Senior quarterback Jack Bastable offered his own introduction on the field, then did the same for his lesser-known Neuqua Valley teammates.
It was a neat first impression.
On a night when Notre Dame-bound Isaiah Robertson nursed a hamstring injury and was almost a decoy, others took center stage.
Bastable scored a touchdown in his first drive as a starting quarterback. He was one of four Wildcats to find the end zone in Friday’s 35-7 DuPage Valley Conference win over Metea Valley in Naperville.
Neuqua scored TDs on its first four possessions in building a 28-0 halftime lead.
“It goes to show how much talent we have on the field and how good we can be,” Bastable said. “We had something to prove out here.”
Bastable’s 12-yard keeper capped the game’s opening drive. Anthony Ippolito scored from a yard out. Greg McClellan added a 12-yard TD run, and Griffen Philgren took in the first of his two scores, from 7 yards out.
Nine Neuqua players touched the ball in the first half, and six ran it. One of those who didn’t score, junior Cameron Raupach, got the start and had 64 of Neuqua’s 233 rushing yards.
“Felt really good about what our running backs did,” Neuqua coach Bill Ellinghaus said. “Cameron is one of our fastest kids.”
Metea, also breaking in a new quarterback in Ryan Kriceri, needed a half to find its footing.
The Mustangs didn’t cross midfield until their last possession of the first half. They finally got on the board in the third quarter, with Kriceri connecting with Ben Loutsis on a 20-yard TD.
Alonzo Taylor-Jones ran for 97 yards for Metea, which rotated in sophomore quarterback Payton Thorne in the second half.
“(Neuqua) kind of imposed their will on us in the first half,” Metea coach Ben Kleinhans said. “I think we have more to give.”
Neuqua, likewise, rotated quarterbacks.
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Bastable led two scoring drives to start the game, then junior Jake Eskoff did the same. They combined to throw for 174 yards.
“I’ll just keep doing my thing, and he’ll keep doing his thing,” said Bastable, who went 5-for-7 for 82 yards. “I’m not going to lie, you want to be out there for every snap, but you just have to be prepared.”
Robertson caught two passes, one from each quarterback, for 69 yards. The two-way star didn’t play on defense.
“He’s probably at 80 percent,” Ellinghaus said of Robertson. “I really hope by next week we have him playing both sides.”
Joshua Welge is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.