now they're playoff-bound

PEORIA — Jaivyn Moore started out with his 2-year-old brother, Knowledge, in his arms and ended up with the Peoria High offense on his shoulders for key portions of a comeback win Friday over Normal West.

Moore had five catches for 132 yards and three touchdowns, while fellow receiver TQ Webb added six catches for 79 yards and 1 TD.

It was enough to overcome a three-point deficit heading into the fourth quarter and beat Normal West, 62-41, to clinch an Illinois High School Association playoff spot at Peoria Stadium.

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Peoria High running back Maliek Ross brought the hammer with two fourth-quarter touchdowns and ran 35 times for 234 yards and three scores. Quarterback Tino Gist was 14-of-23 for 233 yards and four TDs as he enjoyed a deep Peoria High receiver group.

"We have the best wide receiver group in the state," Gist said. "Our guys are the most versatile in Illinois, and they are determined. The day after we lost the championship game (last season) we met, five receivers and a quarterback, and started practicing and we did that every day, all summer.

"We're on a mission to get that ring."

Peoria High's Fab Five

The Lions receiver group is led by 6-foot-4 senior Moore, who now has 42 catches for 650 yards and a unit-best 10 touchdowns. There is TQ Webb, a junior, who has 27 catches for 568 yards and five touchdowns. And there's Sean Franklin, a 6-foot-3 senior, who has 29 catches for 327 yards and five touchdowns. Spencer Russell and Jaylen Rayford round out a receivers unit in which all five players have at least four touchdown catches this season.

That's 28 TD catches among the quintet. The big three — Moore, Webb and Franklin — have a combined 98 catches, 1,545 yards and 20 touchdowns.

"Their diversity on the field is huge for us," Peoria High coach Tim Thornton said. "Moore is terrific, TQ Webb catches balls from anywhere, and Franklin out there with them, it makes us really dangerous."

Moore, whose father, Patrick Moore, was among the top 10 receivers in the IHSA in 1997, stood surrounded by his family before and after the game. He's been playing football since his JFL days, always as a receiver. He transferred into this Peoria High team from Richwoods, where he also played basketball last season.

"We have so many deep threats," he said. "You might stop one of us on a given play, but you're never going to stop all of us. A couple of us are always going to be open."

Said Franklin, who transferred in from Metamora in his sophomore year: "We spent time together in the offseason, built chemistry. I have faith in this receiving corps, we have so much depth, so many ways we can succeed."

Rain, soap on the ball, and 62-41

A light, but steady rain impacted the game in the first half. Then in the third quarter, heavy rain and wind punished Peoria Stadium, and the Lions saw a 38-28 halftime lead flip to a 41-38 deficit.

"The weather completely impacted the things we wanted to do," Thornton said. "It made a world of difference. We knew this was coming, we tried to prepare for it by practicing all week, pouring soap on the footballs to make them slippery."

Peoria High's first points came on a 55-yard pick-6 by Gary Rutherford, the first of his two interceptions. Gist fired a 52-yard TD pass to Moore for a 16-14 lead late in the first quarter. Then he hit Webb with a 27-yard TD pass for a 22-14 lead early in the second quarter.

The Lions built a 30-14 lead with 6:13 left in the half on a drive in which Ross carried seven times and capped it with a 2-yard plunge.

Gist hit Moore with a 47-yard TD strike for 38-22 with 4:14 left in the half.

Then a key moment followed, as Peoria High got a stop, then saw Gist toss a 69-yard TD to Webb. But the score was wiped out by a holding penalty, West took over the ball and got an 18-yard TD catch from Sencerre Brown to close to within 38-28 with 2 seconds left in the half.

Peoria High went scoreless in the third quarter amid heavy rain and wind, while Normal West turned the game.

They recovered a fumble on the Lions 8 and Gavin Camp powered across from the 1 on fourth-and-goal to close to within 38-34.

A four-down stop of the Lions followed, and Normal West took over on the 29 and took a 41-38 lead on a 29-yard TD catch from Brown with 21 seconds left in the quarter.

Then the rain … just … stopped. And so did Normal West.

The Lions blew them out of the quarter, getting a 25-yard TD run from Ross up the middle at 11:28 for a 46-41 lead, then a fourth-and-goal 5-yard TD slant to Moore for a 54-41 dagger.

Peoria High defensive back Spencer Russell broke up a fourth-and-5 pass at the Lions 45 to take back possession with 2:03 left.

Normal West melted down after that play, drawing four deadball unsportsmanlike conduct penalties that left the Lions with the ball on the 6.

Ross did the honors from there for 62-41.

"That rain, it definitely was a challenge at first," Moore said. "I got down for a moment in that third quarter, bad weather conditions, trailing in the game. But we turned it around. Everyone came through."

Said Thornton: "We came through it, survived that weather. We got the ball to Ross in the fourth quarter and he just went into workhorse mode."

Short yardage

Normal West took four unsportsmanlike conduct deadball penalties after being stopped on downs with 2:03 left in the game, and that resulted in the ejections of two coaches and two players. ... Peoria High tight end Deuce Thornton was down on the turf for a few minutes late in the first quarter and suffered a right knee injury. He left the game and did not return, watching — and yelling and leading — from the sidelines on crutches. … Peoria High (6-2 overall, 6-1 in conference) took over sole possession of second in the Big 12 with the win over Normal West (6-2, 5-2).

Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men's basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @icetimecleve.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Peoria High football boasts deep and talented receiving corps