Plainfield Central 21, Neuqua Valley 17
Along with blocking and tackling, another constant in football is that a rough start will bring out the philosopher in a coach.
Unfortunately for Neuqua Valley, it was coach Bryan Wells who had to reach into his bag of motivational tricks after the Wildcats fell to 0-2 with a 21-17 loss at Plainfield Central on Friday night.
"I told them that you find out your real character when things are going bad," Wells said. "I told them a quote from Martin Luther King: 'The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.' We're in the midst of it, but we're gonna get better."
Compared to their 27-point loss to Naperville North a week earlier, Friday's performance was much better. The game featured 5 lead changes. The last came when Plainfield Central quarterback Cyle Schultz snuck in from 1-yard out with eight minutes to play.
The winning drive was set up by Joe Costello's interception and received a boost when Schultz hooked up with Mike Moderhack for 31 yards to the Neuqua Valley 9.
Neuqua Valley did have a chance for last-minute heroics as the running of Anton Wilkins and Tim Smith moved the ball to the Plainfield Central 16, but a holding penalty on fourth down, when it appeared quarterback Alex Lincoln had run for a first down, spelled the end.
It was the second crushing penalty of the night for Neuqua, which had a Wilkins touchdown run in the first quarter overruled by another holding call.
That drive did end with points as Nick Schneider booted a 30-yard field goal. Plainfield Central (1-1) answered with Schultz's 8-yard TD toss to Brandon Wilson, but Neuqua responded with a 24-yard scoring hookup with Steve Kozole with five minutes left in the half.
The key sequence of the first half came on Neuqua Valley's next possession when Chris Schultz picked off a Lincoln pass. Cyle Schultz worked the two-minute drill with aplomb, capping it with a 43-yard touchdown pass to Mark Baron with 15 seconds on the clock.
"That was a key play," Schultz said. "It was all streaks, everyone running a fly and the safety came up and I just threw it over him."
Neuqua Valley did take the lead back on its first third-quarter possession as J.J. DeHaan's 61-yard run set up Wilkins' 1-yard plunge, but the Wildcats couldn't make it hold up.
"It stinks, I don't like it, I don't like losing, I don't like losing to them," Wells said. "I guess we're bringing out the best in everybody so far."