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WW South offense breaks loose

A rare losing season has been difficult for the entire Wheaton Warrenville South football team, but especially the offensive unit.

Coming into Friday's nonconference visit to West Chicago, the Tigers had struggled to put points on the scoreboard, particularly after senior quarterback Michael Stebbins missed five weeks with a broken left collarbone.

But after mustering just 57 points in its first seven games, WW South decided it had enough. The Tigers' offense erupted for 21 first-quarter points en route to a 48-20 victory that stopped a six-game losing streak.

Stebbins played a key role, throwing first-half touchdown passes of 5 and 65 yards to wideout Nick Howell to push the Tigers (2-6) to a 28-0 second-quarter lead. Unfortunately for Stebbins, his night and season ended early when his collarbone was broken again on a tackle midway through the second quarter.

"I knew right away when (the injury) happened," Stebbins said. "It's bittersweet. I knew there was a risk to coming back, but it's my senior year, and the doctor gave me medical clearance to play. I wanted to be there for my teammates."

Junior signalcaller Matthew Dohse started the game and led WW South on back-to-back scoring drives to give the Tigers a quick 14-0 cushion. Running back JJ Johnson opened the onslaught with a 2-yard touchdown run 3:15 into the first quarter, then struck again on an 18-yard TD pass from Dohse on WW South's next possession. Stebbins then entered the game and found Howell for two more scores as the Tigers found the end zone on their first four drives of the night.

"It's been a rough season so far, but we've tried to stay upbeat and stay positive through it all," Dohse said. "We finally decided it was time to do something about it. We were definitely motivated tonight. We knew we couldn't fall to 1-7. This was our game to show how we can play. Before this we weren't playing to our potential, especially offensively. We really wanted to put more points on the board and come out fast, and we did."

West Chicago (1-7) temporarily stemmed the Tigers' momentum with a 19-yard touchdown pass from Alex Turney to wideout Mikey Bibbs with 7:39 left in the first half. But WW South stretched its lead back to 35-6 on a 1-yard TD scamper by Owen England with 2:43 remaining in the second quarter. The Tigers could have led by more but were hampered by 182 yards in first-half penalties. Four touchdowns were negated by penalties, including 24- and 34-yard TD runs by Johnson on back-to-back plays late in the first half, a 67-yard TD run by England and a 63-yard interception return by cornerback Drew Polezoes.

Johnson started the third quarter with his third touchdown of the night, a 29-yard run, and Luke Foster followed with a 10-yard TD run to give WW South its largest lead at 48-6 early in the third quarter. West Chicago countered with an 8-yard TD strike from Turney to Mason Otzwirk and a 73-yard connection between Turney and Bibbs. A 91-yard pass from Zachary Stefan to Alex VanDoren was called back due to a penalty.

WW South closes out its schedule hosting Naperville North on Oct. 23, while West Chicago plays at home against South Elgin that same evening.

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