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."
Warriors tailback Rich Tronolone started the comeback. On his way to an 8-carry, 165-yard night, he broke a pile in the middle to score on a 24-yard run.
Next time out Mark Mankivsky broke one 51 yards then on Waubonsie's next possession he scored on a 2-yarder. Kenny Harrington, his broken left hand in a cast, scored on a 4-yard run for a 27-13 halftime lead.
Murphy told his players not to panic after the 2 interceptions. They didn't.
"Getting our focus back and playing like we should and what we're capable of," Tronolone said was the point. "We just had to pick our heads up, keep it going. And then once we started rolling we kept it going."
The Warriors scored 4 more times in the second half: on Tronolone's 56-yard run, a 10-yard Tyler Castro touchdown pass to Drew Warden, and runs by Tay Webb and Chris Harris.
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."