With heat on, Naperville C. is cool

Central senior pursues championship in new home state

By Jonathan Schoenberg Special to the Tribune November 5, 2000 After rating his team's performance a "B" against Fremd last weekend, Naperville Central coach Joe Bunge could have graded Central's effort Saturday against New Trier a "C"—for composure. Trailing New Trier by a point with 3 minutes 6 seconds remaining, Naperville Central coolly mounted a 70-yard drive, capped by a Phil Horvath 1-yard keeper, to sneak out of Northfield with a 22-17 Class 6A playoff victory. The Redhawks (11-0) lacked composure early, taking unnecessary penalties for late hits and roughing the punter, but showed an abundance of it when it mattered. They stopped New Trier on fourth-and-short with the Trevians trying to expand a 17-16 lead. With New Trier needing to get to Naperville's 29-yard line for a first down that would have given Central little if any time to mount a comeback, the Redhawks denied tight end Bobby Teten the second of two yards he needed on a screen pass from Mike Duda. Horvath then engineering the winning drive. After weathering a 1-for-7 stretch over most of the final two quarters, thejunior quarterback regained his touch and completed all three passes for 56 of the 70 yards needed. His 1-yard sneak with 1:10 remaining proved to be the icing on a Central's decisive eight-play drive. "We knew on the last drive that we'd step it up and put it in the end zone," said Horvath, who completed 11-of-19 passes for 183 yards. "I had to keep my composure to do my job." Despite a gritty effort by New Trier (8-3), particularly Duda, whose 226-yard effort ended with an interception on a late desperation heave, the Trevians made sure that Central's 24th straight win wasn't going to be an easy one. After Kyle Griffith (133 yards in 20 carries) gave Naperville an early lead by breaking off a 79-yard run midway through the first quarter, New Trier tied the game five plays later on a 58-yard pass from Duda to Teten with just 7:28 elapsed. With Central leading 16-10 in the third quarter, New Trier climbed on top 17-16 on an 11-play, 70-yard drive that ended with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Duda to Patrick Neumayer with 5:03 left in the third quarter. "We just didn't make some plays down the stretch that we needed to," said New Trier coach Dan Mortier. Copyright 2000 The Chicago Tribune

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