Naperville Central 44, Lockport 21 

Redhawks' star proves worthy. 

By Bob Sakamoto 
Tribune Staff Writer 

August 28, 1999 

Naperville Central made itself right at home Friday night 
in Lockport. Renovation and maintenance work being done on Memorial 
Stadium's field forced the third-ranked Redhawks to play 
their home opener on the road.  Actually, the Redhawks were just glad to be playing at all 
after a threatened teachers strike was averted with a 
settlement Thursday morning. 

Naperville Central is a leading contender in the DuPage 
Valley Conference, while No. 13 Lockport is expected to 
battle No. 5 Lincoln-Way for the SICA Blue crown. 
And for Naperville Central running back Ryan Clifford, this 
was a golden opportunity to remind some members of the 
media that he is an impact player. 

Clifford, who was left off a preseason list of top players 
to watch, ran for three first-half touchdowns in sparking 
the Redhawks to a 44-21 victory over Lockport. He finished 
the night rushing for 231 yards and four TDs. 
"I came out wanting to prove myself to Lockport's great 
running back Craig Duppong (81 yards, one TD), to some 
people in the media and to Lockport's whole team," said 
Clifford, who also had a 55-yard punt return that set up a 
late field goal. "My offensive line was blocking so well, I 
could have driven a truck through those holes. I know 
everyone is talking about Wheaton Warrenville South, but I 
think we're right there with them." 

Naperville scored on its first four possessions with 
Clifford tallying on runs of 19, 16 and three yards. He 
finished the first half with 149 yards on only 12 carries. 
Clifford was having the most success running behind 
6-foot-5-inch, 275-pound left guard David Hildebrand, left 
tackle Don Baskin (6-5, 290) and center Geoffrey Pearson 
(6-3, 260). 

Once Clifford had supplied a 20-0 lead, Lockport retaliated 
midway through the second quarter on quarterback Mike 
Serafini's 5-yard TD run. Serafini set up his keeper with a 
57-yard pass to Jim Flynn, who caught four passes in the 
first half for 111 yards. 
Back came Naperville Central with its fourth TD on four 
possessions. After a Kevin Noel end-around for 18 yards and 
a Clifford 19-yard sprint, junior quarterback Owen Daniels 
scored on a 1-yard sneak. 
Refusing to roll over, the Porters answered with a 12-play, 
77-yard drive highlighted by Flynn's 36-yard reception from 
Serafini. On the next play, Duppong scored on a 1-yard 
plunge to cut the Porters' deficit to 27-14 at halftime. 

Copyright 2000 The Chicago Tribune

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