Momentum flips Naperville Central’s way
The idea of carrying an 0-2 record into DuPage Valley Conference play didn’t sit well with Naperville Central.
Friday’s 28-14 win over Neuqua Valley, however, went beyond records and standings.
“They played (Friday) how they thought they should have played last week,” said Redhawks coach Mike Stine. “A couple guys took that loss personal. They put the loss on their shoulders. They didn’t play the way they thought they should play.”
After Naperville Central’s offense especially struggled in a Week 1 loss to Waubonsie Valley, Stine decided to go against his tradition with the pregame coin flip.
When the Redhawks won the flip, they chose to receive the opening kickoff. The result was a 10-play, 56-yard drive that took seven minutes and culminated in a 20-yard touchdown pass from Ian Lewandowski to Matt Randolph.
The epic drive set for the game as the Redhawks bounced back in a huge way from the season-opening loss.
Most important, they now take a win into DVC play.
“We normally defer — I’m a defer guy,” Stine said of the pregame choice to receive. “We said all week we want the ball. If we win it we’re going to take it and we’re going to try and grind it out.”
Caring for cramps: Drink lots of water. Check.
Stretch well in pre-game warm-ups. Check.
Stretch well the day before the game, the day before that, the day before that…and all week long. What?
After cramping up severely last week in Antioch’s Opening Night win over Lake Forest Academy, fullback Dan Arden knew he needed to make cramp prevention a priority this past week as the Sequoits prepared for their Week 2 game against Waukegan in the Saturday afternoon heat.
Arden was expecting the typical remedies, such as increasing fluids and stretching well right before the game. But he was surprised to hear from team trainers that the prevention could start even earlier than that. With serious stretching.
Starting with practice on Monday, they instructed him to thoroughly stretch each and every day leading up to the game.
“I stretched a lot this week,” Arden said after Antioch earned a 17-7 nonconference win over host Waukegan. “I wanted to make sure I didn’t cramp up again, especially since we were going to be out in the sun and heat.
“I also drank a lot of water and all that, but it was a lot of stretching. It seemed to work because I had no problems out there today.”
Arden actually seemed to thrive in the heat.
He rolled up 182 rushing yards on 28 carries and scored both of Antioch’s touchdowns, on runs of 8 and 31 yards. Antioch is now 2-0 on the season.
New looks for traditional powers: On Friday night there were a lot of new faces starting in place of those who led Fremd and Prospect to Mid-Suburban League division titles last year.
After Fremd’s 14-7 victory, both teams believed they grew up a bit after their season-opening losses.
“We have a lot of young guys on our team and the first week (35-3 loss to Lake Zurich) they got an experience of what it was like to play varsity football,” said Fremd senior Nick Loden, who is the only returning starter on the offensive line. “It was a wakeup call. They understand the kind of mentality they have to come out with.”
It showed after halftime Friday when Fremd was still looking for its first touchdown of the season. A defense that had allowed 189 yards to the Knights got it started by giving up only 4 yards in three consecutive three-and-outs.
“They executed our adjustments and that’s important, especially as we move on,” said Fremd coach Mike Donatucci.
So was sophomore quarterback Sam Beutler looking more like he did a year ago when he helped Fremd make its 16th straight playoff berth. He was 7-for-12 for 103 yards in the second half.
“Last week Sam tried to win the game on every play,” Donatucci said. “(Friday) he ran the offense and that was the difference.”
Prospect also had sophomores in key roles in running back Sam Mazukelli, wide receiver Jack Tuttle and offensive lineman Jackson Wrede.
“Discipline-wise, mentally we learned a lot from last week,” Prospect coach Mike Sebestyen said of a 34-10 loss to Glenbrook South. “They will continue to grow and I feel we’re a lot closer than our record shows right now.
“We need to continue to grow. We’re a young football team that is learning.”
A perfect storm: Geneva used a combination of coach Rob Wicinski’s research, implementation by special teams coaches in practice and perfect execution to provide a sneak attack in the Vikings’ 33-24 nonconference win Friday over Wheaton North.
Preparing for the game, Wicinski said he was rifling through back files, looking for information on punt formations, when he came upon an article by a prep coach from South Holland, Mich.
“All he does is onside kicks, so I kind of stirred the pot with all of us,” Wicinski said. “So we were a little overaggressive, maybe, but it was fun.”
That depends who you were pulling for.
Twice Geneva’s Matt Williams, who said the play had been inserted into the game plan only the day before, delivered beautiful onside kicks toward the Vikings’ own sideline that teammate Jake Peterson easily caught at Wheaton North’s 45-yard line with no pressure by the Falcons. Geneva scored touchdowns on both those possessions.
“I just did my assignment, made the play,” Peterson said.
Wicinski credited special teams coaches Dave Carli and Brad Wendell for setting up the onside kicks that took advantage of Wheaton North’s alignment.
“They only put four guys up front,” Wicinski said. “Most teams have five, so we thought we could take advantage of it. So, I guess we thought a little bit right.”
Williams, who also completed a first-down pass out of punt formation to continue a Geneva drive that ended in a touchdown, praised the special teams performance.
“We just executed perfectly,” said the Northern Illinois-bound senior. “Jake was in the right spot, the blockers up front did a great job getting their men. It was a heck of a team effort.”
Streamwood surges: There’s a winning feeling this fall on the campus of Streamwood High School, where the football program is experiencing a long-awaited revival.
The Sabres have opened the season 2-0 for the first time since the 2002 season. Not coincidentally, that was also the last year Streamwood qualified for the state playoffs. That squad finished 5-5.
These Sabres aren’t just winning, they are winning big. Though the opponents they’ve faced in the first two weeks (winless Hoffman Estates and Dundee-Crown) have struggled in recent years, Streamwood impressed by beating both teams by a combined score of 74-34.
The winning formula thus far has been above-average line play combined with explosive talent at the skill positions. The line play “exceeded where I thought they would be at this point,” sixth-year coach Cal Cummins said after Week 1.
The proverbial tip of the Sabre is senior running back Alex Morrow, who already has 448 yards and 6 touchdowns. He rushed for 748 yards and 7 touchdowns last season before an injury cut his junior campaign short.
But Morrow is hardly the only sharp blade Cummins can unsheathe. Senior quarterback Dalton Lundeen — the No. 2 pitcher on the school’s sectional title baseball team last spring — torched Dundee-Crown Friday for 252 yards and 3 touchdowns on 12-of-14 passing.
His top target is junior speed burner Blake Holder, the reigning area Class 3A sectional titleholder in the 100-meter dash (10.85). In two games Holder has 4 catches for 153 yards, including a 63-yard touchdown against Dundee-Crown.
Cummins, who coached Freeport to playoff appearances 11 times in 17 seasons between 1989-2005, has already matched the highest win total of any of his previous five Streamwood teams.
The Sabres aim for a 3-0 start Saturday afternoon when they travel to Memorial Field for the Upstate Eight Conference River Division opener against Elgin (1-1).
Big Money: When junior Greg Money was promoted to the Fremd varsity last season he gave the offense a boost at running back. He did the same thing in the second half Friday on top of his starting middle linebacker duties.
“It’s something we’ve been working on and obviously he did it last year,” said Fremd coach Mike Donatucci. “The kid is a warrior.”
Reversal of fortune: The Mid-Suburban East went 5-1 in season openers but wound up 1-5 in the first round of league crossovers against the West division. The West was 2-4 in its openers.
Ÿ Daily Herald sports writers Kevin Schmit, Patricia Babcock McGraw, Marty Maciaszek, David Oberhelman and Jerry Fitzpatrick contributed to this report.