Special teams give Wheaton North a boost

If not for an early pair of point-producing plays by Wheaton North's special teams, the Falcons might have found themselves in a much different ballgame Friday night against West Chicago.

Richard Finley's 50-yard punt return touchdown gave Wheaton North an early 7-0 lead, and a safety on a botched snap in the Wildcats' end zone to give the home team a 9-0 first-quarter lead. Spurred by the 9 extra points, Wheaton North's offense built a 22-7 halftime advantage before cruising to a 50-7 home victory in Wheaton.

"(Special teams) was actually something we stressed this week. We said that we've done good things in the first two games, but we really haven't put all three phases together," Falcons coach Joe Wardynski said. "If you take those nine points off the board, it's an even ballgame at halftime."

West Chicago (1-2, 0-1 DuPage Valley Conference) trimmed the Falcons' lead to 2 points with 6:22 remaining before halftime when quarterback Josh Stein found Sean Paler down the left sideline for a 27-yard strike. The deep touchdown provided the only offensive highlight of the game for the Wildcats, whose option-heavy running attack managed just 159 yards on 48 carries.

"The kids came out and they were ready to play," West Chicago coach Paul Reinke said. "We had stuff at times, and at times we made too many errors."

Wheaton North (3-0, 1-0) built its 15-point halftime lead courtesy of Johnny Daniels' first touchdown grab of the night with 15 seconds remaining in the second quarter. The scoring drive took just 49 seconds and allowed the Falcons' offense to finally settle into a groove.

"The defense really picked us up in that first half, and Richard had a great return," quarterback Reece Butler said. "We had a slow start, but they picked us up, and once we got going, we started clicking as a team."

Butler threw three of his four touchdown passes in the second half, connecting with Finley on lengthy scores of 61 and 52 yards. The 5-foot-10, 190-pound senior completed 17 of his 21 attempts for 258 yards, and his quartet of touchdown passes gives him 10 scores for the season.

Butler and the Falcons will face their toughest test of the young season next weekend, when Wheaton North travels to Carol Stream to take on 3-0 Glenbard North and a defense allowing a scant 5.7 points per game.

According to senior cornerback John Bloss, one facet of the game will determine the Falcons' success.

"They're a physical team," Bloss said, "so we've just got to come right back at them with physicality."