Robinson, Waubonsie Valley edge Glenbard North
Let's get this straight right off the bat.
Charles Robinson or "Chuck" Robinson?
"A lot of people call me Chuck," said the Waubonsie Valley tight end, "so Chuck is good."
Yes, he is.
Capping a contender for game of the year only in Week 2, with 14.3 seconds to play the 6-foot-4 junior caught Tanner Westwood's 2-point conversion pass, a quick, low fade to the left, to give Waubonsie Valley a 29-28 DuPage Valley Conference football win over Glenbard North in Carol Stream on Friday.
"I just said to myself, 'It's time to make plays,' and when it's time to make plays I come out and I do what I need to do. That was me trying to do my best to win the game for my team," said Robinson, who caught 5 passes for 84 yards.
Glenbard North (1-1, 1-1) appeared to secure the win when running back Vittorio Tricase scored on a 3-yard run and Anthony Petrulla's kick gave the Panthers a 28-21 lead with 36 seconds left in the game. It was Tricase's fourth rushing touchdown to go with 241 yards on 33 carries.
A short Panthers kickoff followed, with a 14-yard Connor Yukna return, and Waubonsie (2-0, 2-0) took over. Westwood tossed one incomplete pass then on second down found Josh LeMoine open. The 175-pound senior sprinted and juked all the way downfield for a 56-yard touchdown to bring the Warriors within 28-27.
"I felt like he was going to be the one guy they weren't going to have their eye on most of the time," said Westwood, who completed 12 of 19 passes for 281 yards and 3 touchdowns and also scored on a 10-yard run.
"And as soon as they didn't have their eye on him he was just wide open," Westwood said. "I put the ball in the right place, and he made a great play on the ball and scored a touchdown. I couldn't be happier with him."
The junior signalcaller was surprised Warriors coach Paul Murphy ordered the 2-point conversion. The veteran coach wanted to go with the flow.
"If you've got the momentum give your kids a chance to make a play, and they did. That's all I can tell you," Murphy said.
"I believe in our kids and they made a play. I knew Tanner would put the ball where Chuck had a chance. It's a question of whether Chuck would out-jump (his defender), and he did," Murphy said.
Tricase, whose 1-yard run gave Glenbard North a 7-0 halftime lead in seemingly a different ballgame, praised his line of Prince Goodlow, Joe Perrilli, Augie Gamez, Joe Vazquez and Logan Castillo.
"Every yard earned tonight goes to them," Tricase said. "I mean, wouldn't have been able to do it without them. Really stepped up in the second half. Someone had to lose, it was our turn tonight. But we'll get better this week and come back after it next week."