By STAFF WRITER Dan Wiederer

  Congratulations Naperville Central on winning a second state football championship. You heard it here first.

  I know, the Redhawks still have the minor task of playing Downers Grove South in Saturday's Class 8A state championship game. But that's a mere formality, a celebratory pageant in the coronation process. I'm going on record now and picking Central. In a romp.

  Not because I don't think Downers Grove South isn't a worthy opponent. The Mustangs have rebounded from a sluggish 1-2 start to rattle off 10 straight wins. Saturday's 35-34 defeat of defending state champion Maine South — clinched on a two-point conversion in overtime — further established Downers South as a team of destiny. But Naperville Central could give a rat's behind about destiny as upstart Wheaton North found out Friday. The Redhawks 48-20 thrashing of the Falcons in the state semifinals looked easier than summer school.

  After falling in an early 14-0 hole, a deficit that would have caused most teams to freak out, Central quickly and methodically tore Wheaton North apart like a vulture at a carcass buffet. With touchdowns on six straight possessions, the Redhawks turned a potential scare into a Seinfeld-like laugher.

  "We talked about keeping our poise and doing what we do each and every day," said Central receiver Dan Passarelli, who jump-started the comeback with a leaping 39-yard reception. "We practice this. We knew we could come back."

  The Redhawks not only knew they could come back, they seemed unabashedly sure they would. Wheaton North's 14-point lead evaporated in less than eight minutes and Central took the lead for good before halftime in the most unlikely manner with freight-train running back Jason Paquette busting off a 79-yard touchdown run in the final minute.

  The Redhawks' seemingly slim seven-point halftime lead may as well have been 60. Wheaton North was buried without a glimmer of hope.

  Downers South will encounter the same problem. Unless the Mustangs can build a 28-point lead in the first half, they're bird feed.

  Two years ago in the Class 6A state championship game, Central scored touchdowns on eight of their 10 offensive possessions. The Redhawks punted once in the first half and kneeled to kill the clock at the end of the game. This year's team has the potential to dominate in much the same way.

  Paquette, the preseason understudy to star tailback Kyle Griffith, has emerged as one of the state's premier players with 727 yards and 11 touchdowns in Central's four playoff wins. Paquette's frightening combination of speed and power would be plenty for Downers South to handle alone. But the Mustangs must also deal with Redhawks quarterback Phil Horvath and his explosive twin receivers in Passarelli and Tyke Spencer.

  Like Paquette, Horvath grew into a superstar after an injury to a teammate, taking over the starting spot from Owen Daniels early last season. All the senior signal caller has done since is post a 21-1 record as a starter and carry on the mind-boggling statistical domination of the Redhawks offense.

  "When Owen went down, Phil had to step up and do the job," said Central coach Joe Bunge. "That's what he's done. He's not one to shirk responsibility. He meets every problem head-on and he's doing that again this year."

  In Central's current 38-1 run dating back to the season opener of '99, the Redhawks are averaging 38 points per game. They have scored 30 or more points 32 times in that span while allowing more than 20 points just three times. Numbers like those screams of a trend, a tradition that figures to bury Downers South on Saturday.

  "I think the tradition here is so great at Naperville Central that everyone wants to play," Horvath said. "Everyone tries their hardest, works hard in the off-season. I remember coming here when I was really little and watching games thinking 'Aw, I can't wait to play out there.' Now I'm out there."

  Passarelli agrees, likening Bunge to the type of coach you see in Hollywood blockbusters.

  "Since fifth grade when I used to watch Jim Tumilty play, Coach Bunge's been kind of like a legend," he said. "I used to look up at him a lot when I was younger. Now I'm playing for him and it's great."

  Bunge is such a mastermind, so in tune to his team's strengths and so capable of enhancing them that he'd be a great replacement for Kneel-Down Dick Jauron as coach of the Bears.

  The Redhawks, now with a record of 145-41 in Bunge's 16 seasons, have the system figured out. From the efficiently structured varsity practices all the way down to the Pee Wee Redskins feeder program, Central has made football in Naperville as much a part of life as breakfast.

  "We've got a lot of good players in this program, a lot of good players in this community," Bunge said. "We've got a lot of seniors on our team that aren't going to see the football field this Saturday but they're still out here practicing everyday. That says a lot about this team."

  In the semifinal win over Wheaton North, five different Redhawks players scored touchdowns with middle linebacker Mike Lucas getting into the act with a rare touchdown catch as a tight end. To cap things off, Passarelli swiped up an on-sides kick and turned it into a 50-yard touchdown return.

  Those are the examples of explosiveness that Downers South won't be able to defuse. Not because it doesn't know what to do in a close game, but because the closest the Mustangs will get Saturday is Rantoul.

  In a game of school-yard King of the Hill, Central is the bully ready to push Downers South away like the nerd with the floods and the taped glasses.

  So congratulations, Redhawks. The state title is yours.

  11/21/01