Perhaps lost in the shuffle amidst going on an incredible postseason run last year en route to upsetting Loyola in the Class 8A state title game to win the program’s second state title and first since 1999, Naperville Central was at 6-3 entering the postseason.
Claiming five more victories in the postseason gave Naperville Central, at 11-3, its first double-winning season since 2004.
From 1997 through 2001, Naperville Central won 57 games while appearing in a pair of state title games and gobbling up four DuPage Valley Conference titles in the process.
That 2001 season, which ended with an excruciating loss to Downers Grove South in the inaugural Class 8A state title game, still marks the last time Naperville Central won an outright DVC title.
Already having secured at least a share of the conference title with its 17-10 victory at Lake Park last week, No. 8 Naperville Central returns to Memorial Stadium Friday night with designs of claiming the title all to its lonesome.
Wheaton Warrenville South, harboring its own designs of a split conference title while also getting to playoff eligibility with a fourth straight victory, comes calling tonight with revenge on its mind.
With memories of a 10-7 victory over the Tigers in Wheaton fresh, marking the program’s first win at Red Grange Field since the 2001 season, the Redhawks will look to keep the Tigers (4-4, 3-1) on the postseason sidelines for the second time in three years.
“We know each other very well and it’s going to be the team that can make some plays, stay away from turnovers, penalties (that will win),” Naperville Central coach Mike Stine said. “I mean, it’s going to be a great slugmatch. I really believe that because it’s two great defenses going against each other.”
Winners of its last seven games following a season-opening loss at Waubonsie Valley, Naperville Central (7-1, 4-0) will aim to finish with their best regular season since going 8-1 in 2004.
Stine has talked several times about his team’s offense needing to find an identity to go with a defense that he has repeatedly called special.
Kevin Clifford, whom Stine’s counterpart, Wheaton Warrenville South coach Ron Muhitch, called possibly the best player in the conference, may offer an answer to that question, if things continue to go according to plan on offense.
Clifford has 1,084 yards rushing on the year, along with eight touchdowns, and had 143 yards and the Redhawks’ only touchdown in the victory in Wheaton last month, a victory capped by a 29-yard Connor Assalley field goal as time expired.
“We’re going to be who we are. We’re going to do what we try and do best,” Stine said. “We’re going to see. We know what they’re going to do defensively. They’re not going to change. We’re not going to change.”
Meanwhile, Muhitch is dealing with what he termed as an identity crisis on offense as injuries have hampered the Tigers’ ability to gain any rhythm or flow offensively for much of the year.
“I think most teams have always been confident offensively as they enter a year with their talent. This hasn’t been one of those years in the conference,” he said. “Points are hard to come by. … You might have a great week one week offensively and then you could have a completely shutdown week and some of that stems from the other team’s defense. But I think it’s somewhat a … I’m calling it an identity crisis on offense.”
To Muhitch’s point, consider what his team has done in each of the last two weeks.
Facing postseason elimination at Naperville North two weeks ago, the Tigers got 377 yards of total offense in posting a 41-0 shutout of the Huskies—a performance highlighted by Keishawn Watson’s 148 total yards and two TDs.
Watson’s 36-yard TD pass to Michael Campos, who was responsible for Wheaton Warrenville South’s only score against the Redhawks in the 10-7 loss on Sept. 19 with a one-yard touchdown run, sparked a season-high 41-point output, ensuring the Huskies would miss the postseason for the first time since 1996.
Last week, the Western Michigan-bound Watson accounted for the Tigers’ only score, a 40-yard TD reception from Michael Stebbins, in a 7-3 victory over Glenbard North that kept the Tigers’ postseason hopes alive.
“Keishawn’s a phenomenal receiver. We’ve actually moved him around in our offensive scheme to try to give him more touches every game,” Muhitch said, “and it’s not hard to see that we’re doing that and it’s not hard to plan for that. … You need to find ways to get the ball to your playmakers.”
The program’s first outright DVC crown in 13 years nearly in its grasp, Naperville Central wants to start its quest for a return trip to the Class 8A state title game on a good note—even if it means hurting the conference.
A Naperville Central victory over the Tigers would mean only two teams from the DVC, the Redhawks and Lake Park, would qualify for postseason play—marking a sharp contrast from what the conference is used to.
Routinely accustomed to getting four or even five teams into the postseason, the DVC has qualified just three teams twice in the last 12 years coming into this year—2002 and 2012.
“They got to pull out all the stops. It’s going to be a great opportunity. It’s going to be a great match,” Stine said. “You know, it’s going to be that quarterfinal, semifinal atmosphere—which we’re blessed to play in three or four of those every year. Our kids are looking forward to the challenge. It’s for the conference championship. It’s for them to get into the playoffs, so it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
