For the Daily Journal
Decatur Central senior running back Kenny Tracy wanted to put on a show for older brother Tyrone Tracy Jr., a freshman wide receiver from the University of Iowa’s football team.
With Iowa on a bye this weekend, Tyrone was there to watch his brother score five touchdowns in the Class 5A No. 2 Hawks’ 40-18 victory over Greenwood in Mid-State action Friday night.
“Shout-out to my brother for coming here,” Kenny Tracy said. “I had to show off for him.”
Tracy caught scoring passes of 40 and 44 yards and had touchdown runs of 33, 24, and 10 for the Hawks (6-1, 4-1).
On his 40-yard TD catch, he shed tacklers for the final several yards to give the Hawks a 20-0 lead in the second quarter.
“That felt great — the highlight of the game,” Tracy said.
Greenwood coach Mike Campbell was impressed.
“They have some athletes who made plays,” said Campbell, whose team lost its fifth game in a row to see its record fall to 1-6 and 0-5. “They got us in some one-on-one situations. Our kids competed. We played hard and were physical. All the things we really struggled for the last four weeks, we were much better. Now there is still room for improvement and we are going to keep working to improve.”
Campbell said the players’ will and determination were better.
“On a few plays Tracy got loose, he’s fantastic,” Campbell said. “That’s why he’s a D-I football player.”
Senior running back Nick Willham led the Woodmen with 167 yards on 18 carries.
“He’s a hammer; he plays hard,” Campbell said. “He’s not going to blind you with athleticism or speed. He’s a hard-nosed kid who brings his lunch pail to work every day.”
Willham, a 5-foot-11, 195-pound senior, had big runs of 36 and 54 yards and scored on a 14-yard TD in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 33-12.
“We made some tweaks on the offensive line for the second half,” Campbell said. “They did a good job. Our running backs ran hard, they were physical, they were downhill.”
The Woodmen’s 5-8, 265-pound senior Anthony Williams scored from 13 yards out with 1:58 left in the first half.
“It was third and short and they pinched, (Williams) bounced it outside, hit a seam and was gone,” Campbell said. “He runs a 5.7 40 so it must have been a pretty big hole for him to score.”
That narrowed the deficit to 20-6, but the Hawks scored once more before halftime to regain complete control.
Greenwood’s final TD came with 2:25 left on a 6-yard run by freshman Gavin Ruppert.
“We did some nice things. The outcome isn’t what we wanted, but there are things we can build on going forward,” Campbell said.
