Well, Naperville Central certainly got what it wanted, Wheaton Warrenville South coming into Memorial Stadium with its 23-game DuPage Valley Conference and 31-game regular-season winning streaks intact.
The Tigers, ranked fourth in the Chicago Sun-Times poll, aren't perfect, and if this were college football they would probably have been deducted for style points. Hinsdale Central led them 21-0 in the season opener before losing 28-27 in overtime. And they finally erased a 14-0 fourth-quarter deficit last week against Glenbard North when Nick Immekus booted a 45-yard field goal with 1.6 seconds left.
"Going to state for the last two years obviously helps. Just consistency in the program throughout every level," Glenbard North coach Ryan Wilkens said of WW South Thursday. "I'm not sure if they lost a lower-level game last year. That breeds confidence. Their win earlier in the season against Hinsdale Central when they came back from a large deficit has them believing."
The personnel has changed, but this still appears to be WW South's identity - the team that avoids the game-changing mistake. Around this time last year, Waubonsie Valley coach Paul Murphy was asked to break down the Central-WW South game, because his team had split with those two earlier, and what he said then seems to be just as relevant now.
"The key to any time you play Wheaton (Warrenville South) is - Wheaton is not gonna beat themselves. They're not gonna make the turnover at the critical time. They're not gonna make a dumb penalty in a critical situation," Murphy said. "They have a knack for converting on third-and-long like no team I've ever coached against. That's demoralizing to your defense.
"The rest of us all seem to be human when we play them, and we make mistakes, and that's why we get beat...The team that beats them is the team that's pretty much gonna play error-free."
Central made a statement with its win over Wheaton North last Friday, made a corresponding move up the Sun-Times poll to No. 16 and is the last DVC program to beat WW South, a win that came in 2004.
The guess here is that WW South will have enough closing speed to slow Central's spread offense, win the field position battle and it won't commit the devastating late turnovers that Wheaton North did a week ago, resulting in another narrow victory. What's your prediction?
Naperville Central will win this game tonight 28-17. Their defense is very good and their offense gets better each week. WWS is a very good team with a long tradition of winning, but Naperville Central is the best kept secret in DVC. Anyone can win at any given time...just ask USC!
I was wrong...boy was I wrong! WWS is an outstanding team!
me too, wrong. i thought central would bring us to the promised land, but wws looked good. it was mostly the wws line that was tough, both offense and defense. also, i thought the central qb, and running back did a pretty good, they had a receiver who could not catch a thing. i believe he single handedly, no pun intended, blew the game.
Donny, you're correct in that WWS dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, but you can't actually believe that a single player won or lost this game - that's unfair. Yes, there were a few drops but we're talking about a 45-7 game here. WWS clicked early in the passing game, forcing Central to play from behind, and its special teams made sure that the Redhawks would have to drive 80 yards at a time. Do you think Central can regroup by Friday night?
your right, my bad. i just noticed the one kid. i won't say who,he just could not catch a thing. he is usually a good player from what i have seen. i think nchs will regroup and give north a good game. i have seen north play once this year i and expect they will handle central. if it is close north will win. but central might just pull a fast one.