DuPage County and Fox Valley football roundup: Wheaton Academy takes lead in Chicagoland Christian

Wheaton Academy 42, Hope Academy 14

Wheaton Academy (3-1, 2-0) took over sole possession of first place in the Chicagoland Christian Conference with a 42-14 victory over Hope Academy (1-3, 1-1) in Chicago.

Trailing 14-6 in the second quarter, the Warriors locked down on defense and unleashed their offense, as quarterback Nathan Downey (12 of 18, 230 yards) scored on a short rushing touchdown and added the 2-point conversion to tie the game at 14-all at halftime.

The second half belonged to Wheaton Academy.

Senior Gino Spinelli hauled in 6 receptions for 83 yards and a touchdown while also throwing a 35-yard touchdown pass. Wide receiver Jake Weston added another score with a 35-yard touchdown catch.

Downey connected on a series of big plays, highlighted by a 65-yard touchdown pass to senior receiver Charlie Coniaris, who finished with a team-high 117 yards on 3 catches.

Defensively, the Warriors held Hope Academy off the scoreboard over the final 24 minutes, as senior linebacker Jeremiah Johanik recorded 15 total tackles. London Leflore and Zach Moravec contributed 13 and 12 tackles, respectively, while Moravec added a second-quarter interception. Diyonnes King recovered a pair of fumbles and scored a touchdown for the Warriors, who avenged last season’s 30-29 loss to Hope.

“We came into a tough environment and Hope came out swinging,” said Warriors coach Jim Johanik. “I’m proud of our resolve. We had to weather the early blows and keep consistent pressure on them. The floodgates opened for us in the fourth quarter with both sides of the ball celebrating in the end zone. This was a very good win for us.”

Downers Grove North 54, Proviso West 0

The defending Class 7A state runner-up Trojans improved to 4-0 for the second consecutive year following their 54-0 victory over Proviso West in Hillside.

Junior quarterback Owen Lansu, who committed this past summer to attend Minnesota in 2026, continued his stellar play, completing 6 of 7 passes for 112 yards and 4 touchdowns in just one quarter of action against the Panthers.

Downers Grove North, which has outscored its first 4 opponents by a staggering 180-7 margin, built a 48-0 halftime lead against Proviso West.

Lansu, who has only played 8 of the team’s 32 quarters due to the lopsided scores, has completed 45 of 60 passes for 602 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Glenbard East 65, Elmwood Park 13

Quarterback Michael Nee threw 3 first-quarter touchdown passes to help lift the host Rams (3-1, 1-0) to a 65-13 win over Elmwood Park (0-4, 0-2) in their Upstate Eight East debut.

Nee’s 54-yard touchdown pass to Amonte Cook gave the Rams a 7-0 lead with 3:13 left in the opening quarter. Less than a minute later, Nee connected with Chris Renford on an 11-yard TD toss to make it 14-0.

Nee and Renford teamed up for a 46-yard touchdown pass in the final seconds of the first quarter before junior tailback Kedrick Dennis found the end zone on a 35-yard run to extend the lead to 28-7.

The Rams, who amassed 403 yards of total offense, outscored Elmwood Park 37-6 the rest of the way.

Marmion 35, DeLaSalle 0

The Cadets raised their record to 3-1, 1-0 in CCL/ESCC Red play, with their 35-0 shutout of DeLaSalle (1-3, 0-1) in Chicago.

Senior tailback Sean Dahlman recorded 3 touchdown runs, while sophomore Colin McEniry caught a 45-yard touchdown pass for Marmion, which led 13-0 after 1 quarter. Sophomore Henry Miller capped the Cadets’ 22-point, second-quarter outburst with a 7-yard touchdown run.

Crystal Lake South 9, Hampshire 0

Junior defensive end Jacob Kita led an opportunistic defense with a pair of fumble recoveries, as the Gators (1-3) recorded their first victory of the season with a 9-0 shutout of Hampshire (1-3) in Crystal Lake.

AJ Demirov and Noa Franch each had interceptions, while Gavin Hastings added a fumble recovery – part of the Gators’ defense forcing 5 Whip-Purs turnovers.

Senior linebacker Brock Miller, senior strong safety Jon Miller, and junior linebacker Gio Evers paced the defense with 5 tackles apiece.

Demirov tallied the game’s lone touchdown on a 26-yard run, while senior JJ Semradek booted a 42-yard field goal. Derek Kraus finished with 75 yards rushing on 13 carries.

Andrew 46, Metea Valley 7

The Thunderbolts (2-2, 1-2) recorded 4 of their 5 interceptions in the opening quarter during their 46-7 Southwest Valley Red victory over Metea Valley (1-3, 0-2) in Tinley Park.

Jake Monahan’s pick-6 highlighted Andrew’s turnover spree, while tailback Brady Tanquilut added a pair of long touchdown runs.

The Mustangs snapped the shutout bid on Jake MacLeod’s touchdown pass to Dominic Smith in the fourth quarter.

Homewood-Flossmoor 43, Neuqua Valley 16

The Wildcats slipped to 0-4 overall, 0-2 in Southwest Valley Blue play following their 43-16 road loss to Homewood-Flossmoor.

Michael Terrell’s short touchdown run gave H-F an early 7-0 lead before Michael Creedon’s field goal trimmed the deficit to 7-3.

From there, Wildcats quarterback Randall McDonald tossed a touchdown pass to Myles Ellis, extending the margin to 14-3, and the home team sealed the deal with 4 more unanswered touchdowns and a 41-3 lead.

Neuqua’s offensive highlight came on quarterback Kiet Truong’s touchdown pass to Ben Stefanski.

Aurora Christian 55, St. Edward 0

Quarterback Asa Johnson threw touchdown passes to 3 different receivers and added a rushing touchdown during the Eagles’ 55-0 Chicagoland Christian Conference triumph over St. Edward (0-4, 0-2) in Aurora.

Cole McCall opened the scoring with his 10-yard touchdown run, diving just inside the pylon, for a 7-0 lead.

Ahead 13-0, the Eagles (3-1, 1-1) extended their first-quarter lead to 27-0 on Johnson’s 49-yard touchdown pass to Drake Namest, who shed 4 would-be tacklers on his way to the end zone, and Johnson’s 13-yard TD keeper.

Johnson added touchdown passes to Nolan Robertson (13 yards) and Jonan Miceli (50 yards) before Jalen Callaway electrified the home crowd with a 75-yard touchdown run. Carson Moreno’s 1-yard TD run capped the scoring.

Jake Eissens had a fumble recovery while teammate Caleb Brown added a sack for the Eagles.

West Chicago 43, Ridgewood 35

The Wildcats (3-1, 1-1) defeated Ridgewood, 43-35, in Norridge, handing the Rebels (3-1, 1-1) their first loss.

Robert Lee’s interception set up the Wildcats’ first touchdown – a 29-yard run by quarterback Carter Naranjo.

Naranjo later connected with Tommy Doyle on a 59-yard touchdown pass and added a 42-yard run, as the Wildcats amassed 488 total yards of offense, including 386 on the ground.

York 42, Oak Park-River Forest 21

Bruno Massel threw for a pair of touchdown passes and added 2 touchdown runs during the Dukes’ 42-21 road triumph over Oak Park-River Forest (1-3, 1-1).

Massel connected with Simon Kodosky (3 catches, 132 yards) on a 75-yard touchdown pass to give the Dukes (4-0, 1-0) a 7-0 lead before taking off on a 66-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 14-0.

Massel later fired a 22-yard TD pass to Jack Birnbaum.’

Jimmy Conners (7 carries, 92 yards) added a pair of touchdown runs for the Dukes.