But for a second time, the Saxons' hopes were dashed.

The host Redhawks topped Schaumburg 41-3 Saturday in the opening round of the Class 8A playoffs.

The victory - a rematch of Naperville Central's 56-31 state title win in 1999 - pushes the top-seeded Redhawks (10-0) into a second-round matchup at home against No. 16 New Trier (7-3).

Naperville Central took a 6-0 lead midway through the first quarter on a 31-yard interception return for a touchdown by linebacker Dave Atkinson. Schaumburg (5-5) responded with an impressive drive that spanned deep into the second quarter.

The 32nd-seeded Saxons drove 85 yards in 18 plays and eight minutes, 24 seconds. The result was a booming 38-yard field goal by Andy Schaefer that trimmed the deficit to 6-3.

But that was it for Schaumburg's offense, which managed 154 yards for the game. The Saxons advanced into Redhawks territory just one more time, and that was on their final drive that ended in an interception.

The picks were set up by fierce pressure on Schaumburg quarterback Brad Christoff (4-of-14, 38 yards) by Redhawks linebackers Nick Ehrlich and Mike Lucas.

"We had that first drive, but then we didn't go anywhere the rest of the game," said Schaumburg coach Tom Cerasani. "We expected to beat this team, but you can't play like we did today. Not against any team, let alone a team like this."

Naperville Central took a 20-3 lead to the half. The backbreaker for the Saxons was a 1-yard touchdown dive by Redhawks quarterback Phil Horvath with just 15 seconds left in the second quarter.

"I thought we weathered it early," Cerasani said. "That last touchdown before the half hurt us. We needed to go into the half down 13-3 because, actually, we were playing pretty well defensively."

The Saxons' running tandem of senior Tim Knudson (18 carries, 63 yards) and sophomore Jamail Bradley (11 carries, 72 yards) combined for 135 yards.

Horvath completed 12-of-14 passes for 222 yards and a 36-yard touchdown to Tyke Spencer, who caught 8 passes for 140 yards. The Redhawks' Dan Passarelli had 4 catches for 82 yards.

Many of the passes set up short scoring runs. Jason Paquette (20 carries, 104 yards) had 2 touchdowns, Horvath another and Kyle Schueler added a 5-yard run for the Redhawks, who amassed 422 total yards of offense.

"We played real hard and tough," Ehrlich said. "The first game of the playoffs is always the most important one. We only allowed 3 points, so I think we did pretty well."