Scouting West Aurora at Naperville Central
West Aurora (2-0, 0-0) at Naperville Central (1-1, 0-0)
Game time: 7:30 p.m. today
Last year: Naperville Central 41, West Aurora 19.
Last week: West Aurora 23, Elgin 7; Neuqua Valley 20, Naperville Central 18.
Outlook: West Aurora coach Buck Drach has seen 2-0 starts before. Just not like this. "We're a lot different," he said. "We've got a lot more kids, and better kids. More athletes." The thing about Naperville Central isn't identifying its main offensive forces. Hayden Daniels - he quarterbacks, returns punts, punts, catches the occasional pass - Ian Lewandowski, top back Matt Randolph (27 carries, 123 yards) and receiver Chris Levine are Redhawks coach Mike Stine's top skilled guys, statistically. It's figuring out who does what, where and when. Central runs motion nearly every play out of a multitude of formations, will switch Daniels with Lewandowski, line them up at tight end or receiver, etc. "They do a lot of things, a ton of stuff," Drach said. One of the big things West Aurora did last week was put the clamps on Elgin's Jordan Dean fairly quickly. After Dean scored on a 41-yard screen pass for a first-quarter touchdown, a swarming defense did not allow another big play the rest of the game. The Blackhawks ended the game on a 23-0 run and outgained Elgin 305 yards to 107. Drach said his team may have to "finesse" Naperville Central as opposed to being more physical than the Redhawks. Last week West Aurora did some of both. Quarterback Josh Campbell threw 2 touchdown passes to Nate Zinzer and a 56-yard bomb to Matt Souvannasing; linebackers D.J. Nelson and Brandon Warren and defensive tackle Terrence Pierce swarmed on defense. This week, though, West can't afford to fumble the opening kickoff and expect to get away with it. "We've got to eliminate mistakes, control the ball and get the ball in our kids' hands in space somehow," Drach said.
Next week: Naperville North (2-0) at West Aurora, Sept. 17; Wheaton Warrenville South (2-0) at Naperville Central, Sept. 17.