Most people are well acquainted with Emmanuel Rugamba for his work as a No. 1 receiver for Naperville Central.
But as Glenbard North and Neuqua Valley both have found out these first two weeks, more and more people will be getting familiar with Rugamba’s work on the other side of the ball.
Rugamba’s Aug. 1 commitment to Kirk Ferentz and Iowa was all about where Rugamba’s future will primarily lie: as a defensive back.
“Learning defensively out here – our coaching staff is definitely second to none,” Rugamba said. “I’d say (Redhawks’ defensive coordinator Mike) Ulreich could coach at the college level, so I feel every week I’m learning something new with Coach (Tim) Boecker – our defensive backs coordinator – and Coach (Marc) Anderson.
“They’re just a bunch of guys who are always in my ear trying to get me to get better and it’s something that I’m really excited about going on. My coaching staff is one that I trust, hands down, with everything. Going on – I’m just learning more and more about the position and I feel comfortable there. So I’m excited about it.”
Rugamba’s interception of Panthers’ quarterback Shane Conway on a fourth-and-nine preserved a 13-12 victory in Week 1 for the Redhawks with 1:35 left in regulation.
A week later against the Wildcats, Rugamba batted down a Jack Stankoven pass on a fourth down with 4:26 left in the third quarter in Redhawks’ territory to keep the game tied at 7-7.
A quarter later – moments after Luke Brady gave the Redhawks their first lead with a TD run with 51 seconds left in regulation – Rugamba came through again.
He ended Stankoven’s last-ditch pass to Isaiah Robertson by knocking it down as time expired to close out a 14-7 victory for Naperville Central
“Some big plays,” Ulreich said of Rugamba’s defensive performance against Neuqua Valley. “Some really big plays. … ”The fourth-down play was huge. That’s why we have him out there. He hasn’t cramped up in two weeks. He’s in great shape and we’ve been lucky that we’ve been able to put him on the field as much as we can.”
Lovely loving life: Conner Lovely knows Metea Valley’s offense still has some work to do, but it’s a heck of a lot better to analyze yourself after a win than a loss.
Lovely’s six-yard TD pass to Brad Fekety with 51 seconds left in the game Friday ended an improbable Mustangs’ comeback in a 29-28 victory over Naperville North.
They overturned a 13-point deficit against Naperville North in a span of 5:50 following Lovely’s third interception of the game – a pick-six in the direction of T.J. Agyakye.
“To be honest with you, that pick-six – it was a miscommunication,” Lovely said. “We knew that there was a lot of time left on the clock. We have a very high-powered offense that can score a lot of points in a quick amount of time. We have some great athletes at the edge that really stepped up for us in the last two minutes.”
Lovely found Jordan Cagigal for a 50-yard score that got Metea Valley within 28-22 with 4:22 left in the game.
The Mustangs’ defense got Lovely the ball back with 1:46 left and he proceeded to lead them on a five-play, 69-yard scoring drive in just 55 seconds.
Lovely finished 17-of-31 passing for 301 yards with three TDs and three interceptions against the Huskies.
“We need to cut down on the turnovers,” Lovely said. “Obviously that goal wasn’t accomplished, but I think what we did do was overcome the adversity that we were faced with. I put our defense in bad situations with the interceptions. The defense played great.
“They had our back the whole night and you couldn’t really ask much more from them. What we really want to do moving forward is just play simple football.”
Huskies’ offense chugging: Naperville North might be off to a 0-2 start after single-digit losses to Sandburg and Metea Valley, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t been making strides.
Sean Drendel’s decision to return the program back to the offense it has been long identified with – the double-wing – has provided immediate results. Senior Jalen Lockhart ran for 136 yards and a TD against Sandburg to lead a 234-yard effort on the ground for Naperville North.
“We ran our offensive system,” Drendel said of the Huskies’ 234 rushing yards against Sandburg. “That’s what we’re doing. We ran our offensive system. So it wasn’t schematically anything different from what we’re attempting to do.”
A week later against Metea Valley proved more of the same despite a one-point loss.
Lockhart ran for 206 yards and another touchdown as the Huskies collectively racked up 381 yards on the ground.
Quarterback Dylan Fadden added 84 rushing yards and a one-yard TD as three different players recorded rushing touchdowns for the Huskies against the Mustangs – Lockhart, Fadden and Matt Montgomery.
“Are we surprised?” Drendel said. “No, we thought we’d able to run the football pretty good and we have been. Dylan’s done a nice job of leading the team a little bit. So it’s been a pretty good scenario.”
