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Neuqua Valley defeats Wheaton North

On a night when Wheaton North's defense would not let the powerful Neuqua Valley ground game run wild, the Wildcats still managed 5 touchdowns, all through the air.

With Jack Stankhoven tossing 3 touchdowns and the versatile Owen Piche catching 1 and also tossing a pair of scores himself while running the Wildcat formation, Neuqua Valley prevailed 34-17 in Wheaton to keep pace with Naperville Central atop the DuPage Valley Conference standings.

The Falcons (3-4, 3-3) led 3-0 after one quarter on a 34-yard field goal by Jake Barry and trailed just 14-10 at the half. But in the end the hosts just couldn't contend with all of the Neuqua weapons. Wideout Isaiah Robertson had his first varsity game with 3 touchdown catches, including a pair of catches in the back of the end zone in which the Falcons appeared to have him well covered.

"We really talked all week about creating separation and then just making sure I go up for the ball," said Robertson, who had a 12-yard score in the first half, then added TD catches of 6 and 14 yards in the second half. "Their DBs are the best ones we've seen all year. It was the best coverage we've seen all year."

But it wasn't good enough. Robertson finished the night with a modest 6 catches for 60 yards, but he was unstoppable once the Wildcats got in the red zone. To make matters worse for the Falcons, Piche gave the offense an added boost by gaining 43 yards on 4 carries and connecting with tight end Brett Borkse on TD scores of 21 and 59 yards.

"Yes, they do have weapons," Falcons coach Joe Wardynski said. "They got a high-quality roster. They got good skilled kids, and they got good line play. That's a very good football team."

Neuqua coach Bill Ellinghaus was impressed with the Falcons' tough play against the run. But his team did take advantage of its opportunities through the air.

"How about that, huh?" he said of the 5 TD passes. "They did a really nice job up front and they kind of stymied us a little bit at the line. Because of that they forced us to throw and they left a lot of single coverage on our guys. And with our receivers I feel like if they're going to do that that we've got to utilize it."

When you have a receiver with Robertson's skills, it's not too hard not to utilize him. "What can you say about Isaiah? When you throw the ball to him the kid goes up and makes plays. He comes down with the ball somehow, someway."

The Wheaton North coach agreed.

"It was a moment of truth, ball in the air," Wardynski said. "We had guys in position on a couple of those, but their kids are skilled kids and they made plays. That's what it boiled down to. They made plays when they had to to get a win."

Falcons running back Sam Singleton rushed for 93 yards and 2 scores on 26 carries, while quarterback Luke Anthony finished the night 10 of 21 for 178 yards.

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