Wrap-up: Huskies, Tigers still perfect
The homecoming crowd at Naperville North was treated to a halftime fireworks show worthy of the Fourth of July on Friday night.
The Huskies didn't disappoint, either.
Naperville North blitzed to a 34-3 halftime lead on Wheaton North and went on to a 48-10 football win, setting up a showdown next Friday at Wheaton Warrenville South to decide the DuPage Valley Conference.
"It's as fine a football team as I've seen," Wheaton North coach Matt Foster said.
Naperville North's scoring in the first half was startling in its swiftness. A sample:
• Four plays, 60 yards, 1:37 of clock, a Nick Mlady 7-yard touchdown and 7-3 lead.
• Four Tyrone Saunders runs, 46 yards, 1:20, a Saunders 1-yard run, 14-3 lead.
• Five plays, 1 minute, 19-yard Patrick Waite touchdown run.
• Four plays, a Jordan Tassio 20-yard scramble for a touchdown, Tassio's second touchdown run of the half.
"We opened some big holes early and jumped on them in the second quarter," Huskies coach Larry McKeon said, "and then we were able to get the ball back and do it again. The momentum was going in our direction."
With starting running back Tom Costantino sidelined with an ankle injury, Waite got his first start of the year.
The Huskies didn't miss a beat.
Waite scored on touchdown runs of 19, 56 and 37 touchdowns. The 56-yarder came on the first play of the second half, making it 41-3.
"The blocking was unbelievable, everybody knew what they were doing and the holes were huge. I just ran straight ahead," Waite said.
"It was a great opportunity. It's unbelievable to have a great game like this."
McKeon expects Costantino back next week but did point out that Waite has returned two kickoffs for touchdowns in JV games and one at the varsity level.
"He's very fast," McKeon said. "He stepped in and did a great job."
Waite had 114 yards rushing for the game, and Tassio completed 9 of 10 passes for 98 yards and ran for 51 more.
For Wheaton North (4-4, 2-4), Mike Trumpy ran for 178 yards on 27 carries and a 2-yard touchdown.
The Huskies (8-0, 6-0) can now turn their attention to WW South. The game expected to determine the DVC will do just that.
"Every Saturday morning we open the newspaper to see how they did, just to see where they are," Tassio said. "Our coaches are always on us, telling us we can't let up. We have treated every game like we were playing Wheaton Warrenville South."
-- Joshua Welge
WW South 44, Glenbard East 13:ŒMike Piatkowski connected with Chris Schweighardt for a pair of opening quarter touchdown passes, and Mike Olp scored both times he touched the ball in the first half as Wheaton Warrenville South roared to a commanding lead on the way to a 44-13 win at Glenbard East.
Taking over on the Glenbard East 36-yard line after a short punt, Piatkowski hit Schweighardt for a touchdown on their first offensive play, just 90 seconds into the game.
"We faked a sweep to the left side, and I just popped out to the corner," Schweighardt said.
Four minutes later, the same two seniors got together for a 20-yard touchdown pass, putting the Tigers up 13-0 midway through the first quarter.
"We haven't been scoring much on our first drives, so it was big to get those touchdowns on the board," Piatkowski said.
The Rams came back as sophomore quarterback Jack Merrithey covered 51 yards on two carries, down to the Tigers 4-yard line. On fourth-and-goal, Merrithey found Jason Callahan, and the 6-foot senior out-jumped a defender for the touchdown.
"We tried to keep them off balance as much as we could," Glenbard East coach Dennis Lueck said. "We did a decent job of executing at times, but we missed some opportunities."
Schweighardt returned a punt 34 yards to put the Tigers at the Glenbard East 26-yard line early in the second quarter. Five plays later, Olp busted in from the 1.
The Rams answered on their next possession when Merrithey found Brandon Hayes for a 60-yard touchdown pass.
That score pulled the Rams (1-7, 0-6) within a touchdown of the DuPage Valley Conference co-leaders, but the Tigers (8-0, 6-0) took control of the game when Olp raced 69 yards for a touchdown off a screen pass.
"It was blocked perfectly, I didn't get touched for 20 yards," Olp said.
Leading 30-13 at the half, the Tigers put the game away with an 11-play, 65-yard scoring drive consuming over 6 minutes, and capped by Francis Adarkwa's 5-yard touchdown run.
The Tigers' final scoring play came on a 17-yard toss from Piatkowski to Schweighardt that produced the duo's third touchdown of the game.
"We're confident that our offense is able to do certain things," said WW South coach Ron Muhitch. "We did some good things tonight, but we'll have to play better next week."
-- Henry Perez
Lisle 27, Manteno 21 (OT):ŒJohn Surber's 7-yard run gave the Lions an Interstate Eight Conference Large Division football victory in Lisle.
After Dave Pawlowicz tackled Manteno running back Anthony Benegas on fourth-and-5 in the Panthers' series in overtime, the Lions went to work needing any kind of score to win on senior night.
