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Waubonsie Valley assuming nothing

Since 1996 Waubonsie Valley's football team is 15-0 against this week's opponent, East Aurora, with seven shutouts ranging from 13-0 to 68-0.

In a 4-2 season Waubonsie Valley coach Paul Murphy has described as a roller coaster, "we're not taking anything for granted," he said.

The 2015 Illinois High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame inductee said the pluses and minuses have mainly come down to mental preparation in practice. Murphy leans on seniors like receiver Jake Schroeder, running backs Rodney Gee and Max Ihry, quarterback Jack Connolly and lineman Tyler Caldwell to maintain consistency.

"Our seniors have been through it before and it's just a matter of getting the underclassmen to understand the importance of working hard in practice and just having the right mindset and being able to understand what tweaks you're making," Murphy said.

After losing to Metea Valley in Week 5 - which Murphy attributed to a poor week of practice - Waubonsie absorbed defensive coordinator Ron Griffin's schemes well enough last week to hold Wheaton Warrenville South to 4 first downs.

"We've got to get to where it's not every other game if we have the hope of, number one, getting into the postseason and winning in the postseason. Let's see if we can string together three, four, five weeks of good practices," Murphy said.

Any given Friday:

Through the years there haven't been many Naperville Central-Naperville North cross-town games like you'll see on Friday. While the Redhawks are surging with a 5-1 record after last week's impressive win over Batavia, Naperville North is still winless on the season.

Regardless of the records, Naperville Central coach Mike Stine remains on guard heading into the showdown at North Central College.

"I know they'll play hard," Stine said. "Even though it's only one win, beating your cross-town rival is a real feather in your cap."

Huskies coach Sean Drendel knows it'll be a tall task to beat Naperville Central, but early confidence will go a long way toward staying close late. If that happens, it could be an interesting night at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium.

"We're a lot better team than what we've shown on Friday nights," Drendel said. "We know what we are and what we can do. We need something to go right for us. If we get that we do have some dangerous pieces."

Nice tribute:

It was strange Saturday seeing Glenbard West running back Sam Brodner wearing a No. 7 jersey instead of his usual No. 4.

Brodner, however, had a good reason for the switch. He was wearing it as a tribute to teammate and good friend Danny Riley, who learned early last week that he'll be out the rest of the season due to injury.

The Hilltoppers (6-0) will miss Riley's experience in the secondary, but they'll especially miss the senior safety's leadership in a young defense.

In last week's 35-24 win over Hinsdale Central, Glenbard West turned to junior Chris Langan, an outside linebacker, to play free safety. Coach Chad Hetlet said they'd evaluate the position in future weeks based on the matchup.

"It's a work in progress," Hetlet said. "It's really a shame. He's worked hard, he's an awesome kid, and now football's taken away from him his senior year."

On the run:

Hinsdale Central (5-1) raced to leads of 10-0, 17-7 and 24-21 in last week's loss to Glenbard West, and it did so in a surprising way.

After spending the first five weeks peppering defenses with a quick-strike passing offense, the Red Devils pounded the ground game at Glenbard West with running back Christian Bobak. The senior carried the ball 31 times for 242 yards and touchdowns of 33 and 48 yards.

Hinsdale Central had 40 run plays compared to 31 passes against the Hilltoppers, which was a departure from the season's first five weeks when the Red Devils averaged 29 passes and 19 run plays.

"The way we've been playing it all year is we've been taking what the defense has been giving us," said Red Devils coach Dan Hartman. "They happened to be tilting a little bit more toward the pass so we got Christian back there and he did a phenomenal job of running the ball hard."

Visual sound bite:

Points are hard to come by in the DuPage Valley Conference.

Naperville Central, 4-1 in conference play along with Neuqua Valley, averages 17.6 points a game against DVC opponents. Neuqua has enjoyed a relative bounty of 27 points a game in the DVC, yet lost 14-7 to Naperville Central in Week 2.

At 2-4 Metea Valley has scored more than 20 points one time, its 29-28 comeback win over Naperville North. Still, the Mustangs have been in most every game they've played.

"A lot of these games, the first team to 20, 24 points, you're in pretty good shape," said Metea coach Ben Kleinhans.

Going for it:

At 2-4 Westmont has a tough task of attempting to win its last three games to become eligible for its first playoff appearance since 2006.

It's not insurmountable, given the Sentinels visit winless Reed-Custer on Friday, finish against 1-5 Sandwich and have a solid 30 playoff points. In Week 8, however, stands 6-0 Manteno, which has scored 268 points while rolling to the top of the Interstate Eight Conference's Large Division.

Westmont had lost four straight before heading back in the right direction with last week's 34-7 win over Seneca.

"It was good to get a win," coach Otto Zeman said. "We really needed it."

The effort was led offensively by running back Robbie Russo with 117 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns and quarterback Kyle Domin with 181 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns.

Linebackers Jackson Arias and Colton Blaine and two-way linemen Sam Soltwisch and Anthony "Bubba" Griffiths led the way defensively.

Domin had sat out Week 5 with an injury. This week's full return of running back Manny Harper and receiver-defensive back Dimitrios Latsonas also from injury should have Westmont as healthy as it's been this season. That's on top of a confidence-lifting victory.

"It should give everybody a little more optimism," Zeman said.

Lionhearted:

In the midst of its own playoff push, Lisle looks to give a deserving audience something to cheer for.

All acting and veteran Armed Services men and women will be admitted free to Friday's game against Herscher at Benedictine University by informing ticket takers of their respective military branch. They then will be invited onto the field before the game, about 6:30 p.m., for a salute.

The event, held as part of Lisle's All-Years reunion, is being sponsored by the Carlin Nalley Foundation. That body, named after Lisle's former hall of fame coach, athletic director and educator - who undoubtedly will be in attendance - has awarded scholarships totaling more than $130,000 and has held three successful All-Years reunions, the impetus behind this one.

As well, at halftime there will be a ceremony recognizing the five Lisle graduates who have died in the line of duty: Robert Arlon, Ryan Burris, Sean Cardelli, Steve Ford and David Garringer. Lisle's alumni will present the school with a plaque in their honor.

Once the veterans leave the field the 4-2 Lions take over. With quarterback Alex Van Volkenburg back in action after a week out due to injury, last week Lisle roughed up Reed-Custer 42-0. Grant Haen, Mark McGrath and Josh Jamison each ran for at least 53 yards and the Lions got their usual solid defense by Zach Temmerman and Mark Pivek.

Lisle has a hard road toward its first playoff qualification since 2008. Herscher also is 4-2, then the Lions finish with two heavies from the Interstate Eight Small, Coal City and Plano, a respective 4-2 and 5-1.

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