A mad win for Waubonsie
When Waubonsie Valley quarterback Jack Connolly makes his coaches mad, good things happen.
Like last week, on Friday a long run by the senior quarterback sparked the Warriors, setting up a touchdown to tie Glenbard North. Connolly added a 14-yard touchdown pass to tight end Charles Robinson for a 14-7 DuPage Valley Conference victory at Dick Kerner Stadium in Aurora.
Glenbard North (0-2, 0-2) led 7-0 on a 3-yard run by Vittorio Tricase and Steven Adamatis' conversion kick with 42 seconds left in the first quarter.
Waubonsie (2-0, 2-0) had gained 1 first down in three possessions until Connolly followed pulling left tackle Quinton Zielke through a right-side gap, 89 yards to the Panthers' 1-yard line. Max Ihry slammed in for the touchdown and Lee Bell supplied the kick to tie 7-7 at 6:18 of the second quarter.
"Sometimes when they get mad at me that I'm not running the option right or I'm making wrong reads, they run that play because I have to run it, I have no choice. Our O-line blocks it great, just a big hole," Connolly said of his long gain.
"I think I've got to run that play earlier to wake him up, because once I did that he was fine. Did the same thing last week," Warriors coach Paul Murphy said.
The margin obviously thin in this first meeting between the teams, the deciding score followed Ray Braun's recovery of a Glenbard North fumble at the Panthers' 26-yard line. Add a pass interference penalty and the Warriors were set up for Robinson's game-winning touchdown catch.
"Too many flags on our side," said Glenbard North running back Devion Hodges, who carried 26 times for 127 yards. "We weren't focused that well. We prepared hard, but we lost it."
Waubonsie fans could relate when with 1:44 left in the game the Warriors lost a fumble at their own 32-yard line, recovered by Panthers linebacker Ryan Noeun. On the first play quarterback Shane Conway threw to Jace James for an apparent touchdown, but a procedure penalty called it back.
"I did see the flag fly right away, so that alleviated my stress really quick," Murphy said.
The Panthers were unable to connect again with James, who caught 4 passes for 105 yards, and Waubonsie worked the victory formation.
Glenbard North allowed 8 first downs and 166 yards.
"We just need to do a better job finishing drives," coach Ryan Wilkens said. "They made some nice plays on us and then we didn't help ourselves at times either getting a holding call or jumping (offside). The defense played well, they played great."