Wheaton North defense stops Naperville North
Wheaton North's defense spent an entire week thinking about what's been going wrong on that side of the football.
Then the unit did just about everything right in the second half against visiting Naperville North on Friday night.
The Falcons rallied for a 24-13 DuPage Valley Conference victory as the defense pitched a second-half shutout to spur the comeback.
After surrendering 57 points the first two weeks of the season, Wheaton North's defense felt it needed to make a statement in the DVC opener. The Falcons (2-1, 1-0) limited Naperville North (1-2, 0-1) to 2 first downs and 31 total yards after halftime, taking advantage of a sack and fumble recovery from Kellen Cleveland and an interception from Casey Blair in the fourth quarter.
“Our defense really stepped it up,” said Falcons linebacker Mike Swider. “The last couple weeks we didn't play up to our potential, and I think tonight we did really well. It was a great game all around.”
A 21-yard touchdown run by Danny Puknaitis midway through the second quarter put Naperville North ahead 13-7 heading to halftime, but Wheaton North seized the lead for good at 14-13 on a 1-yard dive by quarterback John Peltz on the Falcons' opening drive of the second half.
The teams traded punts until Wheaton North's 13-play, 83-yard drive — starting on its own 1-yard line — ended with Marcin Gawlak's 33-yard field goal and a 17-13 lead.
Blair's interception, which came after a sack by J.D. Marconi, set up Patrick Sharp's 3-yard touchdown run to put Wheaton North's advantage at 24-13.
“The kids, I've been on them all week and they answered the call tonight,” said Falcons coach Joe Wardynski.
Sharp was a workhorse for the Falcons, carrying the ball 29 times for 142 yards to complement Peltz, who had 70 rushing yards and 140 passing yards.
Puknaitis had 14 carries for 97 yards for the Huskies, who were outgained 352-228 in total yardage, including 220-31 in the second half.
Naperville North quarterback Tyler Gehr gave his team a 6-0 first-quarter lead with a 16-yard touchdown run, but Peltz answered with a 5-yard scoring run to put Wheaton North ahead 7-6 early in the second quarter.
“It's not for lack of effort,” said Naperville North coach Sean Drendel. “Our kids are playing hard. We need to shore some things up, and when we do I think we'll be a good football team.”