Spread offense: September 2008 Archives

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.

Waubonsie Valley is coming down off an emotional win against a District 204 rival to face 0-4 Elgin on Friday night. But the Warriors (1-3) can't afford to overlook Elgin - they've given themselves a chance to be in the playoff conversation and need to bank another win.

"Don't let their record fool you," Waubonsie coach Paul Murphy said. "They got some pretty good skill kids on offense that scare the heck out of you, that can go the distance."

Look for Waubonsie quarterback Tyler Castro, who went 19-of-28 for 265 yards and four touchdowns last week against Neuqua Valley, to set up in the spread offense and make Elgin chase receivers all night.

"(With) a small roster, 30-something players, I'm sure (Elgin's) got guys going both ways," Murphy said. "We're 80-something players. We got to wear them down and just make them play for 48 minutes and make them go that distance and we think we can wear them down."

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.

For Naperville Central, this is about perception versus reality on two fronts - what its DuPage Valley Conference schedule looks like on paper, and how its spread offense controls the ball.