Naperville C. turns to Murphy for winning TD

As dampness escalated to drizzle Friday night, the time came for Naperville Central to ground the air attack.

Time for Ben Murphy to get busy.

Murphy's 13-yard touchdown run up the gut of Glenbard East's defense capped a tie-breaking 96-yard drive in Naperville Central's 14-7 win in Lombard.

Backed up to their 4-yard line with 3:55 left in the third quarter, the Redhawks - who threw 18 passes in the first half - went exclusively to the run. Murphy had his No. 44 called seven times on the drive, including a 47-yard burst through the mud and into Glenbard East territory.

"It's really hard to pass the ball when the conditions are terrible like this," said Murphy, who gained 110 of his 126 yards in the second half. "We just talked about moving the ball, we got it going on the ground and we kept with it. You do what works."

Facing a fourth-and-5 at the Rams' 27, Naperville Central dropped back to pass for the only time on the drive. Nick Linne's pass went incomplete in the end zone, but Glenbard East was flagged for pass interference to keep the drive alive. Murphy scored on the next play.

"Calls are part of the game," Redhawks coach Mike Stine said. "We like to throw the ball - that's no secret. But I will say we made an emphasis in practice this week that we were going to run the ball."

Naperville Central (4-1, 2-1 DuPage Valley Conference) struck first on Linne's 5-yard touchdown pass to Hayden Daniels on the second play of the second quarter. Linne's 61-yard pass to a wide-open Daniels down the right sideline set up the score.

Glenbard East (3-2, 1-2) answered immediately. A 23-yard rumble by Larry Lloyd on a fake punt set the Rams up at the Naperville Central 19. Three plays and a Rams penalty later, Jack Merrithey scrambled for 19 on third down. A 5-yard Merrithey to Lee Skinner hook-up made it 7-7 with 8:38 left in the first half.

"It's a tough loss," Rams coach Dennis Lueck said. "We competed hard. We just didn't finish a couple drives, and the interference call was probably the turning point in the game."

Merrithey completed 7 of 16 passes for 62 yards and ran for 23 more. Naperville Central's defense kept the elusive 5-foot-8 Rams quarterback in check for much of the night, though, dropping him for losses five times. A Cam Brate sack of Merrithey set the stage for the Redhawks' winning drive.

"We practiced with our scout quarterback running around all week," said Redhawks senior lineman Alex Schaefer, also in on the sack party. "We just focused on staying home, staying in our contain."

Linne completed 11 of 24 passes for 171 yards with a touchdown and interception. Daniels caught 5 passes for 106 yards for the Redhawks, who meet Naperville North next Friday at North Central College.