Eddie Burns is a contributing writer for The Sun who previously covered prep sports, college football and the Kansas City Chiefs for a daily newspaper in Missouri. He will be part of our coverage team tomorrow night at Harshbarger-Welzel Field and oh by the way he is a Naperville North graduate. Below he shares a snapshot of this rivalry:
I figure I'll throw in my two cents. I was not at last year's game, but I do actually remember going to the Sept.1993 contest when I was in eighth grade. Both schools were fresh off their 1992 state championships in 5 & 6A. The buildup was huge because (I think) it was the DVC opener.
It was a close game throughout and North held a 10-7 late. (The) Huskies had the Tigers backed up deep in their own territory when WW South then-coach John Thorne busted out the mother of all trick plays ... the hook-and-ladder.
(It) worked ... the incredible play covered 92-yards with 2:27 remaining. The Tigers went on to win the game 14-10.
You know as a sports writer there are certain games you don't forget attending (and) this is one for me. I know I was only in 8th grade, but I still remember watching that play unfold. The WW South QB at the time was Tim Lester. (He was NCC's defensive coordinator last year and is now Elmhurst's head coach.) The play went from Lester to Kasey Klaas on the sideline and he threw a lateral to Bobby Nelson, who outran the Huskies defense.
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As it turns out, Eddie has a pretty good memory. This is the lead to Bill Stone's archived game story from the Sept. 18, 1993 edition of The Beacon-News:
Warrenville --This game will be talked about for a long time.
Most of the legends will center around the unpredictable hook-and-ladder
pass play with less than three minutes left that gave Wheaton-Warrenville
South a 14-10 victory over Naperville North in front of an estimated crowd
of more than 8,000 fans at Grange Field on Friday.
With the Tigers trailing 10-7 and stuck on their 9-yard line, quarterback
Tim Lester threw a routine 11-yard curl pass to Kasey Klaas, who then
turned toward the sideline and pitched the ball to running back Bobby
Nelson.
Nelson scampered the remaining 80 yards down the sideline for the winning
touchdown and an incredible finish to perhaps the greatest regular-season
game in the school's rich football tradition.
Not only were the Tigers (3-0) the defending Class 5A champions, and the
Huskies (2-1) the defending Class 6A champions but the Tigers and Huskies
are ranked No. 1 and 2, respectively, in the latest Class 6A state poll.
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