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Naperville North surprises Waubonsie Valley

Being a winless football team is the sports equivalent of an impacted wisdom tooth. But there can be a benefit if that team finds itself in a certain situation late in the season.

Naperville North was in that situation Friday night in its homecoming and home finale game against Waubonsie Valley and made the most of it, coming up a 25-24 overtime winner for its first victory of 2015.

Naperville North quarterback Luke Cegales had just thrown a 14-yard pass to Mitch Lewis in the end zone for his second score of the night after the Warriors (5-3, 4-3 DuPage Valley Conference) had opened overtime with a Jack Connolly to Charles Robinson 11-yard pass play.

The Huskies (1-7, 1-6), trailing 24-23, had a decision to make. Do they go for 2 points? And with the Huskies playing out the schedule and just trying to add some bulk to their win column, there was a certain freedom to make the decsion.

"We like what we had done offenseively and we had some momentum," said Huskies coach Sean Drendel. "And being 0-7, there's not much to lose."

They went for the 2-point conversion. Quarterback Luke Cegles found Grant Erickson in the end zone and a celebration erupted as the team clinched its first win.

"It was just crazy. It was a great throw by Luke and a great moment for the team," Erickson said.

Drendel also wanted to go for 2 points because he believed Waubonsie was adapting to the Huskies' defense which was strong all night.

"They were beginning to figure us out defensively. They were chopping at us pretty good," he said.

But before that Naperville North's defense came through with a few minutes of what could easily be considered its best performance of the season.

Just six seconds into the fourth quarter, Cegales threw a 15-yard TD pass to Lewis for his first TD. The Warriors took over on their own 40. A 14-yard pass from from Connolly to Tanner Westwood, a 10-yard pitchout to Westwood and a 30-yard run by Max Ihry put Waubonsie on the Naperville North 1.

The Huskies then proceeded to stuff the Warriors offense on four straight plays.

"The first half is as good as we've played defense this season. And we were dealing with just 3-4 inches to go on that drive," Drendel said.

The Warriors tied the game later as Connolly hit Steve Rosenthal on a 15-yard pass play with 1:22 left in regulation.

A big momentum boost came the Huskies' way with just 29.2 seconds until halftime as Cegales connected to Erickson on a 20-yard pass. Matt Malan's extra point was good and the Huskies led 10-3 at halftime.

"We had great confidence going into the second half," Cegales said. "I'm so happy. Everybody played a great game."

The Huskies finish out the regular season next Friday at Wheaton Warrenville South. The Warriors, meanwhile, will be at Wheaton North.

"You have to learn to respect everybody you play. Give North all the credit. They played a great game. But we didn't have the right mindset tonight," said Waubonsie coach Paul Murphy.

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