By Bob Sakamoto
Tribune
Staff Writer
Despite the final numbers flashing across the North Central College scoreboard, the real winner Friday night was the town of Naperville.
Aside from the fact that No. 1-ranked Naperville Central can claim bragging rights with its 31-14 victory over No. 6 Naperville North, what took place at Cardinal Stadium before an estimated crowd of more than 15,000 was a celebration of local football excellence. North Central Athletic Director Walter Johnson said that when ticket sales were cut off, the ticket line outside the stadium stretched about 100 yards.
Naperville Central (8-0, 6-0) clinched a share of the DuPage Valley crown with the victory, while North fell to 7-1, 5-1.
The early birds began arriving at 10:30 a.m., staking out the prime seating locations by duct-taping blankets to the metal grandstands. By 2:30 p.m., a full five hours before kickoff, fans stood in a line more than a block long to purchase tickets.
Spectators milled about the concourse outside the east side of the stadium, playing catch with footballs in the 76-degree weather and listening to the pre-game broadcast of WONC-FM from its remote setup on the concourse. The seating capacity of 7,500 was filled two hours before kickoff, leaving the relative late-comers standing eight-deep on the track ringing the field.
This big event brought back some familiar faces, including ex-Redhawk All-State running back Ryan Clifford, who said he has obtained his release from a football scholarship at Eastern Michigan and will be leaving in December after completing one semester. He will attend the College of DuPage for one semester and then walk on at Illinois next season. Clifford suffered a season-ending knee injury at Eastern Michigan's first practice.
Clifford watched his successor, junior running back Kyle Griffith, ignite the Redhawks with a 2-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter. Griffith helped his own cause with a 24-yard gain.
Two plays later, Naperville Central defensive tackle Chris Hill had the first of his two pass deflections. Linebacker Pat Spaeth caught the first one and returned the interception to the North 18. Griffith followed up with a 12-yard run and a 6-yard TD run.
A 22-yard pass from junior quarterback Phil Horvath to Griffith set up fullback Matt Yellin's 9-yard TD run and a 21-0 halftime lead.
"This is the first time I've felt really in the flow of the offense," said Horvath, who completed 11 of 17 passes for 182 yards and two touchdowns. "It was pretty crazy out there. Running onto the field with 15,000 fans screaming is unbelievable."
Central's defense, which opened the season with six consecutive shutouts before surrendering 30 points to Glenbard North last week, kept Naperville North and elusive QB Jay McCareins under wraps. However, star linebacker Ryan Amberson had to be helped off the field midway through the third quarter with a possible torn ligament in his right knee.
"I'll be examined by a doctor tomorrow, but it could be a season-ending injury," Amberson said.
"What was working for us tonight was we used some misdirection with our linebacker schemes to counter their misdirection running game. And with their quarterback, our tackles maintained outside contain on their pass rush."
North scored near the end of the third quarter with Steve Sarm's 8-yard run, and Kevin Hahn scored on a 2-yard run late in the fourth quarter.
Copyright 2000 The Chicago Tribune