Twelve months later, the 6-foot-1, 220-pounder is the focal point of the Redhawks' offense. He had 3 touchdown gallops in running for a career-high 213 yards to lead top-seeded Naperville Central past New Trier 26-9 Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium in Naperville.

The Redhawks (11-0) advance to the Class 8A quarterfinals to play No. 9 Conant (9-2), a 30-14 winner Friday against Wheaton Warrenville South.

The 16th-seeded Trevians (7-4) began the game in promising fashion. Senior quarterback Mike Duda (13-of-31, 154 yards) negated an early holding penalty with three straight completions to move deep in Naperville Central territory.

The Redhawks defense stiffened, however, and New Trier settled for a Scott Washburn 41-yard field goal to take a 3-0 lead.

Paquette had quite the counterpunch for the Trevians' early jabs. The senior capped an impressive 8-play, 66-yard march with a 32-yard scamper down the left side. A 19-yard connection between Naperville Central quarterback Phil Horvath (4-of-12, 87 yards) and junior wideout Dan Passarelli was the lone non-running play of the drive.

After an exchange of punts, Paquette required only a single touch to increase the Redhawks' advantage.

Senior punt returner Tyke Spencer provided the Redhawks with ideal field position when he returned the kick 35 yards after muffing the catch.

Beginning at the Trevians' 39, Paquette took a pitch from Horvath and cut back against the grain to find the end zone. New Trier blocked the extra point to make the score 13-3.

"All three (scoring) plays were misdirections," said Paquette. "The back-side line did a great job and the receivers' stalk blocks were the key to the runs."

Naperville Central kicker Chris Szatko converted the lone turnover of the contest, a Nick Ehrlich interception, into a 16-3 Redhawks lead by kicking a 30-yard field goal.

Starting from their own 20, the Trevians produced their only touchdown with a 12-play drive that featured three Duda completions to Lewis Powell, the final one a 26-yard play the junior caught in a prone position.

The Trevians' workhorse back, senior Ryan Spellman, scored from 7 yards off right tackle on the ensuing play to decrease the Naperville Central lead to 16-9.

With only 52 seconds before half, the Redhawks were not content to run out the clock. A 23-yard Paquette run on a draw play and 31-yard pass from Horvath to Passarelli allowed Szatko to convert his second field goal, a 32-yarder.

After the Redhawks' first possession of the second half ended on a loss of downs, Paquette accounted for the final score when he split a pair of Trevians defenders en route to his third touchdown, a 17-yard backbreaker midway through the third quarter.

New Trier, meanwhile, could not generate any sustained drives in the second half. Ehrlich, who had three vicious hits during the game, ended the final Trevians drive when he deflected a fourth-down Duda pass.

Following the game, several New Trier assistant coaches were visibly agitated by a series of first-half calls that included an illegal participation penalty, costing New Trier 40 yards in field position, and an inadvertent whistle which nullified a Trevians fumble recovery deep in Naperville Central territory.

"I have no comment on the officials; I'm not even going to get into it," said New Trier coach Dan Mortier. "(Naperville Central) is a good football team. They took advantage of their size, and used (Paquette) well."

"We just pounded the ball there for a while," said Naperville Central coach Joe Bunge. "We felt we could run the ball, and I thought the whole defense played well."