Defense helps Naperville Central score key win
On Friday night at Naperville Central, there was no star of the game. There was the defense of the game and it was all Redhawks.
Naperville Central intercepted 4 Glenbard North passes, returning 3 for touchdowns, and that's why the Redhawks won their official DuPage Valley Conference opener 28-14 and got a big boost of momentum going into next week's cross-town battle with Naperville North.
"We got 21 points from our defense, 3 pick-6s. Our defense kept us in the game," said Redhawks coach Mike Stine.
And the first interception came at a crucial time for Naperville Central (4-1, 1-0). The Panthers (2-3, 0-1) opened the game with a drive that ate more than five minutes off the scoreboard and put them on the Redhawks' 41. But Bobby McMillen because the first Naperville Central player to intercept a pass. He returned it 61 yards into the end zone and Connor Assalley's first of 4 extra points on the night made the score 7-0.
Glenbard North's Devion Hodge was a thorn in the Redhawks' side the entire night. He rushed for a game-high 219 yards on 44 carries. He carried the ball 8 times on the Panthers' opening drive and he carried it another 8 times when Glenbard North got the ball back after Naperville Central's first TD. Hodges' efforts were crucial to his team capping its second drive with quarterback Jack Siperly's 12-yard keeper that helped tie the game at 7.
"Glenbard North has big linemen up front and they get him in between and he's so shifty and quick," Stine said.
Naperville Central's offense did not appear on the field until seven seconds into the second quarter and remained quiet until Conor Joyce found Mike Kolzow 62 yards down field for the Redhawks' first big play on offense of the night.
That put Naperville Central deep into Panthers territory, but the drive stalled out and Glenbard North took over on downs at its own 24.
A holding penalty pushed the Panthers back to the 10. On the next play Jack Walsh pulled down the Glenbard North throw and made a quick jaunt into the end zone with 2:05 left until halftime and making the score 14-7.
While the Redhawks' offense didn't hit the end zone frequently, it was moving the ball. Kolzow finished as game-high receiver with 125 yards on 5 catches.
"The defense carried us tonight," Kolzow said. "The offense did some positive things. We didn't get into the end zone like we would have liked. We didn't get on the field until the second quarter. They were eating clock. We just stayed loose."
Early in the third quarter, the Panthers coughed up the ball in a crowd and the Redhawks found themselves starting another drive with 9:41 left in the quarter and on their own 13. A 2-yard run by Clifford and a 9-yard pass from Joyce to Kolzow set the stage for Clifford, who made the right move to find open land and sprinted 76 yards for the Redhawks' lone offensive touchdown of the night.
Glenbard North practiced ball control again, eating almost four minutes of the final quarter on a 12-play drive that ended with Brett Gasiorowski's 1-yard quarterback keeper with 3:55 remaining in the game.
Naperville Central fumbled on its ensuing drive and the Panthers got the ball back with 2:32 left on their own 30. The Redhawks' Rick Hatton earlier had intercepted a pass that didn't result in a touchdown. He got a chance to join the club when he grabbed his second interception and ran 96 yards for the last TD of the evening. That iced the game for the Redhawks.
"The ball was tipped and I was in the right place at the right time," Hatton said. "This was a team effort and things fell our way."