Battle of Wheaton is all Tigers
On a Friday night full of Wheaton Warrenville South big plays, Caleb Bednarz's took the cake.
Bednarz's 60-yard interception return for a touchdown touched off a Tigers onslaught in a 45-0 win over Wheaton North at a rainy Rexilius Field.
With WW South (5-1, 4-0 DuPage Valley Conference) leading 7-0, Bednarz stepped in front of a Wheaton North pass and was off to the races to make it 14-0 with 10:14 left in the second quarter.
"We were trying to mix up the coverages the whole game," Bednarz said, "and the ball was just up there. I broke on it and took it to the end zone. That's my speed training, right there."
Big plays set up Tigers scores all night.
A 48-yard keeper by WW South quarterback Reilly O'Toole led to a 21-yard Matt Rogers touchdown run on the Tigers' second drive. Greg McAndrew's 34-yard punt return sprung a 14-yard Rogers touchdown run. A pair of O'Toole 23-yard passes to Rogers and Mack Tracey preluded Nick Immekus' 30-yard field goal on the last play of the half, giving WW South a 24-0 lead at the intermission.
Rogers scored his third touchdown from 4 yards out on the Tigers' first possession of the second half. WW South's win was its seventh straight over its cross-town rival.
"Our offensive line blocked perfect - I had the easy job of running behind them," said Rogers, who ran for 113 yards on 13 carries. "They made some gaping holes. Anybody could have run through those holes.
"We love playing Wheaton North. You don't need any extra motivation playing these guys."
Wheaton North (3-3, 2-2) actually dominated possession early, running 28 of the first 34 plays from scrimmage in the first quarter-plus. Those numbers proved empty, though, as the Falcons' first two drives stalled inside WW South territory and Bednarz intercepted a pass on the third.
Wheaton North quarterback Taylor Graham, back in the lineup after missing the last two weeks with an injured knee, completed 8 of 15 passes for 61 yards. He didn't return after aggravating his knee on a run late in the third quarter. Ivan Tamba ran for 50 yards and caught 4 passes for 41 yards.
"We did a nice job offensively in the first half of controlling the clock," Falcons coach Joe Wardynski said, "but we didn't capitalize and put points on the board."
Wheaton North's defense gave up 11 plays of 10 yards or greater. O'Toole ran for 98 yards on 8 carries and threw for 112 more. WW South averaged just a tick less than 10 yards per play from scrimmage.
"Defensively, we were just bad," Wardynski said. "We tackled very poorly. We have a lot of improving to do with just three weeks left."