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West Chicago misses spark

DeKalb's Jake Neidel did more than just intercept a pass, he essentially took away West Chicago's momentum.

Yes, the host Barbs owned a 14-0 lead, but the Wildcats had driven the ball 67 yards in just less than seven minutes and were knocking on the door.

After an incomplete pass West Chicago quarterback Alex Turney was aiming for Mikey Bibbs in the end zone when Neidel snared the attempt and raced 96 yards to the Wildcat 2-yard line.

One play later DeKalb (1-1) was in the end zone for the third time en route to a 62-14 victory.

"I have to take the blame because it was just a bad throw," Turney said. "We had a big drive. The offense played its heart out, we just had too few of the plays we needed."

West Chicago (0-2) was unable to stop DeKalb's opening drive that culminated with Keion Wright scoring one of his two touchdowns after just 4:05. The Wildcats' initial series led to a 70-yard punt return by the Barbs' Cole Tucker.

A 19-yard pass from Turney to Marcus Mazzuca was followed by a series of rushing gains from Devonte Pascal and Turney, a couple small completions and two DeKalb penalties had the Wildcats' first-and-10 from the Barbs 12. Then came Neidel's huge interception return.

"That was a huge swing," West Chicago coach Ted Monken said. "If it's 14-8 it changes the complexion of the game. Obviously, we're still building and need to make improvements to compete at this level. (Bibbs') run was explosive. Can you imagine what a spark we'd have had if we could have put the long drive together with that run."

Bibbs gave the visitors a glimmer of hope when he returned the kickoff 70 yards with 2:19 left in the first quarter. West Chicago's PAT rush was stopped, leaving the tally 21-6, but only for a minute as DeKalb quarterback Derek Kyler connected on a 43-yard pass to Cole Tucker.

Trailing 42-6, the Wildcats had a defensive highlight when DeKalb's Kyler was stripped of the ball and Damon Dombek recovered the ball at midfield. But another three-and-out was followed by the Barbs taking a 49-6 halftime lead.

West Chicago's Dante Cozzens picked up 44 of his 49 yards on a burst up the middle to account for the final score with 5:22 remaining from the second half's running clock. Zachary Stefan's QB keeper on the PAT run produced the final score.

In addition to his electric kickoff return, Bibbs had 2 receptions for 18 yards.

The Wildcats head to St. Charles North for the second of three straight on the road before going to East Aurora to start Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division competition.

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