Naperville Central edges WW South in 2nd OT
Joshua Ruiz didn't stop to think. He just made sure he caught the pass that was coming toward him.
Ruiz's 2-point conversion on a halfback option pass from A.J. Deinhart in the second overtime capped a wild 43-42 Naperville Central football victory at Wheaton Warrenville South on Friday night.
"I had no thoughts. I just knew that I was gong to catch the ball," Ruiz said of his thinking as the pass floated toward him in the right corner of the north end zone.
Not surprisingly, Ruiz liked coach Mike Stine's decision to go for 2.
"That's just the Redhawks way, and I knew Coach Stine had the guts to do it," he said.
The Redhawks had their way in the first half, taking a 21-0 lead. But as strong as the Redhawks (3-2, 3-2 DuPage Valley Conference) looked in the first half, the Tigers (0-5, 0-5) looked just as good in the second. After Cam Moore intercepted a Redhawks pass, the next play he threw a 37-yard halfback option pass of his own to Ashton Jones to tie the game at 28 with 9:02 to play.
"We got a little ahead of ourselves being up 21-0, coming up for the second half," Ruiz said. "We got ahead of ourselves and when we had to start battling back is when we started working again."
Each team scored a touchdown in the first overtime, and WW South scored first in the second overtime on senior running back Luke Foster's 9-yard touchdown on a swing pass from quarterback Matthew Dohse.
The Redhawks responded right away, with Deinhart just reaching the goal line on a 10-yard pass from quarterback Patrick Ryan on Naperville Central first play of the second overtime. Stine then called timeout to consider the 2-point conversion.
"That's what our players wanted to do," Stine said. "They wanted an opportunity to go out and win it. Fortunately we made a play and were able to go out and do that."
The loss was heartbreaking for the Tigers, who had all the momentum going to overtime and came tantalizingly close to their first win this season.
"Played our guts out," Tigers coach Ron Muhitch said. "Played our hearts out. That is a very tough loss for us. I thought our kids played exceptionally well to fight back and get to the overtime."
The victory is the third in a row for the Redhawks, who lost their first two games this season.
"This is a tough game for either team to have to lose," Stine said. "Credit to our guys for hanging in there. We made one more play at the end."