Difronzo heats up, and Leyden handles Willowbrook

Sometimes a player gets hot without an obvious reason.

Friday night at the Leyden campus in Northlake, Leyden senior quarterback Joe Difronzo was that player.

Difronzo completed 18 of 26 passes for 264 yards and a touchdown and rushed for two more TDs in the Eagles’ 31-0 West Suburban Gold win over Willowbrook.

“He was just ‘on’ tonight,” said Leyden coach Tom Cerasani, whose Eagles have now won two in a row. “Our passing game was very good tonight.”

The streak started in the second quarter when Difronzo led Leyden (2-5, 2-3) to a 17-point lead over Willowbrook (0-7, 0-4) headed into halftime.

In the second quarter, the senior quarterback threw for 141 yards and completed 12 of 15 passes. He scored on a 1-yard plunge and hit junior tight end Javier Rhoads for a 12-yard score.

Leyden kicker Kristyian Chudoba converted a 47-yard field goal with room to spare as time expired in the first half.

“The passing game was there tonight,” said Cerasani. “That’s what we really focused on in the second quarter.”

For Difronzo it was the breakout game that he’d been waiting for.

“It was amazing,” Difronzo said. “I can trust (my teammates) by putting it out there and knowing they’ll run after the catch.

“I wish we could have done this at the beginning of the season. It’s my senior year — I just want to go out with a bang.”

Willowbrook was led by junior quarterback Dom Battaglia’s 63 yards on 20 carries. Battaglia also accounted for one of two Willowbrook pass completions.

“We just have to get back to work up front,” said Willowbrook coach Nick Hildreth. “Tonight was the result of a combination of things, a lot of little things that in this game made a big difference.”

Danny Schoedel had a game-high 163 yards on 9 receptions for Leyden.