By Bob Sakamoto
Tribune Staff Writer
August 26, 2000
NCHS 2000 - Road to Repeat - week 1
Blowout to start
By Bob Sakamoto
Tribune Staff Writer
August 26, 2000
Chicago Tribune Photo
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
For those high school football fans who remember how dominant state
champion Naperville Central was a year ago, brace yourselves.
The Redhawks are even better this year.
No. 1-ranked Naperville Central exceeded all the preseason hype and
even the expectations of its coaching staff during Friday night's 42-0 rout of a
Lockport team considered among the top 30 in the Chicago area.
It was 42-0 at halftime, and a running clock had begun its continuous ticking
with 3 minutes 42 seconds left in the second quarter. That's when fullback
Matt Yellin scored on a 1-yard run.
For the Lockport faithful, this season opener couldn't get over soon enough.
The Porters could only muster 43 yards total offense in the first half against a
Naperville defense featuring Joe Alvarez, Ryan Amberson, Drew Kocsis
and Luke Summers.
Naperville's preseason All-American quarterback Owen Daniels completed
all 11 passes in the first half for 210 yards and three touchdowns, and
finished 12 of 12 for 223 yards. His first scoring toss of 23 yards went to
preseason All-American receiver Kevin Noel, who had six catches for 102
yards at halftime and sat out most of the second half.
"A lot of people thought we would fall off from last year's team," Noel said of
the Class 6A champ that finished 14-0.
"We wanted to come out here and show everybody we deserve all the stuff
people are saying about us," Daniels said. "We didn't want to leave any
doubt. I definitely think we are better than last year's team. You could see
the defense with nine returning starters is even better, and our new offensive
line really impressed me."
Coach Joe Bunge's wealth of talent includes junior receiver Tyke Spencer,
who showed off some after-the-catch moves reminiscent of former Wheaton
Warrenville South All-Stater Jon Schweighardt.
Spencer caught TD passes of 13 and 45 yards in the first half, exposing a
Porters defense forced to pay close attention to Noel. He finished with three
catches for 75 yards. "Lockport started double-teaming me, and that left Tyke
all alone in the middle," Noel said. "You can't do that. We came out
passing tonight, and that was a lot of fun for me."
Once the Lockport defense was loosened up by the 6-foot-4-inch,
220-pound Daniels, junior running back Kyle Griffith broke loose on TD runs of
10 and 4 yards in the first half.
"I didn't realize until halftime that I was 100 percent," Daniels said about his
completion percentage. "We had just scored every time we had the ball. My
line was giving me time, and the receivers were catching everything."
Copyright 2000 The Chicago Tribune