It took top-ranked Naperville Central awhile to ignite Saturday, but once the Redhawks picked up steam they were unstoppable.
Naperville Central tailback Jason Paquette scored two touchdowns and quarterback Phil Horvath ran for one score and threw for another on the way to a 41-3 Class 8A first-round playoff rout of Schaumburg in a rematch of the 1999 6A title game won by Naperville.
“It was like pulling teeth those first couple of drives,” Redhawks coach Joe Bunge said. “The second half was more a game of big plays.”
The host Redhawks (10-0) failed on their opening possession and didn’t regain the ball until the second quarter as the Saxons (5-5) had control for 11 of the game’s first 13 minutes.
But that didn’t prevent Naperville Central from scoring. The Redhawks grabbed a 6-0 lead on a 31-yard interception return for a touchdown by defensive back Dave Atkinson midway through the first quarter. Schaumburg responded with a 38-yard field goal by Andy Schaefer early in the second period.
After that, it was all Naperville, the top seed in 8A.
Starting with a 14-play, 75-yard drive, Naperville Central scored touchdowns on five of its next six possessions, while the Redhawks’ defense kept the Saxons bottled up in their own territory.
Horvath connected on 12-of-14 passes for 222 yards, including 10 straight through the second and third quarters.
“We watched a lot of films, so we kind of knew what they were going to do,” Horvath said.
— Jack McCarthy
Maine South 40, Waukegan 6: The third-ranked Hawks (10-0) rolled behind Tony Wnek, who passed for three touchdowns and ran for another. The Maine South defense, which has given up just 38 points, limited Waukegan (5-5) to 149 yards.
Downers Grove South 48, Belleville East 14: Mike Cuzzone connected with Kent Hughes for three first-quarter touchdowns as the Mustangs (8-2) romped. Cuzzone completed 12-of-13 passes for 281 yards, while Hughes caught seven passes for 192 yards. Bob Nakielny added three rushing touchdowns.
Class 7A
Hubbard 20, Deerfield 9: Nick Davis threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Martell Taylor in the first quarter and a 70-yard scoring pass play to Chris Patterson in the fourth as the No. 5 Greyhounds (10-0) prevailed. Hubbard led just 6-3 lead at the half. Deerfield (5-5) scored on Kyle Gesser’s 12-yard pass to Mike Ogrin.
Hinsdale South 47, Alton 0: Alex O’Toole rushed for three touchdowns and quarterback Sam Louise added two TD runs as the No. 8 Hornets (10-0) rolled. Nick Delelio returned a punt 50 yards for a score for Hinsdale South.
Loyola 41, Elk Grove 24: Jake Toohey was 9-of-19 passing for 135 yards and threw four second-half touchdown passes as the No. 14 Ramblers (8-2) cruised. Tom Proesel’s 22-yard TD run late in the first half gave Loyola 13-3 lead. Toohey went to work in the third quarter and hit P.J. Tierney with a 58-yard scoring pass to put the Ramblers ahead by 17. Loyola would never lead by fewer than 10 thereafter.
Justin McDonald had two rushing touchdowns for Elk Grove (6-4).
Bolingbrook 48, Hersey 7: Derell Jenkins had 269 yards passing and four touchdowns, a touchdown run and a punt return for a touchdown to lead the No. 16 and seventh-seeded Raiders (9-1) to a win on coach Phil Acton’s birthday. Jason Clinton had 161 yards receiving and two touchdowns in three catches for Bolingbrook, which was led on defense by Alex Lagrone’s 16 tackles.
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On the second play of the game, Hersey quarterback Mike Chernick was knocked unconscious and taken off the field on a stretcher. He was taken to the hospital as a precaution.
Morgan Park 26, Belvidere 20: Brandon Dockery had seven tackles, two sacks and three fumble recoveries–one returned 75 yards for a touchdown–as the No. 18 and ninth-seeded Mustangs held on to win their first playoff game since 1988.
Morgan Park, which trailed 7-0 early, took the lead for good when Jerohn Fields hit Reginald Gray on fourth down for a 3-yard touchdown. With Belvidere (6-4) driving before halftime, Dockery hit quarterback Zach Barr to force the fumble and saw only open field.
“I shot the gap, hit the quarterback at the right time, he coughed it up and I had nothing but daylight,” Chapman said. “We talked all week about how important it was to win a state playoff game.”
Buffalo Grove 33, Highland Park 19: Quarterback Tom Zbikowski rushed for four touchdowns and passed for another as the Bison (9-1) pulled out the victory. Zbikowski was 15-of-24 passing for 236 yards and ran for 130 yards in 17 carries.
Buffalo Grove led just 21-19 after three quarters before Zbikowski threw a 4-yard TD pass to Steve Brown to put the Bison up by eight. Zbikowski clinched the victory with a 78-yard touchdown run with 4:50 to play.
Marvin Mentor ran for two touchdowns, while Billy Bodle ran for 197 yards and a touchdown for Highland Park (6-4).
