1999 state football playoffs
Running back Ryan Clifford, with 249 yards and four
touchdowns, leads Naperville Central to a 56-31 romp
over Schaumburg in the Class 6A finale.
By Bob Sakamoto
Tribune Staff Writer
November 27, 1999
CHAMPAIGN - Ryan Clifford began jogging onto the Memorial
Stadium turf in the final seconds of an extraordinary
football achievement when something overtook the Naperville
Central running back. Suddenly he stopped in his tracks and tears came pouring
down his face. It was the first time he had stood still all night.
"I just couldn't control myself," said Clifford, who ran
for 249 yards and scored four touchdowns in Naperville
Central's 56-31 victory over Schaumburg on Saturday for the
school's first state football championship. "I was looking
around at our crowd and watching all my teammates
celebrating. It was just so emotional."
Linebacker Matt Poremba and offensive lineman Don Baskin
let their emotions flow as they hugged teammates in front
of the frenzied, screaming Redhawks faithful.
This was a night when the state's most explosive and
balanced offense left its mark in Illinois football
history. The 56 points broke the record for most points in
a title game set by East St. Louis in 1989 with its 55-8
victory over Thornton.
Clifford's rushing yardage was the most in a 6A title game,
and the 5-foot-11-inch, 180-pound senior tailback finished
the season with 2,670 yards and a state-record 51
touchdowns.
"Ryan Clifford has many great qualities, the greatest being
his will to win," said Naperville Central coach Joe Bunge
about his star running back who is still hoping for a Big
Ten scholarship offer. "He has the quickest feet on the
team, and I think he should be playing in the Big Ten.
"What more do these colleges want out of a guy? He is fast,
breaks tackles, makes all the cuts--he is going to make a
name for himself, you watch."
Watch is about all Schaumburg (11-3) could do as Clifford
had a 53-yard run, a 58-yard touchdown reception and a
59-yard kickoff return en route to accumulating 401
all-purpose yards. His jitterbugging moves and darting
cutbacks delighted a crowd of 6,993, which brought the
six-title game total attendance to a record-setting 41,360.
He scored on runs of 1 yard, 3 yards and 1 yard.
"People are always saying how Ryan is lucky to have such a
big offensive line blocking for him," said Dave Hildebrand.
"Now I believe it's us who are lucky to block for him. He
probably could've done this running behind any offensive
line."
Naperville Central (14-0) piled up 575 total yards in this
shootout, combining with Schaumburg to produce 889 yards of
offense. Naperville Central quarterback Owen Daniels
supplemented Clifford's performance by completing 9 of 13
passes for 231 yards and two touchdowns and running for two
touchdowns.
The Redhawks shot out to a 28-10 halftime lead and led
49-24 midway through the fourth quarter.
Naperville's defense managed to limit Schaumburg All-State
running back Jason Hawkins to 153 yards and two touchdowns
in 33 carries. Hawkins finished the season as the state's
leading rusher with 2,748 yards while scoring 41
touchdowns. And the Saxons' Brian Huffman got into the
6A-record act with a 46-yard field goal.
"Defensively we could not stop them tonight," Schaumburg
coach Tom Cerasani said. "Offensively, we played well.
Hawkins pulled his (quadricep) muscle on Thursday, but he
played his heart out. Clifford is a step above even the
great backs we've seen before. We just couldn't control
him."
The Redhawks' top defensive back, Gerald Clark, was
sidelined by mononucleosis and an enlarged spleen.
"It was pretty upsetting when I found out Friday night that
I couldn't play in the biggest game of my life," Clark
said. "My teammates tried to make me feel better, but I
wish I could've been out there helping fight for a state
championship."
Copyright 2000 The Chicago Tribune
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