Waubonsie Valley (3-3) has yet to earn a true road win. It lost at Prairie Ridge and St. Charles East and the win against Neuqua Valley - the night that might have turned its season around - came at neutral site North Central College.
That's the challenge facing Waubonsie Friday night at Bloom Trail High School. The Warriors go out of conference and on the road to face Bloom Township, a team consolidated from two schools - Bloom and Bloom Trail.
"You're going into a strange environment. We've never been there to play," Waubonsie coach Paul Murphy told The Sun's Paul LaTour this week. "We're 0-2 on the road...so we've got to (do) a better job of treating it like a business trip and not like a vacation. We've got to come off the bus ready to go.
"We've already talked to our team about it (Monday) and we talked again (Tuesday): 'Guys, we've got something to prove here. Yeah, we've gone on a nice roll here, but we've been playing at home and at North Central. ... Now we've got to prove that we can do this on the road.'"
After starting out 0-3, Waubonsie (3-1 Upstate Eight Conference) still has a lot to play for - a playoff berth and a share of the conference title. Last season wide receiver Alex Stokowski connected with quarterback Tyler Castro for three touchdown catches in a 34-0 homecoming win over Bloom in Aurora - and that was well before Waubonsie became the passing team it is now.
But beyond the numbers or opponent, the process could have an impact by Week 10.
"This is like a playoff trip. If you do make the playoffs, you don't know where the state's going to send you. We've got to learn how to travel. We've got to learn to come off the bus and be ready to play a football game. And I think it's a great challenge to see if we truly deserve to become a playoff team," Murphy said. "Can we go out on the road now and win a game in a hostile environment against a team that's got the same record as us? I've got to assume they're looking at (this as) a playoff game as well, so we've got to be ready for their best shot."
