Collision course
Central, North prepare for playoff showdown

11/08/00

By Dan Wiederer

Part deux Ticket information Tickets for Saturday's game are available at the Naperville Central Athletic Office from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. today and Thursday and 7:30 a.m. to noon Friday. Cost is $5. Important note The Naperville Central Athletic Office has issued the following memo: No seats may be "saved" in the stadium during the week. Any items used to "save" seats will be removed and discarded. A designated area of bleacher space will be made available for "saved" seating according to the following guidelines: Any person "saving" a seat must have a pre-sale ticket. A limit of four spaces may be saved (15 inches in width each) per family. A stadium gate will open at 8 a.m. on Saturday. Parents of varsity football players, band members, poms and flag team members may enter from 8 to 8:30 a.m. to "save" space in the designated section. At 8:30 a.m. others may enter who have purchased pre-sale tickets and save seating that may be left in the designated area. All other seating not in this designated area or reserved for the NCHS band or student section will be general seating. Gates for the game will open at noon. STAFF WRITER

  Didn't we just do this?

   Four weeks ago, Naperville North and Naperville Central met at North Central College for the game of the year. An estimated 15,000 people turned out on a perfect October night to see the Redhawks score a 31-14 win.

   Well, guess what? It's time to do it again.

   Thanks to inspired playoff performances by both teams, the game of the year gets a sequel. Naperville North, with a pair of convincing playoff wins, is in the quarterfinals for the first time since 1998. The Huskies earned this trip Friday with a 35-14 pounding of Warren.

   Naperville Central had significantly more trouble holding up its end of the bargain. The Redhawks trailed New Trier in the final minutes of Saturday's second-round game before emerging with a 22-17 win.

   Now comes the encore.

   When the Redhawks and Huskies square off Saturday afternoon at Central's Memorial Stadium in the quarterfinals of the Class 6A playoffs, the game will feature just as much anticipation and hoopla as the one a month ago. Only this time, the stakes are higher.

   "Emotions are going to be sky high for this game," Redhawks defensive lineman Joe Alvarez said. "Guys will be playing their best games of the year, I guarantee it. You'll see guys come out of the woodwork, and people will be like 'Who's this guy?' Guys step up for this type of game."

   The Huskies and Redhawks will meet in the playoffs for the sixth time in history. Interestingly enough, in four of the previous five postseason meetings, the team that won the regular season contest lost the rematch.

   The only team to sweep two games from its crosstown rival in the same season was the 1995 Naperville Central squad, which went on to finish second in the state.

   This year's series has the potential to take on a similar story line. When these squads met Oct. 13, Central dominated, building a 28-0 third-quarter lead and coasting to victory.

   But the circumstances are much different now. The Redhawks once healthy defense is now without starting linebackers Ryan Amberson and Luke Summers, out for the season with injuries.

   Conversely, North is on the mend. Senior running back Bill Jurjovec missed the regular season meeting with a broken leg but will be 100 percent for the postseason ruction.

   "We found out that the (regular season game) was going to be played at North Central College last spring," Jurjovec said. "And I was thinking about that game ever since. The hardest part of my injury was not playing in that game.

   "This weekend, most of our guys wanted New Trier to win. I knew deep in my heart I wanted Central to win because I want another crack at them."

   Jurjovec was one of several Naperville North players who spent Saturday afternoon on the North Shore watching the Central-New Trier matchup. And if anything became apparent in that contest, it's that the Redhawks aren't unbeatable as once thought.

   New Trier came within three minutes of dethroning the defending state champions. Now the Huskies are hoping to take that challenge to the next level.

   "Seeing that game has given us a lot of confidence," Jurjovec said. "We saw their defense bend. I'm glad I went to that game because I have so much more confidence. After we played them the first time, a lot of guys thought that they were far superior. Now everyone has total confidence that we're going to win this game."

   Basically, Saturday's contest becomes a battle of unbeatens. Central comes in with an 11-0 record, riding the momentum of an imposing 25-game winning streak. North, at 10-1, has yet to lose to anyone outside this city.

   "This stems from our team unity," Jurjovec said. "At the beginning of the season, it seemed like no one gave us respect at all. We would read the preseason rankings. A poll from the DVC coaches had us pegged to end up fifth in our conference. We really took that to heart. Ever since that, we built a wall around ourselves and said 'No one believes in us but ourselves.'"

   Central took that adage to the extreme Saturday, waiting until the final seconds to shut the door on New Trier. Now, with that test behind them, the Redhawks have ample motivation to elevate their play to another level this weekend.

   A playoff classic is in the works. With the natural intensity of this spirited rivalry heightened by the high stakes of the postseason, Saturday's game will have more energy than a Carrot Top versus Sam Kinnison boxing match.

   "We love to play them," Central running back Kyle Griffith said. "It's always a great game. We know each other. We're friends. This is for Naperville pride. We're going to be pumped up and ready to go."

   Ditto for North.

   "Last time we played them, we said conference was at stake," Jurjovec said. "And now we honestly feel that if we win this game, we're good enough to go all the way. We're considering this weekend our state championship."

   Dan Wiederer can be reached at (630) 416-5287 or dan.wiederer@copleypress.com.

 

11/08/00