Naperville North pulls away from Waubonsie Valley
Final score: Naperville North 33, Waubonsie Valley 14
Records: Naperville North Huskies (5-1, 3-0 DuPage Valley Conference), Waubonsie Valley Warriors (2-4, 1-2 DuPage Valley Conference)
Player of the game: Naperville North quarterback Dante Colasante threw for 180 yards and two touchdowns on 11-of-13 passing and added a pair of short rushing touchdowns.
Other statistical leaders: Victor Tyson rushed eigjht times for 98 yards and a 39-yard touchdown for the Huskes. Shawn Kyereh caught 2 passes for 87 yards, and Jake Anderson had 4 receptions for 68 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Huskies compiled 342 total yards (155 rushing, 187 passing). While Warriors John Hung anchored the offense with 143 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns on 26 carries, Nolan Albertson completed 10 of 21 passes for 86 yards. The Warriors totaled 248 yards of offense (155 rushing, 93 passing).
Turning point: Trailing 7-0 late in the first quarter, Waubonsie Valley drove down to the Naperville North 1-yard line. The Huskies stood tall on fourth-and-goal, stopping the Warriors to take over on downs and preserve their early lead.
First-half highlights: Naperville North opened the scoring with a 27-yard touchdown pass from Colasante to Anderson. After the goal-line stand, Tyson broke free for a 39-yard touchdown run to extend the Huskies' lead to 14-0. Miles Nio was two for two in kicks for the extra point. Colasante then connected with Anderson for a 39-yard score with 0:49 remaining in the second quarter and Miles Nio converted his third kick of the game to give Naperville North a 21-0 halftime cushion.
Second-half highlights: Colasante scored on a pair of 3-yard touchdown runs in the third quarter to push the lead to 33-0. Waubonsie Valley got on the board late in the third quarter on a 12-yard touchdown run by Hung and Matthew Rodriguez converted his kick for a 33-7 score line. Hung added a 9-yard touchdown run with 6:59 left in the fourth quarter and Rodriguez converted his second kick to cap the scoring at 33-14.
X-factor: Naperville North’s efficient passing attack. Colasante and Declan Reagan combined to go 12-of-16 passing for 187 yards and 2 touchdowns without an interception, averaging 15.6 yards per completion.
Quote:“Anytime you beat a DVC opponent, it’s a great win. Anytime you can do it on the road, on their homecoming, it makes it a little bit sweeter. I think our guys were really efficient early in the game and we have a ton of confidence in our second and third teams and we’re trying to get them a little bit more game experience. We did some good things. We unfortunately gave up 13 points, but that’s part of the learning experience. We’re a process-driven team and we’re trying to get better,” said Huskies head coach Sean Drendel.