Naperville Central's Lehmann makes triumphant return
There were probably a thousand other things Naperville Central senior wide receiver Matt Lehmann would have rather been doing this summer than rehabbing a broken leg, but his hard work has enabled him to be a pain in the neck to Redhawks opponents.
The latest victim was crosstown rival Naperville North. Lehmann notched his first two rushing touchdowns of the season on his only two carries and added 5 catches for 89 yards to pace Naperville Central's 41-10 DuPage Valley Conference victory at North Central College.
"Matt broke his leg over the summer and missed most of camp," said Naperville Central coach Mike Stine. "He has a lot of speed, is very fast and quick, and he can hurt you running the ball or catching the ball."
Lehmann scored on jet-sweep runs of 22 and 10 yards in the first and third quarters, but it was his 45-yard catch in the waning moments of the first half that was game's most pivotal play. It set up quarterback Conor Joyce's 3-yard run with 13 seconds left and gave Naperville Central (6-1, 5-1) a comfortable 21-3 halftime lead.
"It was a diagonal play, everyone was running seams and it broke down," Lehmann explained. "'C' got away and I was wide open and he found me."
The big play was needed because the Huskies (0-7. 0-6), despite their struggles this season, had put up quite a fight to that point. They opened the game with a 14-play drive that resulted in Matt Malan's 31-yard field goal and quick 3-0 lead.
They had another drive into Naperville Central territory thwarted by Jon Barker's interception before a missed field goal ended a march to the Redhawks' 5-yard line. Then they opened the second half by recovering an onside kick that set up quarterback Luke Cegles' 1-yard run that made it 21-10.
"We're so close on so many levels, I know we're going to win soon," said an emotional Cegles, who attempted a season-high 31 passes and threw for 155 yards. "That's the most we've thrown the ball and it was better than all year, and we can do that every week."
The Naperville Central defense ensured Naperville North would get no closer. Kyle Bennington had 2 interceptions and Rick Hatton a third in the third quarter to set up touchdown runs by Luke Brady, Lehmann and Joyce that established the final score.
In total Naperville Central scored rushing touchdowns on six of its first seven possessions, with Jeremiah Wiggins notching the first one from 14 yards out to make it 7-3 after one quarter.
"That was a crazy game, a lot of stuff going on and at times it seemed sloppy," Stine said. "Naperville North is not a bad football team. They made a lot of plays, but our defense was able to stand up together when they got to the red zone."