Class 6A
Carmel 42, LaSalle-Peru 19: Eric Luna rushed for 208 yards and two touchdowns in 24 attempts and Matt Roe passed for 144 yards and three touchdowns to lead the No. 12 Corsairs (9-1). LaSalle-Peru (5-5) scored first on Nick Balestri’s 19-yard pass to Greg Folmar, but Carmel then rolled off 28 straight points.
Champaign Centennial 32, Grant 0: QB Bryan Banks completed 12-of-18 for 216 yards and four TDs as the Chargers (8-2) rolled. Grant’s season ends at 6-4.
Decatur MacArthur 27, Fenwick 14: MacArthur scored three touchdowns off three Fenwick (6-4) turnovers.
Prairie Ridge 29, Round Lake 0: Brian Phelps had 146 yards in 21 carries and a touchdown to lead ninth-seeded Prairie Ridge (9-1).
Class 5A
Bishop McNamara 43, Bartonville Limestone 6: Tom Regnier picked apart the Limestone secondary for 213 yards on 14-of-17 passing and three touchdowns as the eighth-seeded Fightin’ Irish (7-3) advanced. Steve Purnell carried 19 times for 135 yards and three touchdowns for Bishop McNamara.
Geneseo Darnall 24, Rich Central 22: Josh Rowold ran for 107 yards and two touchdowns in 28 carries as the Maple Leafs (7-3) escaped. Justin Kempher added a 43-yard scoring run for the winners. Jhared Marshall had a one touchdown rushing and one receiving for Rich Central (7-3).
Rich East 32, North Chicago 13: Rich East (8-2) ripped off 18 third-quarter points to rally from a 13-0 halftime deficit and advance. Gamar Diamond started the comeback by returning the second-half kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown. Diamond also scored a rushing touchdown and finished with 138 yards rushing in 33 carries. Cody Adams contributed a 34-yard interception return for Rich East.
North Chicago (6-4) scored both of its touchdowns in the first six minutes of the game as quarterback Keith Turner broke free on runs of 66 and 39. Turner finished with 175 yards.
Vernon Hills 27, Marshall 0: Matt Leffler rushed for 98 yards and a touchdown in 25 carries and quarterback Jason Newberger passed for two touchdowns and ran for 102 yards to lead the Cougars (7-3). The victory represented two firsts for Vernon Hills–its first playoff victory and first shutout.
Marshall (9-1) committed five turnovers on the day.
Class 4A
Driscoll 28, Dunlap 7: Victor Arlis had 121 yards rushing in 24 carries and a touchdown and Mike Tenuto added two scoring runs for the fifth-seeded Highlanders (8-2).
Huntley 18, Richmond-Burton 14: Huntley (8-2) rallied from a 14-0 halftime deficit to defeat its Big Northern White rival. Richmond-Burton, which finishes 5-5, had defeated Huntley 6-0 two weeks ago.
Lisle 22, Nazareth 19: Tony Gnat scored three touchdowns as the Lions (7-3) rallied from a 19-7 deficit. After Nazareth’s Lawrence Cannon scored his third touchdown of the game, Gnat scored on a 3-yard run late in the third quarter and a 5-yard run midway through the fourth quarter to complete the comeback. Lisle forced four Nazareth turnovers in the red zone.
“This team’s resiliency is remarkable,” Lisle coach Dan Sanko said. “Our ability to come back in games in uncanny. We’ve been down like this before in many games, but the kids always come back out and come back tough.”
Cannon led Nazareth (7-3) with 104 yards and three touchdowns in 27 attempts.
Montini 35, Peotone 14: Scott Andriano passed for 188 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Broncos (8-2). Brian Pestel caught all three scoring passes. Andriano’s 25-yard scoring pass to Pestel gave Montini a 21-7 lead just before halftime. After Peotone closed the gap to 21-14, Andriano hit Pestel with a 6-yard TD pass to put the Broncos back up by double digits.
Kevin Tyrrell and Rob Frytz each added rushing touchdowns for Montini. John Scardullo scored both TDs for Peotone (6-4).
Pontiac 55, St. Francis 6: Jake Cunningham and Chris Roberts each scored two touchdowns as the top-seeded Indians (10-0) rolled. St. Francis is 5-5.
Class 3A
Fulton 26, Coal City 20: Evan McCallister scored three touchdowns and kicked a 32-yard field goal to lead Fulton (10-0). Coal City ended the year at 5-5.
Hampshire 21, Pearl City 8: Shaun Boeckh rushed for 166 yards and scored a touchdown as the Whip-Purs (6-4) stunned top-seeded Pearl City.
Class 2A
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Walther Lutheran 44, Ottawa Marquette 0: Clarence Flowers was 8-of-13 passing for 169 yards and two touchdowns to lead the top-seeded Broncos (10-0) to the rout. Tony Stanton had 91 yards rushing and a touchdown in 15 carries for Walther.
Class 1A
South Beloit 41, North Shore Country Day 0: Jason Goldsworthy rushed for 213 yards and three touchdowns in 31 carries to lead South Beloit (7-3). North Shore Country Day finished 8-2.