At Naperville Central, it’s a feeling just two people know.
For a program that has won at least 10 games in a season nine times while making four state title game appearances, Owen Daniels and Jake Kolbe represent the most exclusive club as being the two quarterbacks to lead the program to its two state titles in 1999 and 2013, respectively.
Daniels, a tight end currently with the Baltimore Ravens after spending his first eight seasons with the Houston Texans, and Kolbe, currently a freshman at Illinois State, both deserve plenty of credit for being able to help navigate the program successfully through the postseason waters and help claim a state title.
But there’s another duo that deserves recognition towards the program’s success over the years: Phil Horvath and Conor Joyce.
As a junior for the defending Class 6A state champs, Horvath took over for Daniels in the midst of a 43-0 shutout at West Chicago after the Wisconsin-bound Daniels tore his ACL and was lost for the remainder of the season for a program zeroed in on a repeat.
Horvath did a commendable job in Daniels’ stead in leading the Redhawks to a state quarterfinal appearance in 2000, where the top-ranked Redhawks were upset by Naperville North, 36-33, before leading them to a 13-0 start in 2001 before losing to Downers Grove South, 34-31, in the inaugural Class 8A state title game.
Thirteen years later, enter Joyce.
As Kolbe handed over the keys to the offense following last November’s 13-10 upset of Loyola in the 2013 Class 8A state title game, eyes turned to Joyce and how the junior would do with guys like Kevin Clifford, Emmanuel Rugamba and Michael Kolzow back to help him.
Through 10 games, all Joyce has done is lead Naperville Central to a 8-2 record entering Saturday’s Class 8A second-round matchup at top-seeded Waubonsie Valley.
“He’s just kind of growing up. He’s just kind of growing into the job,” Redhawks’ quarterback coach J.R. Rexilius said. “Each week, he’s gotten a little bit better and he’s just doing a (good job). He’s really just a great kid. He’s starting to take care of and manage the little things and I think that’s huge.
“You know, I think, early on, it was probably the little things that got him. Now he’s starting to take care of those and his teammates around him are playing better, so I think he’s playing better, too, that way. As a group, the whole offense is playing better and I think that’s a reflection on him.”
Joyce enters Saturday with modest stats, completing 56 percent of his passes for 1,031 yards and four touchdowns while running for 195 yards and six TDs on the ground.
But with his team quickly in a 14-0 hole last Friday against Brother Rice, Joyce didn’t panic as the Redhawks put together a 20-point fourth quarter while keeping the Crusaders off the scoreboard in the second half.
Executing the Redhawks’ offensive game plan to precision, he led the offense on scoring drives of 12 and 15 plays in the second half while ending both of those drives on his own with two short touchdown runs.
“I thought Conor played the best game of his life (against Brother Rice),” Clifford said last Friday.
Responsible for just 182 total yards, Joyce showed off his growing maturity in not letting his first-quarter fumble after a 17-yard run faze him in not turning the ball over again over the course of a pair of two 14-point comebacks.
With his team trailing the Crusaders at halftime, Naperville Central coach Mike Stine stressed to his team to think back to last year’s Class 8A state semifinal against Marist, in which Naperville Central overturned a 21-7 deficit to pull out a 27-21 victory.
What followed in the final 24 minutes against the Crusaders last week was a team effort, according to Stine, an effort that was aided by Clifford’s 79 yards on 25 carries, Joyce’s touchdown passes to Rugamba and Kolzow and a defense that shut the door in the second half.
Refusing to focus on his four-touchdown night against Brother Rice, Joyce instead praised the way his teammates had his back throughout the game.
“I was just helped with all my teammates. They helped me out,” Joyce said. “They encouraged me. They were all stepping up, making plays when they needed to be made and credit to the O-line. They were helping out.”
On Saturday, Joyce and the rest of the fourth-seeded Redhawks will travel to Dick Kerner Stadium to face off with Waubonsie Valley, with revenge squarely in their crosshairs.
In the eyes of many inside the Naperville Central program, Waubonsie Valley’s 20-6 season-opening victory was marred quite a bit for the fact Naperville Central turned the ball over six times, including fumbling at the one-yard line as the game resumed from a weather delay.
Whether the Redhawks will be able to successfully make amends and come away with a victory remains to be seen, but for anyone to question the Redhawks’ ability to repeat as state champions, consider their suffocating defense.
If the Redhawks are in Champaign, Ill. the night of Nov. 29, the emerging confidence of their junior quarterback could be one of the biggest reasons why they could be 48 minutes away from a repeat.
“I mean, as a junior quarterback, it’s really tough to take on the role as the starter. But at the beginning of the season, he was struggling a lot trying to handle the offense,” Iowa State-bound linebacker Bobby McMillen said. “But as the season (has) gone on, he has grown. He’s grown tremendously over the season and I commend that to him so much to take over a team as a junior like that.”
