Two games into the season, one simple truth and tone could be said for Waubonsie Valley’s young defense: opportunistic.
The eight turnovers Ron Griffin’s defensive unit had corralled coming into Friday’s annual meeting with Neuqua Valley was as big a reason as any for the Warriors’ 2-0 start.
With the opportunity to put its biggest rival in a tough spot by handing it a second straight loss, Waubonsie Valley was given a dose of its own medicine.
Isaiah Robertson’s pick-six of Jack Connolly helped spearhead a 14-point third quarter for the Wildcats, who dominated in all facets in earning a 28-7 DuPage Valley victory over the 20th-ranked Warriors.
The victory improves Neuqua Valley (2-1, 2-1) to 13-5 all-time against Waubonsie Valley, including winning four of the last five games between the two.
With Connolly and Waubonsie Valley (2-1, 2-1) facing a third-and-nine from the Wildcats’ 21 – holding designs of cutting a 14-point deficit in half – late in the third, Robertson was at the right place at the right time.
After seeing the ball bounce off Warriors’ sophomore tight end Charles Robinson, Robertson picked it off and returned it 93 yards to give Neuqua Valley a 21-0 lead with 1:39 left in the third.
“Coach (Nick) Benson has always been telling me, ‘watch out for the tipped balls,’” Robertson said. “It just came off his hands and just landed right in my lap. I just took it all the way.
“Coach Benson was just telling me, ‘get ready for pick-six’ because they were real lousy with catching the ball. I was just right there when it went through his hands and went all the way.”
The Wildcats’ junior receiver, however, wasn’t done.
Moments after his pick-six and an ensuing three-and-out from the Warriors’ offense, Robertson returned a punt all the way to the Warriors’ five-yard line as time expired in the third.
One play later, Nick Osikowicz found pay dirt for the second time in the game and the sixth time this season – courtesy of a five-yard TD run that put the Wildcats up 28-0.
“It was going to take a lot,” Robertson said of beating the Warriors. “It was going to take a lot of big plays. We both know each other. We study each other. We practice hard for each other and the big breakaways was really going to take charge of the game.”
Osikowicz, who continues to lead the Wildcats’ defense at linebacker while proving his worth as a No. 1 running back, ran 13 times for 55 yards while scoring twice.
In three games on the season, Osikowicz has 207 yards and six touchdowns on 37 carries.
“We really just were able to open up the run game after (quarterback) Jack (Stankoven) got the pass game going early,” Osikowicz said. “It really opened up the box.”
While Osikowicz did his thing on the ground, his Warrior counterpart – Max Ihry – ran for 82 yards on 15 carries while Connolly finished nine-of-16 passing for 111 yards.
Connolly’s 30-yard TD pass to Steve Rosenthal with 2:13 left in regulation prevented the Warriors from getting blanked.
As fourth-ranked Naperville Central prepares to visit Dick Kerner Stadium next Friday, Waubonsie Valley coach Paul Murphy knows the offense has to pick up.
“We’re still learning – because these guys are so young – what we can do and can’t do on offense,” Murphy said. “I thought we had a better handle in the second half of what we can do and we just got to sustain our blocks. We had too many guys that think ‘hit the guy once, you let him go.’ No, that’s not how the game is played. You got to play to the whistle.”
Waubonsie Valley’s defense forced its ninth and 10th turnovers of the year on Neuqua Valley’s first two possessions of the game.
However, Stankoven’s first two turnovers of the year – a fumble and an interception thrown to Trevon Moore – didn’t hurt as the Wildcats’ defense picked him up both times.
Stankoven rebounded to eventually find Robertson for a 10-yard TD as the Wildcats got on the scoreboard first with 6:17 left in the first half.
Stankoven ended 10-of-16 passing for 87 yards with the TD and the two turnovers.
“Defense picked him up,” Neuqua Valley coach Bill Ellinghaus said of Stankoven. “He responded. He’s calm back there. We talked about it on the sidelines. He’s learning. This is his third start, so he’s learning as a quarterback. He’s just going to get better and better. I’m proud of the way he responded to some adversity early on.”
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