WW South riding 14-game streak in DVC

In the last two years no team has come within two touchdowns of Wheaton Warrenville South in the DuPage Valley Conference.

As the rest of the DVC improves and the Tigers come back to the pack following two straight Class 7A state titles, one of the state's premier conferences looks to be more balanced this season.

Someone, though, still needs to beat the Tigers as they take a 14-game DVC winning streak into Week 3.

“Until someone beats Wheaton South, they're the team to beat,” said Naperville Central coach Mike Stine.

With the graduation of the bulk of the Tigers' electric offense, including all-state quarterback Reilly O'Toole, WW South will lean on a defense that returns four starters led by linebacker Adam Dansdill. The running game also should be solid with Northwestern-bound Dan Vitale and Patrick Garner. Ottawa senior transfer Thaddeus Armstrong takes over at quarterback.

Even though WW South remains the favorite to three-peat in the DVC, Tigers coach Ron Muhitch recognizes the challenges that lie ahead. It doesn't help that WW South faces a nonconference schedule against Glenbard West and Maine South leading up to DVC play.

“We'll have a lot of first-year starters, but they've played a lot of football,” said Muhitch, stressing that the senior class has lost only one game at WW South. “It's tough to stay at the top when everyone's gunning for you. Our kids respect everyone they play.”

A number of teams are aiming for the Tigers, starting with Glenbard North. The Panthers' lone DVC defeat last year came in a 49-6 loss to WW South. With running back Phil Jackson, a third-year player who rushed for 961 yards and 9 touchdowns last season, expect the Panthers to again rely on the ground game.

“Every week is going to be a battle,” said Panthers coach Ryan Wilkens. “I think every team will be better.”

One team expecting big improvement is Naperville Central, which last season missed the playoffs for only the second time in 19 years after losing four games by a total of 14 points.

All-DVC running back Matt Randolph, who rushed for 902 yards and 7 touchdowns, returns while Ian Lewandowski takes over at quarterback. Five returning defensive starters add to the confidence level at Naperville Central.

Naperville North looks to recover from the graduation of quarterback Matt LaCosse, now at the University of Illinois, and linebacker Nick Lifka, who is at Boston College. Strength on the offensive and defensive lines will power the Huskies, who return six starters on defense, including offensive converts Nick Krejci and Sean Connor.

Quarterbacks Tyler Gehr, Bryan Sleik and junior Johnny Brown replace LaCosse, while running backs Dan Puknaitis and Matt Stacho fill the backfield.

“I think you could throw five teams into a hat this season,” said Huskies coach Sean Drendel. “But Wheaton South is still in charge until someone knocks them off.”

Wheaton North will vie for its first DVC title since 2002. The key is simple but the task isn't. The Falcons beat both Naperville teams last season but lost to Glenbard North and WW South. Falcons coach Joe Wardynski knows his team needs to be more consistent against all the top teams.

“Our overall talent base is pretty good, but we need to perform in those big games,” Wardynski said. “Wheaton South is still the team to beat, even though I don't think they'll beat everyone by 40 points like they did last year.”

Wheaton North should be explosive offensively with six returning starters led by receivers Johnny Daniels and Micah Penn. Junior John Peltz takes over at quarterback for graduated Reece Butler. The Falcons' defense will be a work in progress with only one starter returning in linebacker Mike Swider.

Returning linebackers Nate Sudnick and John Ragano aim to improve West Chicago's defense. Glenbard East welcomes a new head coach in John Walters, the team's defensive coordinator the last two years, while Nate Eimer was hired in the off-season as West Aurora's new coach.

The Blackhawks get the DVC's first shot at WW South in the Week 3 conference opener.

“These kids are used to winning, but this is a huge step up for a lot of them,” Muhitch said. “We'll find out pretty soon how they respond.”