Redhawks just keep winning, baby

By Dan Wiederer Sports columnist November 8, 2000 I woke up Tuesday and still hadn't figured out how Naperville Central's football team beat New Trier over the weekend. The upset-minded Trevians had the dream within their reach. And Central took it away. Congratulations to the Redhawks for facing adversity and not panicking. Here's a pat on the back for a group that didn't play its best game Saturday. They just won. Figure it out. How did a Redhawks offense that managed 38 yards on its first four possessions of the second half come together for one last 70-yard drive? How did a defense as dirty and drained as the bath water keep making big plays? I'd like to tell the kids at Naperville North they have a chance in this weekend's quarterfinal showdown with Central. After all, New Trier was just the latest team in the last month to prove the Redhawks aren't invincible. But the facts remain. The Redhawks haven't lost in two years. Their last defeat came in the 1998 quarterfinals to eventual state champion Wheaton Warrenville South. Somebody might tell the Redhawks it's OK to lose. Many of them are playing as if a loss will get them grounded for a month, sent to their room without dinner, without cable and without PlayStation 2. On Saturday, in a game in which almost everything conceivable went wrong, the Redhawks lived by the Martin Luther King Jr. motto, "We shall overcome." The second quarter alone was filled with more mishaps than a "Three's Company" marathon. The misadventures began on the first play. With the score tied at 7, the Redhawks faced fourth-and-goal from the 1. Central coach Joe Bunge made a gutsy call, opting to go for it to send a message about how championship football is played. The Redhawks were set to pound the ball into the end zone and take control of the game for good. But before they had a chance, lineman Joe Hickok was flagged for lining up offsides. It was a paltry penalty with the drama of the situation in a playoff game and especially with the referee's angle on the play. It pushed Central back five yards, forced the team to settle for a field goal and changed the complexion of the game. On the next kickoff, the Redhawks were flagged for unnecessary roughness and shortly after penalized for another personal foul. New Trier capitalized, evening the score at 10. The Redhawks had another chance to take control immediately after. With 7:11 left in the half, Kevin Noel ran a sweet fly pattern, breaking free of the entire Trevians secondary. It was everything quarterback Phil Horvath envisioned. Noel ran under a pretty, if slightly underthrown ball, and dropped it. No big deal, Horvath seemed to say, coming back on the very next play with a 56-yard touchdown strike to Dan Prazak. But that, too, was negated by a holding penalty. The Redhawks salvaged a field goal. But the resulting 13-10 halftime lead was slim enough that New Trier smelled upset and started playing accordingly. The Trevians dominated most of the second half. For the first 21 minutes, they outgained the Redhawks by 83 yards. They held the ball eight minutes longer. And they outscored Central 7-3. It was like Buster Douglas knocking Mike Tyson to the canvas. Only this time, the heavyweight put the mouthpiece back in and got up swinging. Trailing 17-16 with fewer than 200 ticks of the clock left, the Redhawks faced an unlikely end to their season, to their dynasty, and for many, their careers. That was until Horvath took over. Combining the poise of Steve Young with the fire of Steve Austin, the junior quarterback casually jump started "The Drive." He hit Noel for 14 yards and followed with a touch floater to Griffith up the sidelines for 34. Five plays later, he finished it with the game-winning 1-yard touchdown run. "I knew I just had to keep my composure and not worry about everything else," Horvath said, smiling as if his heroics were inevitable. "I wasn't worried about anyone else. I was worried about getting the ball where it needed to be." This from a guy who started the season as an unknown understudy to Owen Daniels. "He's trying to fill the shoes of Owen," teammate Joe Alvarez said. "And he's doing a pretty damn good job of it." No matter what trouble confronts them, the Redhawks answer. They win because they don't know how to do otherwise. Is Central unbeatable? I'd like to tell North no. But nothing in the last two seasons has shown me otherwise. They just win. Contact Dan Wiederer at (630) 416-5287 or dan.wiederer@copleypress.com. 11/08/00