Montini 55, Aurora Central 20

John Borsellino is small in stature, but Aurora Central Catholic discovered the Montini senior has the heart of a champion.

In Suburban Catholic Conference football action Friday night in Aurora, the Broncos ran only 38 plays from scrimmage. They were efficient.

Borsellino jump-started the Broncos' first-quarter offense with a 37-yard screen pass, the first of 4 Tom DiCristina touchdown passes, and Montini went on to cruise to a 55-20 victory.

Montini is 4-0, 2-0 in the league; Aurora Central fell to 1-3, 1-1.

The senior added a pair of first-half interceptions and gave Montini a commanding 48-7 lead at the intermission when he scampered 14 yards with a lateral for his second score.

"Borsellino is a tremendous player," said Montini coach Chris Andriano. "He may be the best player on our team."

That is quite a statement considering the Broncos have three players committed to play in the Big Ten next fall.

"It was just wide open," Borsellino said of capping the Broncos' 4-play, 56-yard drive to start the game. "Our line picked up their blocks, and the wide receivers did a great job blocking down field. Our D-line was putting some pressure on the quarterback (on the 2 interceptions)."

Dex Jones touched the ball only five times on offense, but the Wisconsin-bound running back had double-digit productions on each effort.

Jones countered the lone Aurora Central first-half touchdown with a 60-yard burst to give Montini a 27-7 lead, and the cushion soon swelled when Dan Stelter returned a fumble 47 yards for another score.

Borsellino had 3 receptions for 46 yards after his second pick, and he added his scoring jaunt in the final minute of the second quarter.

The only question at halftime was at what point a running clock would be ushered in.

The answer proved to be a minute and 23 seconds of third-quarter play.

Jones had a 43-yard catch on the Broncos' second play after the break, and DiCristina found Brian Zirko all alone from 8 yards out to set the continuous clock in motion.

DiCristina connected with Sal Mazzulla and Christian Westerkamp for his other scores, ending the game with 240 yards on 13-of-25 accuracy.

"We really wanted to see if we could throw the ball," Andriano said. "Protection was very good, and we're at the top of our game. We're a pretty explosive team."

Mike Adams was the offensive workhorse of Aurora Central; the junior quarterback completed 19 passes for 202 yards and toted the ball an equal number of times for 28 punishing yards.

Adams found his older brother Mike as well as Kyle Edwards and Chad Roscoe with touchdown receptions.

Roscoe gained Aurora Central 97 yards on his 4 receptions.

"We were trying to establish a running game," said Aurora Central coach Mike Curry. "(The Broncos are) clearly better and have far better athletes. There's no rest for the weary -- that's just our league."

-- Kevin McGavin

Immaculate Conception 21, St. Edward 20:ŒThe decision was easy.

The result was a historic loss.

St. Edward's 2-point conversion attempt late in the fourth quarter was stuffed as Immaculate Conception handed the Green Wave its school-record 24th consecutive loss with a 21-20 victory in Elgin.

"We felt like we could win the game," St. Edward senior Matt Ardiente said. "It was a decision as a team. We just went for it. We believed we could get it but came up short."

The Green Wave (0-4, 0-2 Suburban Catholic Conference) scored with 1:40 remaining in the fourth quarter on Ardiente's 35-yard run around right end. St. Edward called timeout and coach Mike Rolando said the decision was unanimous -- go for the victory.

Moises Quiroga took a toss right but was stood up by several Immaculate Conception defenders at the 2-yard line.

"The team, even after the game, said we had to try it. The coaches said we had to try it," Rolando said. "We wanted to go for the win."

"We knew they were going to go for it," Knights coach Bill Schmidt said. "Someone has to make a play or you're going to go home with a 'L.' We made one more play than they did."

The Knights (2-2, 1-1) recovered the onside kick and kneeled three times to leave with the victory despite only earning 6 first downs.

St. Edward has not won since Week 7 of the 2004 season, a 45-14 victory over Aurora Central Catholic.

