Naperville Central 35, Wheaton-Warrenville South 0
BY DAN RUANE
There was much consternation this week around the Naperville area regarding the loss of Naperville Central star quarterback Owen Daniels to a knee injury.
The No. 1 Redhawks took those worries away Friday night with a resounding 35-0 victory over Wheaton-Warrenville South in the 80th meeting between the DuPage Valley Conference rivals.
The Redhawks (4-0, 2-0) looked to their defense, which returned nine starters from last year's 6A state championship team, to pick up the slack and take the pressure off junior quarterback Phil Horvath. The defense couldn't have played better, notching its fourth shutout in as many games. Wheaton South (3-1, 2-1) was held to under 200 yards of total offense.
The Naperville offensive line took the pressure off Horvath. The all-senior group of Josh Gaeth, Chris Arges, Zack Zigterman, Tom Rainey and Joe Hickok dominated the line of scrimmage and was pivotal in Naperville Central taking a 21-0 halftime lead.
"This win doesn't diminish the importance of Owen to our team," linebacker Drew Kocsis said. "It just says that we are a deep team. The offensive line really stepped up big tonight for Phil."
Horvath, who had a 16-yard touchdown run, was not asked to do much early throwing. Horvath threw one pass in the first quarter.
Kyle Griffith, who had 17 carries for 98 yards, was the workhorse as he ran behind the blocks of his line and fullback Matt Yellin, who had two touchdown runs.
He completed a time-consuming, 10-play drive with a three-yard run with 1:57 left in the first quarter.
All of the junior's seven carries in the drive were between the tackles. Griffith left the game after becoming dazed in the second quarter.
"We all had to help Phil get used to the varsity level," Zigterman said. "We got Griffith going early and we didn't need to throw it."
Horvath had an efficient, if not spectacular, game. He completed 10 of 15 passes for 148 yards.
Horvath's touchdown pass came in the second quarter when he connected with Dan Prazak on a 45-yard post pattern down the middle. The offense racked up 385 yards against the Tigers.
Wheaton-Warrenville South was desperate not to become the latest shutout victim.
The Tigers rotated quarterbacks Dan Brauer and Ed Adamson and had kicker Luka Ulcivek attempt a 42-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter.
But nothing worked against the stingy Redhawks defense.
"The whole team picked it up for Owen," Gaeth said. "This was just a great win."