NAPERVILLE — The 50/50 raffle reached $1,000. Before kickoff.

   Naperville North seized total control of this football game. Before halftime.

   Then the real fun started.

   Before a rowdy crowd, which appeared to consist of half of Naperville, the Huskies built a 29-11 fourth-quarter lead, but ultimately packaged a comeback victory to defeat host Naperville Central 36-33 in a wild IHSA Class 6A quarterfinal.

   In doing so, Naperville North (11-1) avenged a 31-14 regular-season loss to the Redhawks on Oct. 13 and snapped Naperville Central's 25-game winning streak.

   "It was a good run," Redhawks coach Joe Bunge said. "I thought it would go a little longer."

   The Huskies move into next weekend's semifinal round where they will play to Glenbard North at 7 p.m. Saturday. Glenbard North edged Plainfield 28-21 on Saturday to advance and will be seeking to avenge a 32-30 loss to the Huskies in the regular season meeting Sept. 29.

   "We get another week of practice," proclaimed Naperville North quarterback Jay McCareins.

   The Huskies earned that right with efficient offense and just enough defense. Naperville North stuffed the run in the first half, shoving the Redhawks back for minus 6 yards.

   "There was a sense of confidence ... there was a sense of team," McCareins said. "The coaches had a great game plan for us. Everything (Naperville Central) did on offense and defense, we were prepared for."

   McCareins sneaked in from the 1 and Chris Cahill's kick put the Huskies ahead 29-11 with 2:56 left in the third quarter. That appeared to be plenty of breathing room, but Central — the defending Class 6A champion — refused to lay on the mat.

   A 1-yard run by Matthew Yellim and 2-point conversion cut the deficit to 29-19 with 10:53 to play in the game, and a pair of TDs by Kyle Griffith lifted the Redhawks on top, 33-29, with 4:47 left.

   Initially set up at its own 24, North pieced together its winning, 10-play drive that was capped by Steve Sarm's 18-yard run on a delayed handoff. Cahill's kick made it 36-33.

   "We had a lot of great blocks on that drive," North coach Larry McKeon said. "Our kids persevered. I felt terrible about that (Central comeback) because, offensively, we didn't control the ball when we needed to and our defense was tired."

   McKeon opted to pooch every kickoff, as the Huskies lofted the ball high and short in an attempt to keep it away from Central's dangerous return man, Kevin Noel.

   "You don't kick to a Kevin Noel," McKeon said. "(Kicking short) is what we've been doing in the playoffs. We like our defense and we don't mind starting out at the 35 yard line."

   On the final kick of the game, a Central return man, stationed at the 40, had the ball go through his hands. North recovered and frittered away the clock by use of a key first down.

   "They came through with a great drive at the end and put the game away," Bunge said. "We had problems stopping them. They had the ball last ... it came down to one of those deals."

   The Huskies blew open a 3-3 tie with 19 unanswered points, as Bill Jurjovec's 6-yard scoring run gave his team a 22-3 lead with 1:06 left before halftime.

   Central responded when quarterback Philip Horvath connected with Dan Prazak on a 77-yard fly pattern, as the Redhawks got to within 22-11 at the break.

   In six of the seven postseason games played between these rivals, the team that won the regular-season duel lost the playoff game.

11/12/00