Naperville N. 35, Naperville Central 13

Naperville Central quarterback Harrison Daniels put up some big numbers Friday night against Naperville North, but that's not to say he was feeling all that great afterward.

Despite passing for 312 yards and two scores, Daniels and the Redhawks (3-3, 2-2) were not able to slow down unbeaten Naperville North as the Huskies prevailed 35-13 in front of a full house at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium at North Central College.

Daniels was feeling the effects of a tough loss coupled with several hard blows to his body. The Huskies hurried the Redhawks quarterback into a key interception in the first quarter that set up Naperville North's first touchdown. Naperville North (6-0, 4-0) also sacked Daniels six times and hit him hard on many other occasions.

"We wanted to get to him a lot because we knew he was a good quarterback," said Huskies defensive lineman Kyle Lackner, who spent much of the evening chasing Daniels down. "Coach (Sean) Drendel called a lot of good schemes that got the D-ends and the linebackers some sacks. We got some good pressure."

It was pressure from Lackner and Vince Mazzone that forced Daniels into a rushed throw that was intercepted by Ben Kelsey at the Redhawks' 13-yard line in the first quarter. Kelsey returned the ball to the Naperville Central 9 and two plays later Naperville North fullback Tyrone Saunders pushed his way into the end zone with the first of his two 1-yard scores.

"I attribute that interception a lot to the defensive line," Kelsey said. "They made him scramble and throw on the run and I got a hand on it and was lucky to pull it down. Then our offense did what it's done all year: turn turnovers into points."

The Huskies upped their lead to 21-0 in the second quarter following TD runs from Jordan Tassio and Tom Costantino, but Daniels and Co. would not go down without a fight.

First the Redhawks struck on an 80-yard touchdown pass to Mike Schmitz, who finished the game with 8 catches for 187 yards. That cut the gap to 21-7 at the half. Then Daniels guided a hurry-up offense at the start of the second half and the Redhawks drove inside the Huskies 5-yard line before another costly turnover did them in. Danny Hess caused a fumble and Lackner came away with the ball at the 4-yard line.

Instead of a chance to get within 21-14, the Redhawks let a golden chance slip away and Naperville North proved to be too good of a team to let off the hook. Saunders scored on a 1-yard run late in the third quarter and, after Central turned the ball over on downs deep in its own territory, the Huskies sealed the win with Tassio's 29-yard TD pass to Costantino to make it 35-7 with 11:05 left in the fourth quarter.

"I'm proud as heck," Central coach Mike Stine said. "We battled and that's a good football team they have there. North made the plays but I felt like we grew up a little bit."

Daniels, looking a little worn out afterward, wished his team could have taken back the two costly turnovers.

"We got it going after a slow start, but a couple times we got it close and then mistakes got us," he said. "I threw a pick that set up a touchdown and you can't do that against good teams. I'm a little sore but mostly it's from the loss."