Week 8 news 

Clifford, Redhawks prove they're No. 1 after 34-19 defeat 
of Naperville North. 

By Bob Sakamoto 
Tribune Staff Writer 

October 16, 1999 4:00 AM CDT 

The big attraction Friday night in Naperville wasn't the 
scenic Riverwalk or the burgeoning downtown section with 
its festive nightlife. The place to be was Harshbarger-Welzel Field at the 
intersection of Ogden Avenue and Mill Street where 
Naperville's favorite sons waged a battle for the DuPage 
Valley Conference title, an automatic state playoff berth 
and bragging rights that will extend into the next century. 
After a weeklong buildup with an abundance of media 
coverage, visiting Naperville Central justified its No. 1 
ranking with a 34-19 victory over Naperville North before 
an overflow crowd of 9,000. 


Naperville Central running back Ryan Clifford led the way 
rushing for 144 yards in 27 carries and scoring two 
touchdowns while also throwing a 22-yard halfback-option 
pass to Pat Hinsberger for a touchdown. 
"Hey, I've got a pretty good arm," Clifford said. "You 
know, I'm the centerfielder on our baseball team. When I 
saw all those guys coming at me (on the end sweep), I just 
pulled up and saw Pat wide open. "Naperville North made me earn every yard I got tonight. 
What really helped was our quarterback Owen Daniels. Our passing game is going to make teams stop focusing just on the run." 


Daniels was 7 of 9 for 162 yards and two touchdowns. 
It turned into an offensive game, as predicted, with 35 
points being scored in the first half. 
Unfortunately for those looking for a competitive battle, 
Naperville Central went into the halftime locker room with 
a 28-7 lead. Bill Jurjovec broke loose on an 81-yard run early in the 
fourth quarter to bring the Huskies within 28-13. But 
Clifford answered that with his TD pass. Matt Plotke scored 
from the 2 with 1 minutes 26 seconds left in the game. 

The Redhawks wasted little time making an impact. On 
Naperville North's sixth play of the game, Central 
linebacker Matt Poremba picked off a J.P. Felmet pass and 
set up the Redhawks offense at the North 25-yard line. 
An 18-yard pass from Daniels to wideout Kevin Noel paved 
the way for Ryan Clifford's 3-yard touchdown run with 7:44 
left in the first quarter. That was Clifford's 31st TD of 
the season. "That's a tough way to start a game," said Naperville North 
coach Larry McKeon. "We were trying to run a ball-control 
offense to keep it away from Clifford. They certainly 
deserve to be No. 1 in the state. We knew Daniels was a 
good quarterback, and he looked like the man out there 
tonight." 


Naperville North (6-2, 4-2) came right back with a 10-play, 
80-yard drive highlighted by Felmet's 22-yard completion to 
Tom Neagle. That same combination hooked up again for a 
9-yard touchdown pass. 


Central wasted little time reasserting itself. First came a 
36-yard Clifford run, and then a 47-yard touchdown pass 
from Daniels to tight end Pat Hinsberger. Clifford's 
2-point run gave the Redhawks a 15-7 lead. 
North came back with a 14-play drive that fizzled at 
Central's 14. Ever the opportunists, the Redhawks went 86 
yards on 10 plays as Daniels hit Brad Spencer with a 
36-yard TD pass. In that first half, Daniels, a 
6-foot-3-inch, 200-pound junior who has already caught the 
eye of college recruiters, completed all four of his passes 
for 123 yards and two touchdowns. 
Clifford's 40-yard punt return and a 22-yard Daniels' pass 
to Hinsberger set up Clifford for his second TD run, a 
9-yarder. 


Felmet, who passed for 161 yards in the first half, drove 
the Huskies to Central's 21 just before halftime. But 
Gerald Clark's interception at the 1 halted the scoring 
threat. Felmet, who had thrown just one interception in the 
first seven games, had two in the first half. 

The last thing Naperville Central (8-0, 6-0) wanted was a 
close finish. Last year, a mistake by the Central 
timekeeper at the end of the game allowed North one last 
play. Felmet fired a 29-yard, Hail Mary pass that was 
deflected by a Redhawks defender and then hauled in by 
North tailback Chris Brown for the winning touchdown. 
There's no truth to the rumor that Naperville North's 
pressbox crew invited the Central timekeeper to work 
Friday's game. 


This was one of those rare occasions in high school sports 
when the game itself was almost transcended by the 
histrionics of the event. There was an almost carnival-like 
atmosphere to the showdown with restaurant banners draped 
around the field, concession stands hawking specialty items 
and everything from pompoms and T-shirts to discount-buying 
cards from local merchants. 


The Central fans good-naturedly tossed around doggie 
biscuits in mocking the Huskies. Thursday night, Ryan 
Clifford's father, Tom and Felmet's dad, Jon, teased one 
another on the phone and made a friendly wager. 
WBBM-TV sportscaster Tim Weigel made a dramatic appearance 
in his helicopter that landed on the baseball field. 
Several weeks ago at Naperville Central's homecoming, a 
skydiver miscalculated his descent and landed across the 
DuPage River. 


McKeon wasn't worried about his team flattening out after 
all the hoopla Friday night. 
"We don't worry about stuff like facing them (Redhawks) in 
the playoffs," McKeon said. 
"Our players had a pretty good perspective on this whole 
thing. We wanted this one for the conference title and 
playoff seeding." 

Copyright 2000 The Chicago Tribune 

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