Naperville North’s vaunted offense sputtered for the second straight week while unranked Wheaton Warrenville South put on a scoring show of its own on the way to a 27-14 DuPage Valley Conference victory on Friday.
Quarterback Dan Brauer threw one touchdown pass, scored another on a run, passed for 99 yards and rushed for 98 as the Tigers (4-2, 3-1) won their third straight game.
No. 11 Naperville North (4-2, 2-2) struggled offensively as it lost for the second straight week and faces No. 2 Naperville Central next week.
“We couldn’t stop them, that was the difference,” said Huskies coach Larry McKeon, whose team had averaged more than 40 points and 400 yards per game in its first four games.
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The Huskies appeared to have rekindled an offensive spark with an authoratitive opening drive, capped by Mike Costantino’s 9-yard touchdown run.
But the Tigers defense took over from there and stopped Naperville North’s second possession at the Tigers 6.
The Huskies’ brief third drive ended on an Allan Rovik interception.
Four plays later Brauer tossed a 6-yard pass to Mark McGoey for a touchdown and a 14-7 lead.
Wheaton Warrenville South never trailed the rest of the way.
“This was a lot of fun,” said Tigers coach John Thorne, who is retiring after this season. “I’ve loved our games [with Naperville North] for years and I’m going to really, really miss it.”
– Jack McCarthy.
Up next: Naperville North vs. No. 2 Naperville Central Friday at North Central College.
2. Naperville Central
The Redhawks (6-0, 4-0) rolled past No. 16 Glenbard North 49-20 in the DuPage Valley game. See story, Back Page.
Up next: Friday vs. No. 11 Naperville North at North Central College.
3. Maine South
Niles West scored only the second TD of the season against Maine South, but the Hawks (6-0, 2-0) had no problem defeating Niles West 35-7 in the Central Suburban South contest.
Trailing 7-0 thanks to a 7-yard pass from Tony Wnek to Mark Ori just 3 minutes 5 seconds into the game, Niles West countered on its next drive.
The Wolves (4-2, 1-1) covered 80 yards in 12 plays and tied the score on a 19-yard reverse by Alex Filin at the 5:09 mark. Maine South took the lead for good shortly after Pat Maloney recovered a fumble with 1:14 remaining in the first quarter. One minute 28 seconds later, the Hawks went ahead on Chris Fosco’s 5-yard run. The touchdown was Fosco’s fifth in 20 carries since returning from mononucleosis two weeks ago.
Maine South broke the game open in the fourth quarter on Wnek’s second and third TD passes to Ori (20 and 36 yards) as well as a 36-yard toss to David Olson. Wnek was 14-of-24 for 287 yards.
“After halftime we wanted to test their corners and see if they could cover our patterns,” Maine South coach David Inserra said. “We tried to get the ball to Mark [Ori] because we don’t think that many people can cover him.”
Up next: Maine South at home Oct. 6 vs. Evanston.
5. Joliet Catholic
Chris Gruber rushed for 109 yards in 14 attempts and scored two touchdowns–one rushing and one receiving–as the Hilltoppers (5-1, 4-0) rallied from a one-point deficit at halftime for a 29-7 victory over Notre Dame in the Catholic Metro White. J.R. Zwierzynski ran for 105 yards and a touchdown in 17 carries for Joliet Catholic. Notre Dame is 1-5, 0-4.
Up next: Friday at home vs. Benet.
8. Richards
Jason Orozco rushed for 82 yards and two touchdowns in eight carries as the Bulldogs (6-0, 4-0) routed Eisenhower 58-12 in the SICA Orange. Chris Humbles completed 4-of-6 passes for 76 yards and three touchdowns for Richards.
Eisenhower (1-5, 1-3), which trailed 44-6 at halftime, actually scored first when quarterback Cedric Criss scored on a 79-yard run on the second play from scrimmage.
Up next: Friday at Crete-Monee.
10. Hinsdale South
Quarterback Sam Louise ran for two touchdowns and passed for another as the Hornets (6-0, 4-0) downed Addison Trail 28-13 in the West Suburban Gold. Louise, who rushed for 92 yards in 28 attempts, scored on runs of 5 and 9 yards and threw a 21-yard TD pass to Nick Delelio.
Defensive back Josh Weil had three interceptions to tie the Hinsdale South single-game record.
“Our defense stepped it up finally,” Hinsdale South coach Jim Kirwan said. “The scoreboard doesn’t really indicate it, but they played the best defense they’ve played all year.”
Addison Trail (2-4, 2-2) got touchdowns from Bill Irvin and Nick Robinson.
Up next: Friday at Leyden.
12. Prospect
George Smith was 11-of-12 passing for 216 yards and five touchdowns as the Knights (6-0, 2-0) blew out Wheeling 41-0 in the Mid-Suburban East. Mike Anderson, who had six catches for 125 yards, caught four of Smith’s TD passes. Nick Iovino had the other TD catch for Prospect.
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Up next: Friday at home vs. Elk Grove.
13. Dunbar
Steve Holden rushed for 183 yards and three touchdowns in 22 carries and caught a 39-yard TD pass as the Mighty Men (6-0, 3-0) pounded Chicago Vocational 57-20 in the Public Illini Southeast. Woodrow Brown ran for 67 yards in 10 carries and scored four more touchdowns for Dunbar. The Mighty Men scored on nine of their 10 possessions.
“Our kids work very hard to play at this level,” Dunbar coach Glenn Johnson said. “It’s hard to maintain continuity.”
Donald Parker ran for 157 yards and two touchdowns in 17 attempts to lead Vocational (2-4, 1-2).
Up next: Friday vs. Morgan Park at Gately Stadium.
14. McHenry
The Warriors (6-0, 6-0) rallied from a 28-14 halftime deficit to defeat Woodstock 42-38 in the Fox Valley. See story, Back Page.
Up next: Friday at Dundee-Crown.
15. Fremd
Matt Nemshick scored on a 2-yard run with 7.4 seconds left and Steve LaFalce passed for the two-point conversion as the Vikings (6-0, 2-0) rallied to down Hoffman Estates 22-21 in the Mid-Suburban West game. See story, Back Page.
Up next: Friday at Conant.
16. Glenbard North
The visiting Panthers (4-2, 2-2) fell to No. 2 Naperville Central 49-20 in the DuPage Valley game. See story, Back Page.
Up next: Friday at home vs. Glenbard East.
19. Lincoln-Way Central
Lockport (5-1, 4-0) scored two touchdowns in the final five minutes to defeat the defending SICA Blue champion Knights (4-2, 2-2) 34-30. See story, Back Page.
Up next: Friday at home vs. No. 7 Thornton.
20. Thornton Fractional South
Pierre Thomas rushed for 172 yards in 21 carries and scored three touchdowns as the Rebels (6-0, 4-0) defeated Argo 28-14 in the SICA Orange. Thomas ran for 126 yards and two of his touchdowns in the second half as T.F. South broke open a tight game. All of Thomas’ TD runs were 20 yards or longer.
“It’s a whole lot of fun watching [Thomas] go,” T.F. South coach Tom Padjen said. “A lot of times there’s nothing there and he makes things happen.”
Jon Mosley, who had 81 yards in 11 carries, added a 12-yard TD run for T.F. South.
Sean Yerkes caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from Joe Klochan and David Jiles had a 1-yard TD run for Argo, which drops to 4-2, 2-2.
Up next: Friday at Eisenhower.