The Green Wave defense kept it in Friday's game in the first half when neither team got anything going offensively. Each team had less than 80 yards of offense in the opening half. The only score came on a 10-yard run from IC quarterback Will Cronin with 39.3 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

Jonathon Ellis, who finished with 102 yards rushing, gave the Knights a 14-0 lead three plays into the second half with a 59-yard touchdown run.

St. Edward responded with a 12-play, 80-yard drive, which was capped by a 13-yard run by Ardiente.

After an IC punt the Green Wave tied the game after a Ryan Gilbert 2-yard score.

Paul Hornstra's 56-yard touchdown run on the next play from scrimmage gave the Knights the lead again, 21-14, with 10:29 left in fourth quarter.

The Green Wave got the ball on its 26-yard line with 3:50 remaining. On the seventh play of the drive, Ardiente broke free for his second touchdown of the game before the failed conversion attempt. Ardiente gained 92 yards, 85 in the second half.

"We opened it up a little bit," Rolando said about his team's offense that scored on three of its four second-half possessions. "(IC) was taking the inside stuff away. We had to figure out how to get the ball outside."

"It was not how we wanted to get it done, but we got the win," Schmidt said. "We have to find a way to cut down on our mental errors. We have to find a way to execute where 11 guys are doing the same thing on every play. We have to do a better job of being more consistent."

-- Brian Schaumburg

Geneva 17, Glenbard South 0:ŒLike a good baseball pitcher, the Geneva and Glenbard South defenses put up a lot of zeroes in Glen Ellyn.

Through three quarters each football team was pitching a shutout.

After the fourth quarter only Geneva still had its shutout.

A Sean Grady field goal and 2 Michael Ratay touchdowns gave the Vikings (4-0, 2-0) a 17-0 Western Sun Conference victory.

After gaining only 16 yards on 10 first-half carries, Ratay ran for 108 yards on 19 second-half carries.

A 14-play drive to the Glenbard South 5-yard line saw Ratay get the ball 8 times before Grady's 28-yard field goal.

Two plays later the Vikings recovered a fumble at the Raiders 38. They needed just 3 plays to convert the touchdown: a 34-yard pass to Joe Augustine and a pair of Ratay runs, and suddenly a tie score had grown to a seemingly huge 10-point margin with 10:43 to play.

This time Glenbard South (2-2, 0-2) marched the ball into Geneva territory before another turnover, an interception by senior defensive back Jake Conforti off a receiver's hands.

Eight plays later Ratay scored from 19 yards out with 6:44 to go.

Twice in the final two minutes the Raiders drove inside the Vikings' 10-yard line, but junior quarterback Kevin Marshall was stopped inches short on a fourth-and-1 at the 8, and after a Geneva fumble the Raiders again turned the ball over on downs.

The Raiders finished with 4 turnovers on the night.

Marshall finished 14-of-29 passing for 163 yards.

-- Orrin Schwarz

Proviso East 21, Addison Trail 14:ŒThings were looking good for Addison Trail in the early going of its West Suburban Gold game against Proviso East. On the opening kickoff Blazers senior Mike DeStefano collected the ball and raced it back 76 yards for a touchdown just 12 seconds into the contest.

Addison Trail, however, could not maintain the momentum as the host Pirates came up with some big plays on special teams and on defense to capture a 21-14 victory in Maywood.

A key play for Proviso East came late in the first quarter when its rush defense blocked a punt. Linebacker Olajawon Claiborne picked up the loose ball and ran it in for a score from 38 yards out. That was the beginning of a run of 21 unanswered points.

"We got ourselves in a situation where there was a blocked punt and we didn't do the things that were necessary," said Addison Trail coach Paul Parpet. "We couldn't get them off the field at times. They hurt us on the perimeter."

Pirates sophomore halfback Darnell Swanigan gave the Blazers defense fits all night. He used his quickness to break long runs on the outside and also showed that he could hit the holes in the trenches. Swanigan piled up 119 yards on 23 carries, including a 5-yard touchdown scamper. He also had 2 long touchdown runs called back because of holding.

