Wheaton North running back Mike Trumpy is a threat to score every time he touches the ball. That's part of the reason why the next phase of his career will be playing on Saturdays in the Big Ten. The Northwestern recruit will line up on Friday night against a Naperville Central defense that's allowing only 9.7 rushing yards per game.
"We've challenged our defense," Central coach Mike Stine said. "You get an opportunity to play against one of the best running backs in the state. (You) get to go out there and measure yourself.
"We'll see if our defense can rise to the occasion."
The Falcons (2-1, 0-1 DuPage Valley Conference) now also run a version of the spread offense called the "pistol" under first-year coach Joe Wardynski, the former defensive coordinator at Wheaton Warrenville South. But where Central (3-0, 1-0) will have quarterback Nick Linne five yards behind center - with a running back to his right or left - Wheaton North quarterback Taylor Graham lines up in the shotgun three yards out with Trumpy behind him. Stine said it basically looks like the I-formation.
Trumpy ran for nearly 200 yards in last season's 28-14 loss in Naperville, and he will again be the focus of Central's defense. Last week Glenbard North held Trumpy to 101 rushing yards - the majority of which came on a 57-yard touchdown run - and Graham, the son of former NFL quarterback Kent, completed only one pass through the storm in a 35-14 loss.
"If they complete (half) those passes, it's a different game," Stine said. "They dared Wheaton North to throw it and they just couldn't complete anything, whether it was the conditions, you know, obviously it was pouring down rain. It was wet - they struggled completing the pass."
That may or may not provide a blueprint for a team that vaulted this week into the Chicago Sun-Times top 25 rankings.
"We're not changing anything," Stine said. "We do what we do, offensively and defensively...hopefully it's enough."
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