Waubonsie Valley makes Naperville Central play its game
Waubonsie Valley's football program made its last trip to the state semifinals in 1992.
Seemed only fitting for the Warriors to go old school while earning their return trip on Saturday.
With Max Ihry leading a punishing ground game and near flawless defense, Waubonsie Valley defied its playoff seed again by beating DuPage Valley Conference rival Naperville Central 17-0 in Saturday's Class 8A quarterfinals in Aurora.
The 30th-seeded Warriors (8-4) — who handed No. 6 Naperville Central (10-2) both its losses this season — advance to the semifinals for the second time in program history to face Saturday night's winner between No. 23 Marist (7-4) and No. 15 Oswego (9-2).
“We were hearing that all week from the coaches that only one team has ever made it to the semifinals in '92,” Ihry said. “It feels great to be a part of school history as one of the best teams to play, but we're not done yet. We're ready to just keep going.”
Ihry again carried the load with 29 carries for 143 yards and a 2-yard third-quarter touchdown run that boosted a 3-0 halftime lead to 10-0. When quarterback Jack Connolly added a 10-yard touchdown run in the opening minute of the fourth quarter, Waubonsie Valley was in complete control at 17-0.
Naperville Central still had 11 minutes to work with, but a rally seemed unlikely. The Warriors' defense surrendered only 183 total yards to the Redhawks' potent offense, but the bigger issue was ball control.
After the Redhawks ran only 15 offensive plays in the first half, Waubonsie Valley's grinding option attack chewed up precious minutes with each second-half possession. Even if Naperville Central could move the ball, it was unlikely to get the ball enough times to make up the deficit.
“The better team won today,” said Redhawks coach Mike Stine. “They played faster. They played quicker. We made some mistakes early and they were able to capitalize. I give all the credit to Waubonsie. They were the better football team today, offensively and defensively.”
As good as Waubonsie Valley's defense was the entire game, the unit's biggest play came on the Redhawks' opening drive in the first quarter. Naperville Central marched to a first-and-goal at the 9-yard line, but Ihry forced a fumble and Trevon Moore recovered the loose ball.
It was the first of three turnovers for the Warriors' defense, including a fourth-quarter interception by Moore.
Naperville Central twice had the ball inside the Warriors' 35-yard line in the third quarter, but Jake Julian and others came up with a trio of sacks to thwart the drives.
“We've had a knack for getting them to turn the ball over,” said Warriors coach Paul Murphy. “I don't know what the magic potion is, but we've got to figure it out and bottle that sucker.”
Lee Bell's 24-yard field goal put the Warriors ahead 3-0 at the half.
Naperville Central quarterback Conor Joyce completed 12 of 20 passes for 120 yards, including 7 catches for 63 yards by Emmanuel Rugamba. Connolly completed 8 of 9 passes for 72 yards.
“It's huge,” Moore said. “Coach told us it was going to be a 48-minute game. Forty-eight minutes of rock 'em, sock 'em football. That's what we've been coming out and doing for two halves of football.”
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