Neuqua Valley running back Jaden McGee finally felt like himself Friday night.
A senior season filled with promise was nearly undone by injury after he missed parts of three games.
“It feels great to be back,” he said. “I was telling some people this week it finally feels like I’m at full throttle. It has been a tough road, but I have great teammates who have been picking me up.”
McGee paid back that support in full in the first round of the Class 8A playoffs, rushing for 145 yards and three touchdowns in 17th-seeded Neuqua Valley’s 37-0 victory against 16th-seeded Lane Tech in Chicago.
The Wildcats (8-2) will play top-seeded Lincoln-Way East (10-0), which beat Conant 42-7, in the second round.
McGee was named all-conference and all-area last season after rushing for 1,057 yards and scoring 10 TDs. But he suffered an injury in the Wildcats’ third game this season, which has been an uphill climb for him.
“The whole experience has been very mentally challenging and shows how difficult that is sometimes,” he said. “We bring our own energy and feed off each other. Tonight, once the line started clicking, we got rolling from there, and we just built off each other.”
McGee helped the Wildcats overcome a slow start and put up 28 points in the second quarter. He carried the ball 14 times, all in the first half, and scored on runs of 3 yards, 2 yards and 7 yards. His 24-yard run set up the first TD. Half of his carries went for double-digit yardage as he finally had his explosive burst back.
An aggressive and athletic defense was the other significant narrative for Neuqua Valley, which limited the Champions (7-3) to just 34 yards of offense. The Wildcats forced two turnovers, had eight tackles for loss and scored on a safety.
Junior linebacker Justin Dutkiewicz returned a fumble 27 yards for a TD during the second-quarter flurry. Senior linebacker Josh Wenz dislodged the ball with a hit on Lane Tech quarterback Mark Seward.
“I was not sure if it was a fumble or not,” Dutkiewicz said. “I saw people running at me, and I just picked it up and started sprinting.”
Neuqua Valley’s defense surrendered just two first downs. Senior defensive end Gabe Willis and senior defensive tackle Justen Crawford combined for three sacks.
“We have a really special defensive line — one of the best in the state,” Dutkiewicz said. “We’re not the biggest. We get off the ball faster than most teams. Justen Crawford was huge tonight. Our mentality tonight was not to play down to their level.”
Like McGee, Mark Mennecke has been dealing with injuries this season. The senior quarterback shook off a slow start and early interception to finish 7 of 9 for 78 yards.
Junior receiver Miles Miskel was another standout for the Wildcats. His 23-yard catch set up McGee’s second TD, and he finished with three catches for 39 yards. He punctuated a dominant performance with a 42-yard kickoff return and a 4-yard TD run.
“Really until tonight, I hadn’t had much impact on the offense,” Miskel said. “Coming into the game, the coaches told me to be ready. I knew when my time came, I would be ready to make a difference. With Mark back, we threw the ball more, and I had my time to shine.”
McGee said the Wildcats are confronting a challenge against undefeated Lincoln-Way East.
“We don’t think about our seed or anything like that,” he said. “We just come out and play. We know in order to be the best, you have to beat the best.”
Patrick Z. McGavin is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.