Payton Thorne wasn’t about to get rattled.
Waubonsie Valley sophomore safety Jamarri Moore’s end zone interception in the third quarter just represented another opportunity to rise up from.
A pair of fourth-quarter touchdown passes for Thorne offered a sufficient reply as Naperville Central rallied for a 43-37 DuPage Valley Conference victory.
“We drive down the whole field and then I throw an interception,” Thorne said. “So me personally, I just got to put that behind me and quickly because it’s third quarter. We got to go out and perform right away.”
Thorne’s 31-yard TD pass to Ethan Allgauer and eventual two-point conversion to Allgauer with under a minute left in regulation put the Redhawks (4-0, 4-0) up for good.
Thorne was 21-of-34 passing for 304 yards with four touchdowns and the one interception.
All four of his touchdowns went in the direction of either Western Michigan-bound Jayden Reed or Allgauer.
Allgauer made sure Thorne’s final pass of the night would count as he broke away from three tackles to run for the eventual game-winning score.
“I just caught the ball and kept running,” Allgauer said of the pivotal third-down play. “I didn’t really think too much. Thought to get up field and get as many yards as I could. It happened that I ended up knocking off some tackles and scoring a big touchdown.”
Reed’s tightrope of the right sideline for a 57-yard touchdown early in the fourth answered a Bryce Logan touchdown run for Waubonsie Valley (1-3, 1-3).
Logan was one of five Warriors to score a touchdown as they operated effectively without the suspended Charles Robinson.
“Unfortunately we came with the loss, but we had a great week of practice going into this Naperville Central (game),” Logan said. “Overall, it was just an amazing game. The atmosphere was amazing. Just being in that crunch time zone, it was something that I’ve always dreamed of.”
Warriors quarterback Tanner Westwood ran for a 54-yard touchdown and hit Eric Esch for a 45-yard TD during a 23-point second quarter for the Warriors.
A safety and 70-yard kickoff return for a touchdown from Harper Cole allowed Waubonsie Valley to take a 23-14 with 5:56 left in the first half.
But Thorne hitting a wide open Allgauer in the end zone and senior running back AJ Deinhart’s second touchdown had the Redhawks within two points at half.
“It was nice to be back, just like playing with my guys,” Deinhart said. “The O-line played great and Payton took a lot of stress off the running game, so it made it easier.”
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