There was a twinkle in the eyes of Naperville Central coach Joe Bunge when he talked about the play.

Down by two touchdowns and facing a fourth-and-one inside his own 40, Bunge went for it and called the number of freshman running back Eric Small. The first down ignited a 41-point outburst as the Redhawks defeated Wheaton North 48-20 on Friday in Naperville.

The top-rated Redhawks (13-0) play the winner of the Maine South-Downers Grove South semifinal tonight for the Class 8A title at 7 p.m. next Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Champaign. It is the fourth year in a row that the DuPage Valley has sent a team to the championship game of the state's largest class. And it will be Naperville Central's third title game in six years.

After Small's run, the Redhawks marched down the field and scored on a one-yard run by quarterback Phil Horvath.

"It was real shaky at that point to go to a freshman,'' Bunge said. "I really had a lot of faith in the offensive line. Wheaton North is a good football team. Those two touchdowns showed their character.''

Naperville Central's next possession started at the Falcons' 37 after a poor punt. Jason Paquette, who carried 27 times for 226 yards, burst 20 yards for a touchdown to make it 14-14.

With 33 seconds to play in the half, Paquette broke loose down the left side and ran 79 yards for a 21-14 lead.

"I'm just happy to play another week,'' Paquette said. "We worked for this all season. Even when we were behind--and that was a first for us--I always had confidence in the defense and the offense.''

In the second half, Horvath, who was 11-for-14 for 151 yards and two touchdowns, threw a six-yard scoring pass to linebacker Mike Lucas on the Redhawks' first possession.

"I caught one before, on senior night,'' said Lucas, who finished with 15 tackles, a sack and a fumble recovery. "We were so pumped up at the beginning, we had to settle down and get back to our game.''

"Lucas is a heck of a player,'' Bunge said. "And Jason is a horse, a thoroughbred.''

Paquette had a 38-yard scoring run, and Horvath followed with a 10-yard scoring pass to Tyke Spencer. After Wheaton North scored on a five-yard pass from Zach Ullrich to Mark Slocum, Dan Passarelli ran back on onside kick 50 yards for a touchdown.

"We lost on this field in the playoffs last year [to Naperville North], and that was not going to happen again,'' Horvath said. "I was a little nervous, but the play by Small turned the game around.''

The Falcons came out with authority. They took the opening kick and marched 75 yards, scoring on a five-yard pass from Ullrich to Dareon Spencer.

An electrifying 19-yard touchdown run by Andy Cvengros, who had 18 carries for 120 yards, gave Wheaton North a 14-0 lead with 9:34 to play in the first half. Cvengros finished with 120 yards on 18 carries.