Neuqua Valley stops Naperville North

Bill Ellinghaus wouldn’t have minded some fireworks in his debut game as Neuqua Valley’s football coach.

The Wildcats gave him a supernova.

Excelling in all three phases — but especially with its first-half offense — Neuqua Valley rolled to a 43-20 season-opening win at Naperville North.

The Wildcats scored every time they touched the ball in the first half, at least until their final drive at the end of the second quarter. They also got a 59-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Nolan Dean and a blocked punt by Mikey Dudek that set up a touchdown.

Leading 36-14 at the break, Neuqua Valley cruised to its second straight victory over the Huskies.

“It feels incredible,” Ellinghaus said. “I’m elated with the kids. The way they played, the way they fought. They came out strong, and we talk so much about finishing, and that’s exactly what they did.”

Naperville North started strong with an 8-play drive capped by Johnny Brown’s 36-yard touchdown pass to Desean Brown. Joey Rhattigan, who rushed for 165 yards on 31 carries, answered with a 1-yard score off the Wildcats’ own 8-play drive.

The game turned on Naperville North’s next possession when, on fourth-and-18 at the Huskies’ 27, the Wildcats’ Dudek burst through for a blocked punt. Set up at the 13, three plays later quarterback Dylan Andrew dove in from a yard out for the go-ahead score.

Five plays into Naperville North’s next drive, a fumble allowed Dean to scoop up the ball and scamper for a 59-yard touchdown and a 20-7 lead after one quarter.

With Neuqua Valley’s offense scoring on its first five possessions, the big plays by Dudek and Dean pushed the game decisively in the Wildcats’ favor.

“Blocking the punt was a big play for them, that was huge,” said Huskies coach Sean Drendel, whose team was only outgained 456-243 in total yardage. “The bad thing is I think we dropped five or six snaps tonight and had a couple fumbles, and we didn’t do that all camp.”

The offensive numbers on both sides were impressive. Andrew completed 12 of 14 passes for 199 yards and a 33-yard touchdown to Dudek, who caught 6 passes for 103 yards. Naperville North’s Kendall Veluvolu, Desean Brown, Sharad Crosby and Johnny Brown combined for 216 rushing yards, while Johnny Brown threw for 203.

Seven players scored touchdowns on the night.

“We’ve got a lot of weapons, and Joey’s definitely one of them,” said Dudek, referring the Wildcats’ leading rusher last season. “We’ve all been working hard since last November, so it’s finally paying off for us.”