"I'm very confident in our offensive line and our running backs to get the job done," Bloomington High School quarterback Jeremy Peden said. "We always step it up when it's time to go."

Friday night, "time to go" came late in the third quarter, with the Purple Raiders trailing rival Normal Community, 20-12, at Hancock Stadium.

BHS used a 17-play, 99-yard drive to pull within 20-18 midway through the fourth quarter, then went 57 yards in eight plays to go ahead with 44 seconds left. Star tailback James Wade scooted the final 11 yards and the Raiders held on for a 24-20 Big 12 Conference victory, extending their regular-season streak to 36.

"I just told the guys we had to drive down the field, that we had to be patient," said Wade, who finished with 134 yards on 21 carries. "We had to rely on each other and have that faith in our teammates. We just took it one step at a time."

BHS, ranked No. 10 in Class 6A, converted three times on third down and once on fourth-and-20 during its 99-yard drive. Fullback Justin Harrison went the final yard for the touchdown, but when the two-point conversion pass failed, the Raiders (2-0 overall and in the Big 12) trailed 20-18 with 6:07 left.

A third-down sack by Matt Logsdon forced eighth-ranked NCHS (1-1, 1-1) to punt on its ensuing possession.

BHS took over with 3:43 left and moved down the field behind Wade, who ran for 31 yards on five carries. Peden added two key passes -- leaping to get off an 18-yard completion to Harrison and hitting Adrian Arrington for a 10-yard gain.

"I like putting the ball in James' and Justin's hands," Peden said. "I know when we're down, they want the ball."

"We just knew we had to play hard until the last second," said Harrison, a University of Illinois recruit. "They don't get any better than that."

NCHS took a 13-12 lead late in the first half on an 11-yard TD pass from Jake Hopper to tight end Alex Meier. The Ironmen made it 20-12 with 9:05 left in the third quarter when Hopper hit Meier again from five yards out, then kicked the extra point.

NCHS' defense helped create the cushion with two Matt Lynch interceptions and a Drew Oman fumble recovery. But BHS found its rhythm late, amassing 156 of its 359 total yards on the final two drives.

"I thought the kids showed a lot of heart," BHS coach Rigo Schmelzer said. "I think this is something that's going to help my quarterback. I also think it's going to help a lot of kids who had to question themselves: 'What are we really made out of? Can we play in big games?'"

NCHS coach Hud Venerable said the loss "stings a little bit because we had the game, I felt."

"When you go on top and have field position in your favor, you would expect to finish the game and walk away with a win," Venerable added. "To their credit, they dug themselves out of a hole and rallied. They came through with many conversions they needed to keep those drives alive."

Fullback Antoine Kennedy ran for 60 yards on 13 carries for NCHS, including a 4-yard touchdown. Peden ran 25 yards for a score and had a 9-yard TD pass to Brandon Hughes.

Peden was 8 of 14 passing for 127 yards and also rushed for 65 yards. Hopper was 8 of 14 for 82 yards against the BHS defense, which received 10 tackles each from Harrison, Dane Ramirez and Brent Holtz.

Contact Randy Kindred atrkindred@pantagraph.com