Naperville Central ousts Wheaton N.
Senior running back Kevin Clifford is used to seeing the Naperville Central football team's defense come up big.
"They always give us great field position, which is awesome," Clifford said. "Really, they fly to the ball. All 11 kids work together. Our defense is huge for us. We know that."
On Friday Clifford and the offense made their mark at the start of the second half.
The Redhawks opened the third quarter with an 85-yard scoring drive to extend a 4-point lead and regain the momentum for a 14-3 DuPage Valley Conference victory over a determined Wheaton North.
"That drive was huge. We preached that at halftime," said Clifford, who scored on a 2-yard run after also getting a second-quarter TD on a 6-yard carry. "That was a big thing for us, being able to run the ball and complete short passes. We kept the clock going. We had control of the game the whole time and it was really cool to see."
Naperville Central (6-1, 3-0), the defending Class 8A champion, clinched a playoff return and remains atop the conference. Wheaton North (2-5, 1-3) was eliminated from playoff contention after seven consecutive trips.
"I told the kids the IHSA guarantees you nine weeks and that's all that we've earned so far," Wheaton North coach Joe Wardynski said. "We did some good things. They're a very good team. We knew that coming in. We knew our backs were against the wall. We didn't do enough to get a 'W.' Three points on the board. We did a nice job defensively."
The Falcons' strong defensive effort stopped the Redhawks' decent first and last drives of the first half, resulting in missed field goals of 44 and 34 yards.
The Redhawks' opening drive of the second half consumed 11 plays and 5:13.
"Offensively, we ran the ball pretty well tonight," Naperville Central coach Mike Stine said. "We didn't finish a couple of drives, but offensively we're getting better. We're starting to get an identity, and it's the right time of the year to do that."
Clifford had a busier night than even he realized. He had 38 carries for 173 yards, plus three other touches nullified by penalties.
On the Redhakws' opening drive Clifford ran seven of the 10 plays and had 43 of the 63 yards. Quarterback Conor Joyce's had a 39-yard run to the 5 on the second TD drive.
"Our offensive line was unbelievable tonight. They deserve all of the credit for anything that's going on with me," Clifford said. "Usually I'm right around 20 (carries). I really don't feel any different now than I would after 20. That's a credit to our coaches for getting us in shape, too."
The Redhawks' defense was perhaps a little bummed it had no turnovers and couldn't pull off its third shutout of the season. But it had to contend with the Falcons' offense, which entered the game with 13 passing TDs.
The Falcons were limited to Nick Cairo's 24-yard field goal with 7:27 left in the second quarter. Two drives entered Naperville Central territory in the fourth quarter before ending on downs.
"Our defense is special. They've been special all year," Stine said. "That's a really good Wheaton North offense, and to hold them out of the end zone, that's really good."
On fourth-and-2 from the 15 early in the fourth quarter, Wheaton North quarterback Luke Anthony kept the ball out of the shotgun and rushed, but a huge pile led by the Redhawks' William Gammon and Bobby McMillen kept him 1 yard shy.
With less than six minutes left, the Falcons reached the 34, but Joe Schweikart and Daniel DelGrosso stopped Anthony for a 5-yard loss on third down and a fourth-down completion to Michael Bloss was 3 yards shy of the first down.
"No scores tonight, but still happy about the win," Naperville Central senior defensive lineman Jack Walsh said with a smile. "We always try to shut out a team, and tonight we just stacked the box with five guys. We just tried to get our main guys in the middle and control the gaps and the defensive backs did their jobs."
The Redhawks actually had three fumbles in the first half but recovered them all. Just before halftime, Joyce fumbled after being hit by Peyo Paker but the ball went out of bounds before Chris Royer could recover, allowing the Redhawks to retain possession.
"Sometimes the ball bounces your way, and it did," Stine said.