Waubonsie Valley 28, Naperville Central 21

A pair of quarterbacks threw the football like they were in a midseason groove, and an air show broke out Saturday afternoon in Naperville.

Waubonsie Valley's Tyler Castro and Naperville Central's Harrison Daniels each threw 3 touchdown passes.

But it was Kenny Harrington's 38-yard run midway through the fourth quarter that made the difference as the Warriors won the first regular-season meeting between the two schools 28-21.

"This was a big game for us, but it was just one game," Waubonsie Valley coach Paul Murphy said. "We're going to enjoy this, but we'll go back to work on Monday."

Castro connected with Ty Williams on a fade into the left corner of the end zone with 2:42 left in the first quarter to put the Warriors up 7-0.

Waubonsie Valley extended its lead to 14-7 early in the second quarter as Castro found Ben Smith wide open in the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown toss.

"We definitely had something to prove today," Castro said. "We came out here with a little chip on our shoulder and took it to them."

Daniels got his offense going on the next drive as the Redhawks matched their opponents' efforts through the air and marched deep into Waubonsie Valley territory.

The drive appeared to have stalled, but on fourth and 13, from the 23, Daniels found Mike Schmitz for a touchdown.

"We started out slow, but then the offense really picked it up," Schmitz said.

The Warriors answered with a 12-play, 90-yard drive, capped by a 10-yard touchdown pass from Castro to Drew Warden. That gave Waubonsie Valley a 21-7 lead at the half.

"Our kids battled hard, we just didn't make enough plays," Naperville Central coach Mike Stine said.

The Redhawks knew they needed to come out of the break and make a statement. They did that when Daniels found Schmitz beyond the coverage for a 69-yard touchdown pass on the third play of the second half.

But Harrington broke through the line and cleared the defense on Waubonsie Valley's next play from scrimmage for what turned out to be the winning touchdown.

"I was close to breaking one the whole game," Harrington said. "We were executing almost perfectly."

Daniels led the Redhawks on an efficient 80-yard drive, capped by his third touchdown pass to Schmitz to close out the scoring.

"(Daniels) can do a lot of different things out there," Stine said. "He's like a coach on the field."