[shareprints gallery_id=”808″ gallery_type=”filmstrip” gallery_position=”pos_center” gallery_width=”width_100″ image_size=”xlarge” image_padding=”0″ theme=”dark” image_hover=”popout” lightbox_type=”slide” comments=”true” sharing=”true”]In each of the last two weeks, Naperville Central had played with fire but found a way to survive and move on to “get seven more days.”
With second-seeded Simeon from the Chicago Public League paying a visit in the first meeting between the programs and with a Class 8A state semifinal berth at stake, Simeon took advantage of three Naperville Central turnovers en route to scoring 28 unanswered points amidst a 34-20 victory over the defending Class 8A state champions.
Heading into halftime with a 7-6 lead, an advantage that could have been more if not for Kevin Clifford fumbling at the Wolverines’ one-yard line late in the first half, Naperville Central (9-3) took the opening kickoff of the second half 62 yards on seven plays, capped by a 14-yard TD pass from junior quarterback Conor Joyce to junior wideout Emmanuel Rugamba to give itself a 13-6 lead.
From there, buoyed by forcing a turnover on a kickoff return following a TD run from senior QB Timon Watkins and converting a pair of big pass plays, the Wolverines put up the 28 unanswered points to take a 34-13 lead.
A 30-yard pass from Watkins to Jordan Reid helped convert a third-and-24 during a third-quarter drive that Watkins ended with a TD run to tie the game at 13-13 while Matt Fleming’s 25-yard completion on a botched punt eventually led to another TD run from Watkins, which gave the Wolverines a 27-13 lead early in the fourth.
“We made too many mistakes in a quarterfinal game against a good football team. You can’t make mistakes, you know,” Naperville Central coach Mike Stine said. “We had some costly penalties. We had some costly turnovers. I think we had three. They had none. In a close game, quarterfinals, really in any football game, the team that wins the turnover battle usually is going to win the football game. We just made too many mistakes (Saturday). Give the credit to Simeon. Simeon played a great football game. They didn’t turn it over. That’s a really good football team out there.”
The Wolverines, who will make their first-ever state semifinal appearance, got two touchdown runs apiece from Watkins and senior running back Dion Earls, Jr.
Watkins accumulated 174 total yards to go with his two second-half TD runs while Earls, Jr. ran for 72 yards and two TDs as Simeon (11-1) won its 11th straight game.
“They converted some big plays. We had the punt and we got the penalty on it. They had the fake punt they converted,” Stine said. “They converted some third-and-longs. They made plays and that’s why they won the football game. We didn’t convert when we needed to. Give the credit to Simeon. They were the better football team (Saturday).”
Naperville Central used a 51-yard touchdown pass from Joyce to Clifford to finally gain some sort of offensive traction in an opening half that saw it turn the ball over twice, including the Clifford fumble late in the first half.
Clifford was held to just 37 yards on 14 carries in the first half as his 51-yard TD reception allowed the Redhawks to take a 7-6 lead into halftime.
Clifford finished with 50 rushing yards on 19 carries, putting his season total at 1,571 yards, while Joyce was 13-of-19 for 186 yards and three touchdown passes.
“We really kind of put ourselves in a hole with the turnovers. I’m just so proud of the guys for (the ability to) keep on fighting,” said Redhawks’ senior wide receiver Michael Kolzow, who caught three passes for 45 yards and a TD. “We faced a lot of adversity (Saturday). Turnovers but you know what? The guys kept on fighting. We just came up short.”
A seven-yard TD run from Earls, Jr. put Simeon up 6-0 with just over four minutes gone in the game, as the Wolverines took advantage of a muffed punt.
Aside from the short three-play, 18-yard scoring drive the Wolverines pieced together following Patrick Parker’s recovery of a muffed punt, Mike Ulreich’s defensive charges continued to do its work for the much of the first half.
The Wolverines couldn’t really get anything going offensively elsewhere in the first half as they managed just 99 total yards.
But the ability of Simeon’s senior offensive trio in Watkins, Earls, Jr. and Fleming to continually make plays in a second half that saw the Wolverines break the game open by being very opportunistic proved even too much for a stout Redhawk defense to battle through.
“We knew they had a lot of athletes over at Simeon and I mean, hats off to them. They played a hell of a football game (Saturday),” Naperville Central senior linebacker Bobby McMillen said. “I mean, yes, it’s a game. You make mistakes, but this late in the playoffs, you can’t (make mistakes). The team that makes the most mistakes is going to come out as the loser. Unfortunately, that was us (Saturday). Hats off to them and I hope that they take the state championship home.”