"He is lightning on the outside and in the inside," said Proviso East's Aaron Peppers. "He is only a sophomore and is an exceptional player. Every game I see him play, he gets better. He is showing that I made a great decision by bringing him up to varsity."

Addison Trail (1-3, 1-1) also got a strong running game from Michael D'Ambrose who gained 154 yards on 23 carries. D'Ambrose scored from 10 yards out with 1:14 left in the third quarter to make it 21-14. His run came one play after quarterback Zach Maxwell hit running back Vince Beachem on a huge 65-yard reception on the near sideline.

The Blazers moved the ball in the fourth quarter, but the Proviso East (2-2, 1-1) defense stopped them on two fourth-down attempts. Pirates defensive back James Cooper also came up with a crucial interception in the end zone in the final seconds of the second quarter as Addison Trail was on the Proviso East 6-yard line, poised to score.

"I thought we moved the football pretty good," Parpet said. "We couldn't get it in the end zone when we needed to get it into the end zone."

-- Brian Pitts

Ridgewood 20, Fenton 17:ŒAt times during Fenton's 20-17 loss to Ridgewood, the Bison defense seemed like a castle gate that couldn't quite withstand the battering ram that was Rebels fullback Chris Wood.

The 230-pound Wood carried tacklers with him all night to the tune of 121 rushing yards and a touchdown as the Bison fell in Metro Suburban Conference play in Norridge.

Afterward, Bison coach Mark Farrell bemoaned his squad's poor tackling, plus a failure in another key area.

"Execution," Farrell said.

Trailing by 3 late in the contest, Fenton's offense needed to drive the ball downfield from its own 39 yard-line, but struggled to keep things clean.

"We had a missed block on one play, we had a guy go the wrong way, and we've got to catch the ball when it's in our hands," Farrell said in describing Fenton's error-plagued final offensive series. "We just didn't make the plays when we needed to."

The Bison (1-3, 0-1) led 2-0 after a quarter thanks to a Casey Mohr sack in the end zone on Ridgewood's first offensive series of the game. The Rebels (2-2, 1-0) bounced back with an 80-yard scoring drive to take an 8-2 lead in the second quarter.

The Bison answered with their own 80-yard scoring drive -- which featured hard running by Mohr, a pair of long runs by quarterback Ricky Prignano, and a 21-yard pass play to Derek Potuszynski -- to go up 9-8.

Mohr gave Fenton the lead with a 7-yard touchdown run, but Ridgewood managed a 68-yard scoring drive just before the halftime buzzer to take a 14-9 lead into the locker room.

"We had a lot of missed tackles in the first half," Farrell said. "We didn't get six, seven hats on the ball, we didn't wrap, and we had our heads down."

Ridgewood marched 57 yards and took a 20-9 lead early in the third quarter.

Then Fenton went on 33-yard drive that featured a 31-yard pass play from Prignano to Brandon Moriarty, and a 1-yard touchdown run by Casey Sabala.

A 2-point conversion pass to D.J. Anderson finished the night's scoring. Fenton's defense came up big to stop a late Ridgewood drive before the Bison offense failed to execute down the stretch.

"It was a great team game for us, all the way around," Ridgewood coach Chris Zack said. "It's a good matchup. They're a tough team, and they're well-coached."

"They came out and played hard, didn't make as many mistakes, and when it came down to it, they made some plays," Farrell said.

-- Gary Larsen

Naperville North 37, West Chicago 0:ŒWest Chicago coach John Walters saw a lot of great things on the field. Unfortunately for him and his Wildcats, most of them were being turned in by unbeaten Naperville North.

After Walters watched the 4-0 Huskies dominate his squad 37-0 in Naperville, the Wildcats coach raved about how potent the Huskies' attack is (Friday's 37 points ended a three-game streak of scoring 40 or more points). Yet Walters added plenty of praise for a Naperville North defense that recorded its second shutout of the year.