Johnny Welch's 3-yard run took the ball to the 7-yard line. On the next play Surber rolled right, looked to pitch the ball, then tucked it in, cut toward the goal line and ran in untouched for the game-winning score.
"It was a nice read," Lisle coach Dan Sanko said.
After Manteno took a 7-0 first-quarter lead, the Lions used their running game to score the next two touchdowns. A Ricardo Lee 9-yard run tied the score in the second quarter, and Welch's 1-yard run gave the Lions the lead.
The Panthers tied the game at 14 when quarterback Austin Fregeau found his favorite target, receiver Joe Murphy, for an 8-yard grab three plays later.
After Manteno (3-5, 1-4) took a 7-point lead in the fourth quarter, the Lions (2-6, 2-3) tied it with 4:58 left in regulation when 6-foot-2 receiver Cameron Wright outleaped his defender, caught the ball and backpedaled into the end zone.
The Lions appeared on their way to winning the game, but their last drive fizzled on the Manteno 36 with 1:13 to go.
Manteno took a last shot in regulation with a 40-yard field goal that fell well short.
-- Orrin Schwarz
Fenton 14, Elmwood Park 13:ŒAfter you beat a football team by 34 points, you can come in overconfident when you play them a second time. Fenton survived that overconfidence in a 14-13 win over Elmwood Park on Friday.
The Bison trailed 6-0 at halftime to a team they dominated a month ago, but made a few big plays in the second half to earn the Metro Suburban Conference win on the Tigers' homecoming night.
"At halftime, we started to realize that Elmwood Park came ready to play," Fenton's Brandon Woodlock said. "We started to make plays, and execute."
D.J. Anderson pounced on a fumble in the end zone to tie the score in the third quarter, and Ben Weishaupt's extra point gave the Bison a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
Brandon Moriarty returned a punt to the Tigers' 12 yard-line to set up a 3-yard touchdown run by Ricky Prignano that gave Fenton (4-4, 3-2 MSC) a 14-6 lead, before the Tigers scored the game's final touchdown late in the third quarter.
"Defensively, I thought Brandon Moriarty played very well, Edgar Chaidez played well in the defensive backfield, and Wylie Dabrowski made some big plays at the end of the game for us," said Fenton coach Mark Farrell.
Elmwood Park (2-6, 0-5) came out hard, while Fenton's offense struggled to move the football. The Bison only managed 118 yards of total offense, to the Tigers' 189 yards on the night.
"Ricky (Prignano) played a gutsy game, again, but our line play was inconsistent," Farrell said. "Sometimes we were opening up some big holes and sometimes we weren't picking up the blitzes."
Down by a point, Elmwood Park had two offensive sets late in the fourth quarter that were thwarted on big defensive plays by Fenton.
Frankie Lazzara intercepted a pass downfield on the Tigers' first play from scrimmage, and Dabrowski sacked Elmwood Park quarterback Eddie Anderson on the game's final play to ensure the win.
The Bison will look to push their record above the .500 mark for the first time since starting the season at 1-0, when they take on Riverside-Brookfield in Bensenville next Friday.
"They'll be ready to play, and they'll want revenge from the last time we played them," Woodlock said. "We better come ready to play."
-- Gary Larsen
Lyons Twp. 21, Glenbard West 14:ŒFirst-year Glenbard West coach Chad Hetlet has said it many times before -- a loss, no matter how close, is still a loss.
Hetlet reiterated that point Friday night, as the Hilltoppers battled Lyons Twp. for four quarters before eventually surrendering a 21-14 decision in LaGrange.
Glenbard West (4-4, 2-3 West Suburban Silver) had a chance to tie the Lions near the end of the fourth quarter, taking over possession with 2:45 left on its own 35-yard line.
Senior quarterback Andrew Baldwin led the Hilltoppers to the Lyons 35-yard line before an illegal participation penalty on Glenbard West left the Hilltoppers in a fourth-and-6 situation. Baldwin's deep pass fell incomplete, and the Lions took over with 0:25 remaining in the game.
Though Glenbard West had already made a three-game improvement from this point last year, Hetlet felt his team came into the game a sizable underdog.
"No one believes we're going to be able to stay in a game with them anyway; they're mighty LT and we're just poor little Glenbard," Hetlet said. "Our kids come out, they sold themselves out on the field, they played their hearts out. … I'm just proud of the kids."
Glenbard West found themselves in a 7-point deficit twice in the game, yet battled back each time to tie the Lions (7-1, 4-1). After falling behind 7-0 four minutes into the opening quarter, Baldwin found senior Roger Pope wide open near the end zone for a 41-yard touchdown, knotting the game at 7-7.
Bryant Venson's 75-yard dash with 3:18 remaining in the third quarter tied the game at 14-14, giving the Hilltoppers reason to believe.
"We felt until the last drive in the second half that we could control the line of scrimmage," Hetlet said. "It kind of took us on a ride a little bit and we got our momentum."
