By Reid Hanley
Tribune Staff Writer
September 16, 2000
A 42-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter of a 35-0
game might sound like a trivial matter, but it was
important to Ryan Amberson and the Naperville Central
defense.
Amberson and his mates were more than interested spectators
when Wheaton Warrenville South's Luka Ulicevic put his
strong leg into the field goal that would have snapped
Naperville Central's shutout string at 15 quarters. He
jumped, he leaned and held his breath as the ball sailed
left of the goal post to preserve a 35-0 victory for the
No. 1 ranked 4-0 Redhawks over No. 17 Wheaton South.
"I was jumping around a little bit, hoping to curve it,"
said the senior linebacker. "It was so important. We'd had
three shutouts so far and we loved getting another one,
especially over a team as good as Wheaton South."
The Redhawk defense, led by linebackers Amberson, Luke
Summers and Drew Koesis, kept the Tigers from threatening
at anytime. In addition to the sacks, Bob Sciliano and
Brett Anderson had interceptions. Wheaton quarterbacks Dan
Brauer and Ed Adamson were at risk nearly every time they
dropped back to pass, as the linebackers and linemen Joe
Alvarez and Ken Kottke were bringing heat.
"They had better athletes at every position on both sides
of the ball," said Wheaton South coach John Thorne, whose
team fell to 3-1 overall and 1-1 in the DuPage Valley
Conference. There was more pregame hype about who wasn't
going to play than who was. Both two-way back Brett Bell of
Wheaton and QB Owen Daniels are out for the season with
knee injuries.
That didn't stop an overflow crowd from showing up in
Naperville. It wasn't that Naperville Central didn't miss
Daniels, but the Redhawks offense continued to run smoothly
with junior Phil Horvath at quarterback. Naperville took a
21-0 lead into the half as Horvath completed 6-of-10 passes
for 103 yards and a touchdown. He finished 10-of-16 for 143
yards and an interception. He also ran 16 yards for
Central's final score on the first play of the fourth
quarter.
"I think Phil did real well," said Central coach Joe Bunge.
"He threw the ball real well, and we had some drops."
The Redhawks set up the pass with the running of Kyle
Griffith. Griffith, a shifty junior, slashed for 98 yards
on 18 carries in the first half. He ran two yards for the
first Redhawk TD late in the first quarter. He was shaken
up late in the half and was taken to the hospital as a
precautionary measure.
Copyright 2000 The Chicago Tribune