Defending champion Tigers leap past Hinsdale Central

Even with an entirely new cast of characters, Ron Muhitch knows his Wheaton Warrenville South Tigers are going to take everybody's best shot this season.

"People are tired of listening about the Tigers, as they would anybody else," he said. "Hinsdale Central didn't read our press clippings at all."

The defending Class 8A champions, who return just four starters from a year ago, weathered their first challenge of the season Friday, defeating Hinsdale Central 20-6 in front of a packed house at Red Grange Field in Wheaton.

"We have to come out and play like the defending state champions we know we are," said senior Francis Adarkwa, who ran for 82 yards in 16 carries in stepping into the shoes of all-state back Dan Dierking. "We have to make a name for ourselves."

Adarkwa's 5-yard touchdown run in the final seconds of the first quarter capped off a 13-play, 93-yard drive to stake WW South to a 6-0 lead.

Tigers quarterback Mike Piatkowski, who started two games last year, completed a 20-yard pass to Craig Brown on third and 16 to keep the drive alive. For the game Piatkowski completed 11 of 22 passes for 154 yards.

"He can throw the deep ball, he reads defenses well and can find the open receiver," Muhitch said. "We caught them twice down the middle with the tight end, which were huge plays."

Hinsdale Central had a chance to match WW South's touchdown in the final moments of the first half, as quarterback John Whitelaw's 40-yard keeper took the Red Devils to the Tigers' 7.

But a holding penalty backed up Hinsdale Central, and a 21-yard field goal went wide as the half ended.

The Red Devils later had a critical 15-yard penalty on a WW South punt to keep a Tigers' drive alive in the fourth quarter, resulting in Piatkowski's 5-yard touchdown pass to Mike Sloboda for a 20-6 lead.

"We made a bunch of tiny errors and they didn't," Hinsdale Central coach Mike DiMatteo said. "Those are the things that, especially in Week 1, are going to come back to get you."

Piatkowski earlier connected with Chris Schweighardt for a 36-yard Ȣ₈¬Ã¢â‚¬ˆťtouchdown on WW South's first drive of the second half to make it 13-0. Hinsdale Central pulled to within 13-6 in the first minute of the fourth, as a 47-yard pass from Whitelaw to Troy Laing set up Bill Auriemma's 1-yard touchdown run.

Whitelaw, in his first start as a sophomore running a Northwestern-style spread offense, completed 11 of 22 passes for 143 yards and ran for 84 yards on 15 carries.

"I knew this would be a tough game for us," Muhitch said. "We'll get better."