Big plays big help in romp

August 31, 2001 11:08 PM CDT

Naperville Central quarterback Phil Horvath knew exactly what allowed his team to turn a close game with Stevenson into a romp.

Yes, he said, things started clicking and the third-ranked Redhawks turned up the intensity in the second half for a 37-14 non-conference victory Friday night. But he needed just three words to explain the main reason:

"The big play."

Horvath contributed touchdown passes of 68 yards to Kyle Griffith and 36 yards to Dan Passarelli as the visiting Redhawks improved to 2-0 going into DuPage Valley play.

The senior completed 11-of-19 passes for 205 yards. Griffith, who ran for 190 yards last week against Marian Catholic, came up with 118 in 20 carries, including a 17-yard TD run. And Jason Paquette had two 1-yard scoring runs to push his season TD total to five.

"Kyle's a great running back and the line's doing a great job," Horvath said. "Everyone is starting to mesh."

Central and Horvath seemed to mesh just at the right time—in the third quarter while holding a 17-14 lead. Horvath led an 11-play, 65-yard drive that ended with one of Paquette's touchdowns. That gave the Redhawks a 24-14 lead. Josh Rubin's interception three plays later sealed Stevenson's fate. Horvath capitalized a minute later with his scoring strike to Passarelli.

Stevenson scored its first points against the Redhawks in three years but still trailed 17-7 at halftime.

Paquette gave Central a 7-0 lead with two minutes left in the first quarter. Then the Patriots, outscored 81-0 in its two previous efforts against Naperville, took advantage of a second-quarter turnover to tie the game 7-7. After Tyke Spencer's 17-yard pass reception, he fumbled and Stevenson's Brian Silverman recovered on his own 27. Stevenson (1-1) then went on a 73-yard drive capped by Brian Shust's 4-yard run. It took Central only two plays to take the lead. With 1:36 left in the half, Horvath connected with Griffith for the 68-yard scoring play. The Redhawks got the ball back with 34 seconds left before the half, enough time to gain 43 yards and set up a 23-yard field goal by Chris Szatko as time ran out on the Patriots.

Stevenson came close with Shust's 2-yard scoring run to cut Central's lead to 17-14 with 7:28 left in the third quarter.

But Naperville Central just had too many big plays left.

Copyright 2001 The Chicago Tribune