Naperville Central’s slow start to this season appears to be a thing of the past.
The host Redhawks dominated from the end of the second quarter Friday to earn a 33-16 DuPage Valley Conference upset over Waubonsie Valley.
As the Warriors began to unravel with dropped snaps and a fumble before halftime, Naperville Central (2-2, 2-2) perked up from a 14-7 deficit. The Redhawks got a 36-yard field goal from Andrew Delgado as time ran out in the first half to pull within 14-10.
Although the Redhawks suffered a setback early in the third quarter on a safety, they scored 23 unanswered points to win their second straight game. They also avenged a 17-0 loss to Waubonsie in the 8A quarterfinals.
“I’m so happy right now,” said Patrick Ryan, a senior quarterback who led the Redhawks by completing 12 of 22 passes for 202 yards and two touchdowns.
Gabe Soria, who recovered a fumbled punt return in the second quarter, intercepted a pass in the third that led to another field goal, a 35-yarder by Delgado to make it 16-13.
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Ryan then threw a 12-yard TD pass to Josh Ruiz and a 51-yard TD strike to Tommy Coyne on consecutive possessions to give the Redhawks a 26-16 lead with 7:19 left.
“At halftime we decided that we wanted to be great,” Soria said. “We just bonded as a team. We came out and came with fire.”
AJ Deinhart ran in from the 1 for the final score. Deinhart, who had 30 carries for 180 yards and a pair of TDs, scored on a 66-yard run on the fourth play of the game to give Naperville a 7-0 lead.
“We said in the first quarter we were going to come out and pound these guys,” Deinhart said. “In the second half we said we were going to overpower them and the line pushed and overpowered them.”
Waubonsie Valley (2-2, 2-2) scored on a 67-yard pass from Tanner Westwood to Eric Esch and on a 21-yard run by Nate Ashford for a 14-7 advantage.
The Warriors, who played without junior tight end Charles Robinson, were held to just 52 total yards in the second half. Ashford finished with 20 carries for 97 yards.
“We had opportunities in the first half, and we had two fumble exchanges on our option game,” Waubonsie coach Paul Murphy said. “We practice that all the time and that’s unacceptable.
“We left points on the board in the first half. They got the momentum and we couldn’t stem the tide. Our offense was not where it needed to be in the second half.”
Metea Valley 36, Wheaton North 7: Payton Thorne went 15-for-19 for 260 yards and three TDs to pace Metea (1-3, 1-3) to the DuPage Valley win. Thorne threw two TDs to Ashton Creal. Alonzo Taylor-Jones ran for 165 yards and a TD. Ben Loutsis caught a 52-yard TD pass and Ryan Kriceri had a 1-yard TD run for the Mustangs, who led 22-0 at halftime.
Naperville North 28, Lake Park 23: Eric Wright ran for 169 yards and two TDs to power North (4-0, 3-0) to the DVC win, while Cross Robinson rushed for 120 yards and a score. The Huskies led 21-3 at halftime and held on to secure their best start since 2008. Grant Ericksen had two interceptions in the fourth quarter, one in the end zone with the Huskies leading 21-16.
Neuqua Valley 48, Wheaton Warrenville South 19: Cameron Raupach ran for 101 yards and two TDs for Neuqua (4-0, 4-0) in the DVC win. Donny Navarro caught two TDs for the Wildcats, who led 35-6 at halftime. Joey Elwood returned a blocked punt 30 yards for a TD, Keaton Crocker had a 9-yard TD run and Tyler Cristofaro added a 1-yard TD for Neuqua, which played without senior standouts Isaiah Robertson (Notre Dame) and Owen Piche (Navy).
Bob Hurst is a freelance writer for the Naperville Sun.