"I just told the North guys that that's about as good a team as I've seen," said Walters, who has spent 12 years around the DuPage Valley Conference as a player and a coach. "Offensively, they're a five-headed monster. They've got a fullback, two tailbacks, a quarterback and a receiver. On defense their front seven is big, fast and strong. They're just a good football team."

West Chicago (1-3, 0-2) actually looked in position to score first following an apparent interception and 74-yard return by Barrett Serrato down to the Huskies' 18-yard line. But the Wildcats were whistled for interference on the play, and that set the stage for Nick Mlady's 8-yard touchdown run on the very next play that gave the Huskies a 7-0 lead.

The lead grew to 14-0 after one quarter following a 5-yard scoring run by Tom Costantino that was set up by the senior running back's 52-yard run.

"It was a mistake by us," Costantino said of the near-interception early on. "We were kind of lucky to get it back. Things kind of started going our way from the beginning."

With quarterback Jordan Tassio rushing for 117 yards and one score, Costantino going over 100 yards with 2 scores, and wide receiver Alex Dieckmann wrestling a pass away from Serrato for a sparkling 17-yard TD catch in the third quarter, it's no wonder Walters was impressed by Naperville North. The Huskies gained 348 yards on the ground compared to 37 for West Chicago.

Dieckmann is hopeful his team can continue its torrid pace when it travels to Glenbard North next Friday.

"Obviously, we want to go in their next week and do the same things," he said. "Glenbard North's a good team, but our offense is playing well and the defense has been huge. The defensive line is getting sacks, the linebackers are flying around and the DBs are playing well."

West Chicago quarterback Chris Wille completed 6 of 19 passes for 78 yards and was sacked 4 times. Tailback James Eckler was held to minus-1 yard on 7 carries by the Huskies defense.

-- Stan Goff

West Aurora 9, Glenbard East 6:ŒThere's nothing quite like your first win.

Just ask West Aurora coach Buck Drach, who earned his first DuPage Valley Conference victory in Friday's tightly contested 9-6 triumph over host Glenbard East.

"It means all the world to me," Drach said. "It means a start. Now we've got to build off of it."

Though they trailed nearly the entire game, the Blackhawks (3-1, 1-1) refused to leave Lombard empty-handed. West Aurora's offense displayed a strong essence of both resilience and determination on their game-clinching drive, marching 73 yards downfield in just 2:32.

"We had a couple kids that believed, and we finally got it going," Drach said. "We started running right at them, and that seemed to work."

Of West Aurora's final 73 yards, 53 came on the ground.

If not for a critical defensive stand, though, the Blackhawks may never have had an opportunity to win the game.

With 8:43 remaining in the game, Glenbard East (1-3, 0-2) took possession of the ball on its own 12-yard line. West Aurora's defense knocked the Rams back 8 yards, forcing Glenbard East to take a safety rather than risk a punt from its own end zone.

"(The) defense did a great job tonight," Drach said. "We put them in tough positions and they responded. Great players make great plays at big times."

Facing third-and-8 from the Rams 43-yard line, West Aurora quarterback John Nunnally found wideout Tim Soloff for a 20-yard gain that kept the chains moving. On the next play, senior Colton Winston galloped 23 yards to the end zone to put West Aurora ahead 8-6.

"Colton Winston did a great job in the second half running the football," Drach said. "He made some great plays and some great runs, our offensive line started blocking, and we just started clicking. I told him at halftime, I said, 'Look behind you. There's nobody there. It's you or nothing.' "

The Rams had an opportunity to increase their lead to 12 after recovering a fumble on West Aurora's 31-yard line, but gained only 5 yards before turning the ball over on downs.

"We had a chance to put another score on the board in the second half, but we just didn't make the plays," Rams coach Dennis Lueck said. "That's what really hurt us."

Junior Brandon Hayes made his Glenbard East debut a memorable one, racking up 126 yards on 28 carries to provide the Rams with a bright spot on offense.

-- Matthew McClarey