Waubonsie Valley pulls off some magic

At the perfect time Waubonsie Valley football coach Paul Murphy pulled a rabbit out of his hat.

Naperville Central was not entertained after Waubonsie dealt the Redhawks their first loss, 15-14 Saturday at Kerner Stadium in Aurora.

Trailing 14-7 in the last three minutes of the DuPage Valley Conference contest, Murphy called upon sophomore Tanner Westwood, in his first varsity game, to launch a 59-yard halfback pass to Jake Schroeder all the way to the Redhawks' 14-yard line.

"I was never really a pitchback guy, but over the week he decided to put me on the slot," said Westwood, backup to quarterback Jack Connolly. "I guess he just figured, hey, this kid can throw the ball, so might as well get a little trickery on them."

Tailback Max Ihry gained first-and-goal at the 3 then bulled behind left guard Corey McKnight to move within 14-13 with 53.5 seconds left to play.

Waubonsie Valley (3-1, 3-1) sent kicker Lee Bell try to tie the game, but Naperville Central (3-1, 3-1) was penalized for encroachment. Given new life, Connolly faked the dive to Ihry and ran it himself around right tackle Dan Dominiak for the 2-point conversion and 15-14 lead.

"After that penalty we all kind of got wide-eyed. We're like, ooh, we've got to go for this 2-pointer. I mean, a golden opportunity like that, you can't pass it up," said Ihry, who ran for 105 yards.

After the kickoff Naperville Central quarterback Conor Joyce ran for a pair of first downs among his 79 yards rushing, but 4 incompletions ended it.

"It was two great football teams battling it out," Murphy said, "and we were fortunate enough they made a mistake to give us an opportunity to go for 2, and our kids executed."

Naperville Central owned tempo in the first half if not three quarters. The Redhawks' first drive went 70 yards over 17 plays, 15 on the ground, capped by Luke Brady's 1-yard run between left tackle Ryan Culhane and left guard Alec Bugaj. Kicker Connor Assalley gave the Redhawks a 7-0 lead at 11:13 of the second quarter that stood through halftime.

Naperville Central struck quickly in the third quarter, 10:07, on a 55-yard run by Jeremiah Wiggins, who finished with 108 yards rushing. Waubonsie countered but lost the ball on a fumbled handoff at Naperville Central's 23-yard line.

Waubonsie's young defense held firm, and Ihry broke off left tackle Brandon Porter for a 36-yard touchdown run. Bell's kick pulled the Warriors within 14-7 at 7:27 of the fourth quarter.

"They made plays down the stretch the second half," said Naperville Central coach Mike Stine. "We made too many mistakes in a close game like this. And give credit to Waubonsie, they came out and won that game and I give all the credit to their players. They out-executed us."