Flat Wheaton North pulls out narrow triumph
They can't all be pretty.
Sometimes you have to win ugly, and that's precisely what Wheaton North did Friday, squeaking out a 21-13 victory over DuPage Valley Conference opponent West Aurora that came down to the game's final play.
The Falcons (4-1, 2-1) committed 8 penalties for 106 yards, dropped 6 passes in the first half, fumbled twice and allowed West Aurora to stay alive until Montrell Williams' sack on Blackhawks quarterback Josh Campbell ran out the clock.
A defensive pass interference call against the Falcons on third-and-1 gave West Aurora (2-3, 0-3) a first down on the Falcons' 14-yard line with 17 seconds remaining. Campbell's first-down pass attempt fell incomplete before the 6-foot-1, 245-pound Williams caught Campbell scrambling as time expired.
"I've got to hand it to West Aurora," Wheaton North coach Joe Wardynski said. "They played a great game against us, and they had every right to say they deserved to win that game.
"We knew that West Aurora was a good team, and we'd seen them on tape. We were flat on both sides of the ball, and it was a little bit disappointing."
The teams entered halftime locked in a 7-7 tie, yet West Aurora nearly took the lead when junior Nate Zinzer caught a tipped pass and sprinted downfield for an apparent 82-yard score. However, an illegal block in the back call negated the touchdown, and the Blackhawks drive stalled.
Reece Butler's 25-yard quarterback keeper in the third quarter gave the Falcons a 14-7 lead, yet the Blackhawks responded on their very next drive. Campbell and company orchestrated an 11-play, 80-yard drive, capped by junior Tyson Lassiter's 3-yard sweep, cutting the deficit to a single point.
Campbell completed 20 of his 31 pass attempts for a total of 180 yards as the West Aurora offense continues to improve week by week.
"There's no question (we're progressing)," Blackhawks coach Buck Drach said. "We stunk it up two weeks ago against Naperville Central, then our defense played great last week against Naperville North, and the offense has started to finally put something together."
Falcons running back Matt Sambo, filling in for the injured Patrick Sharp, gave Wheaton North an 8-point cushion with 10:50 to play in the game on a 38-yard smash through the heart of the Blackhawks defense.
"Matt Sambo came in and did a nice job running the ball," Wardynski said. "Other guys have prepared for that moment, so it's nice to see them do well."
Friday's loss dropped West Aurora to 2-3 overall, with games still remaining against DVC powers Glenbard North and WW South. Yet the near-victory inspired Campbell, who proclaimed "senior year (2011), you're going to see West Aurora in the state playoffs."