Wrap-up: Waubonsie Valley 55, S. Elgin 13

There will be no waiting to see if Waubonsie Valley's football team will make the playoffs this year.

The Warriors, one of 18 teams in 2006 that stayed home with 5-4 records, got the essential sixth win with a 55-13 victory Friday over South Elgin at Dick Kerner Stadium in Aurora.

"We've got six wins, first time since I've been here we've got the sixth win, so we're darn happy with that," said third-year Waubonsie coach Paul Murphy.

In this Upstate Eight game, Waubonsie Valley (6-2, 5-1) overcame 2 quick interceptions, by South Elgin's Garvin Thomas and Ian Sosna, allowed the Storm to take a 13-0 lead with 5:59 left in the first quarter.

Setting up shop first at the Waubonsie 4-yard line and again at the 20, South Elgin (2-6, 2-3) scored first on Sosna's 3-yard run and followed a series later with Josh Kabala's 12-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Pete Scaffidi.

From there Waubonsie went to the ground and took over behind its all-senior offensive line that averages 245 pounds.

"You saw the size difference," said South Elgin coach Dale Schabert, whose defensive ends Mike Schomer and Jake Slania each gave up nearly 100 pounds to Warrior tackles Josh Otten and 315-pound A.J. Lindeman.

"It wouldn't take too many football people to know you're going to take advantage of that size and then start pounding the football," Schabert said. "We intercepted two passes early on, I think they kind of made up their mind that wasn't going to be their route."

South Elgin right tackle Mike Keller was taken from the field by ambulance for precautionary measures after getting hit in the head, but and emergency medial technician said he had movement in his extremities.

Tailback Kabala suffered a reoccurrence of an ankle injury early in the second quarter and was replaced by slippery Clem Bowens, who gained 63 yards on 12 carries.

"I wasn't worried about the score, I was just worried about playing hard afterwards," Bowens said. "Because if you just play hard you don't have to worry about the score, you'll end up winning eventually."

Boys golf

State meet:ŒBlake Biddle was hoping for a better day in opening-round action of the boys Class 2A state finals at the Weibring Golf Center in Normal.

"Eighteen of my 21 rounds this season have been even-par or better," said Biddle, the sophomore standout for Wheaton Academy.

The St. Charles resident started off hot, recording a pair of birdies on his opening three holes, but he was unable to maintain the momentum in the crisp, autumn

air on Friday.

"It's one of those courses where you are penalized for a decently bad shot," said Biddle, after leading the Warriors with a 5-over-par 76. "My short game usually keeps my round going but not today."

Sectional champion David Flynn was one behind his classmate with a 77, and Bobby Gryfinski added the Warriors' third score with an 81.

When senior Austin Hall came home with an 86, Wheaton Academy was in seventh-place in the 10-team field with a 320.

Normal U-High, which has won four consecutive state titles, was collectively 3-over par to take a commanding first-day lead with a 287.

"I'm a little disappointed honestly (with our team score)," said Wheaton Academy coach Bob Broman. "We

know we can play much better than that. The opportunity to move up certainly exists."

At the Class 3A tournament at The Den at Fox Creek in Bloomington, St. Viator, the reigning Class AA runner-up, has a perilous 300-301 lead over Quincy after the first day.

St. Charles East senior Chris Niemiec is in an equally

crowed bunch at 76 as the benign conditions compensated for the course setup.

"A couple of bad breaks, but (the round) was all right," said Niemiec. "There was no wind, but the pins were really, really tough, which is why the scores were so high."

Niemiec carded 4 birdies in his 4-over-round total.

West Aurora junior Kurtis Luedtke carried the downstate torch for his school for the first time in 9 years, and the southpaw had trouble getting out of the gate.

"Not the best short game in the world, that's for sure," said Luedtke, who broke 40 on his inward nine to post an 83. "Most of the (dropped) shots were out of the bunker. I knew I had to shoot around even par (to contend)."

-- Kevin McGavin

Boys soccer

Wheaton Academy 2, Wheaton Warrenville South 2:: In the final game of the Wheaton Cup, Andrew Knighten scored in the first half and Lucas Young added a goal early in the second half to give the Warriors (12-3-5) a 2-0 lead. But the Tigers came back on goals by Andrew Bellmer and Nico Galto.

Wheaton Academy, Wheaton North, and Wheaton South all finished the tournament 1-0-2 and St. Francis finished 0-3. The Warriors won the Cup due to goal differential.

The Warriors had a differential of plus-5, Wheaton North plus-2, and Wheaton Warrenville South plus-1.

Volleyball

Aurora Christian d. Somonauk 25-17, 25-22:ŒTara Thomalla nailed down 10 kills and Rachel Mertens set 20 assists for the Eagles.

Women's soccer

Aurora 1, St. Benedict 0:ŒIn a match between two of the better teams in the Central Regional, Aurora (11-2-1) blanked the Blazers at home. St. Benedict (12-2) actually outshot Aurora Allison Bailey scored six minutes in for the game's only goal. Jenny Jarvis made 14 saves for the Spartans.