The Lions roared back against Glenbard West's defense when it mattered most, though, capitalizing on a Hilltoppers fumble and marching 78 yards to go ahead 21-14.
"This was a huge test for us, especially on both sides of the ball," Lyons linebacker Barry Trilla said. "Everyone was just making plays and stepping up, and it was just a great effort by everybody."
"I'm proud of our kids. We rose to the occasion," Lions coach Jack Derning said. "(Glenbard West is) much better than 4-4. Those guys are going to be good in the future."
-- Matthew McClarey
York 35, Willowbrook 7:ŒSometimes the best defense is an even better offense, and York proved that correct as it beat Willowbrook 35-7 in a West Suburban Conference crossover game Villa Park.
All the Dukes (6-2) did for the game was pile up 506 yards of offense to go along with 22 first downs and dominate the time of possession by nearly a 2-to-1 ratio for the game.
"We had a goal coming into the game," York coach Bill Lech said. "We didn't want to punt. We talk about how important it is to sustain drives and finish the drives off. If we move the ball and eat up the clock I feel good about our chances to win ballgames."
One thing that helps dominate the time of possession is having a two-headed monster in the backfield with Mike McNulty and Spencer Ingle, enabling York to keep the ball on the ground and keep the clock ticking. That 1-2 punch proved to be very potent for the Dukes as the duo carried the ball 34 times for 315 yards and 5 touchdowns.
Ingle had 15 carries for 191 yards and 3 touchdowns. For the game Ingle had four touches that went for at least 26 yards, including 41 and 45-yard touchdown runs. He was quick to give credit to McNulty for his outburst against the Warriors (5-3).
"We both have great skills and bring a lot to the table," Ingle said. "It doesn't matter to us who scores. We get excited when both of us score. I like it when Mike scores because his motion opens up our entire offense, especially for me."
In the first half the Warriors got into trouble by allowing the Dukes to make plays at the end of both the first and second quarters.
To end the first quarter Ingle scored on a 16-yard trap play with 16 seconds remaining as he cut across the field and went in untouched. Then with 33 seconds left in the first half, York quarterback Tom Judge found McNulty for a 29-yard touchdown along the right sideline to give the Dukes a lift going into the half.
"We needed to make plays on both sides of the ball and we couldn't get the big play," Willowbrook coach Mark Olson said. "They have two great backs that they can go to at any point of a game and they did. They will be a force in the playoffs because of their offense."
The Warriors made things interesting in the fourth quarter as Wayne Bolden had a 30-yard touchdown run on the first play of the final frame, cutting the lead to 20-7.
But York answered that touchdown with two of their own in a 2:30 second span to blow the game open for good.
"One thing that helped us was our O-line wearing down their defensive front line," Lech said. "They came out solid, but we were able to keep beating on them and eventually wear them down."
-- Jason Watt
Lake Park 36, East Aurora 3:ŒLake Park offensive lineman Bob Hauschildt loves run blocking, so he really enjoyed Friday night's Upstate Eight Conference game at East Aurora.
With the 6-foot-6, 285-pound Hauschildt and his fellow linemen opening up plenty of big holes, the Lancers rushed for 366 yards and five touchdowns in a 36-3 defeat of the host Tomcats (0-8, 0-5) in Aurora.
"I love it when we run the ball. Offensive linemen love to push people," said Hauschildt, whose college choices include Harvard and Yale. "It feels good to control the game and we like to get some credit for the little guys."
Two of the "little guys" he was referring to -- Kevin Thomas and Chris Jasinski -- each went over 100 yards with Jasinski picking up 107 yards on 12 carries and Thomas 112 yards on 14 carries.
"The offensive line played a heck of a game," said Jasinski, who had a 1-yard TD run in each half. "We played as a team again this week, but I have to thank the line. Because of them me and Kevin were able to run all over the place."
East Aurora, searching for its first win of the year, actually led 3-0 after one quarter. The Tomcats struck first after Michael Turner's 56-yard run on the team's first possession of the night set up Hector Trejo for a 22-yard field goal and quick 3-0 lead.
But Lake Park (3-5, 2-4) countered with a 2-yard scoring run from Thomas with 8:39 left in the second quarter and then went ahead 14-3 on the first of Jasinski's two short TD runs, this one coming in the final minute of the half and set up by a 38-yard run by Thomas.
"They played really hard and I think they surprised us a little at the start," Hauschildt said of the Tomcats. "But you could tell they were getting a little tired in the second half. They just don't have the numbers."
The Lancers dominated in the second half starting with sophomore quarterback Larry Nawrot's 48-yard touchdown run less than 2 minutes into the third quarter. Will Kalish added a 27-yard TD run to go with Jasinski's second score and then Lake Park added a safety with 6:04 left to play when Chris Bounavolanto tackled punter Richard Jiminez in the end zone following a high snap.
-- Stan Goff