Call it whatever you want.
Call it part of the #Warof204 or choose to call it the #EolaBowl if you’d rather.
Regardless of the hashtag you decide to use, Metea Valley know how agonizingly close it came a year ago to upsetting one of its District 204 rivals for the first time.
If anything, Metea Valley’s two losses to Waubonsie Valley in 2014 by a combined margin of eight points, including a 21-14 loss in a Class 8A first-round playoff game, have provided resolve.
“Obviously, those losses were real tough last year,” Mustangs’ quarterback Conner Lovely said. “They were nail biting games. But those players who affected the game so heavily last year have gone on to play some college football and there’s some new faces this year.
“Obviously, we don’t necessarily think it’s a revenge game or anything like that. But we definitely have some higher energy because of those two real tough losses.”
As the two programs meet for the first time at North Central College’s Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium Friday night, both are in must-win mode.
At 1-3 overall and in the DuPage Valley Conference, the Mustangs need to win to keep playoff hopes alive.
At 3-1 overall and in the DVC, the 12th-ranked Warriors want to keep pace with four other one-loss teams in the conference.
“We can never really take Metea lightly because they’re always fired up to play us,” Warriors’ quarterback Jack Connolly said. “They came close twice last year, so clearly they can play with us. They’re 1-3, so you don’t want to get to 1-4. It’d be huge for Metea if they could get back to 2-3, so they’re going to come in hot.
“They’re a good team. They’re probably one of the better 1-3 teams around. They got great skill guys on both sides of the ball.”
Lovely leads an offense that’s getting production from several different sources – Maurice Burkley, Alonzo Taylor-Jones, Jordan Cagigal.
Burkley and Taylor-Jones have done a nice job sharing carries in Bryson Oliver’s stead while Lovely and Cagigal have hooked up for two TDs, including the Mustangs’ lone score at Wheaton North last week.
Lovely has four touchdown passes and one touchdown run on the year as the Metea Valley offense has been responsible for 50 of its 58 points thus far.
“Obviously, they line up and they’re in a no-huddle and they look to the sideline to get the play,” Waubonsie Valley coach Paul Murphy said. “I don’t know how (Lovely) does it – if he gives them one play or two plays and then they call the play based on what they see how you’re lined up as. They try to take advantage of how you’re lined up and get the matchup that they want. That’s what makes them so tough to defend.”
Spurred on by a 15-point effort in the fourth quarter, the Warriors stunned No. 4 Naperville Central, 15-14, as they seemed to finally found the missing link in their triple option.
The spark sophomore running back Tanner Westwood’s 43 rushing yards and 58-yard pass to Jake Schroeder to set up Max Ihry’s second TD run late in regulation may still be reverberating.
But for the man responsible to getting Waubonsie Valley’s offense going, Westwood’s contributions can’t be overstated enough.
“Ever since Rodney (Gee) got hurt, we’ve been looking for a guy to kind of take the last part of the option and we put Tanner there in practice and then he did well there,” Connolly said. “Then we put him in the game Saturday and he really changed the game. He got the ball and he ran hard and he ran hard and he ran hard. And then finally, it set up that last play at the end. So, yeah, Tanner – he just came in and really changed the game.”
The game plan for Matt Fehrmann’s defensive charges may have taken a sudden turn with the insertion of Westwood into the Warriors’ offense.
Metea Valley’s defense has given up 108 points in four games, but that number is very misleading.
At halftime against Neuqua Valley in Week 1, the Mustangs found themselves trailing just 17-7.
A pair of turnovers to start the third quarter put the Mustangs’ defense in bad spots and Neuqua Valley took advantage on the way to earning a 38-14 victory.
Two weeks later, the Mustangs held a 7-6 lead at Naperville Central at halftime before Naperville Central responded with 21 unanswered points in the second half to pull away for a 27-7 victory.
A week ago, Fehrmann’s unit allowed just 14 points in a 14-8 loss at Wheaton North – a loss that saw Metea Valley only down 7-0 at halftime.
Coupled with the two close meetings with Waubonsie Valley last year and what the defense has done in spurts this year, Metea Valley coach Ben Kleinhans is confident they’ll be competitive yet again.
“Those coaches do a great job getting them to run that scheme really well,” he said of the Warriors’ triple option, “and they get better as the year goes on, so we got our hands full on defense. But I’m confident. Every week, our defense has shown up. So there’s no other reason to think they won’t again this week and keep it a close game.”
Through four weeks, the young Warriors’ defense has been very opportunistic in forcing 10 turnovers and limiting three of their four opponents to 14 points or less.
The aim for the Mustangs’ offense is pretty evident: keep care of the ball.
In four games, they’ve turned the ball over 10 times – including four apiece against Naperville North and Wheaton North.
“Waubonsie, they’re a young defense but that doesn’t seem to be hindering them at all,” Lovely said. “They’re definitely moving on all cylinders. Just like their offense, everyone has a job on their defense and they seem to be doing it quite well.
“They have about 10 turnovers, so they’re definitely doing their jobs right. But just like every other defensive scheme, if you’re attacking one thing, you’re giving up another. So we’ll just have to make sure we’re staying balanced on offense and make sure we can hit those holes.”
From 2003 to 2014, Waubonsie Valley has annually played Neuqua Valley at North Central College.
For Metea Valley, Friday represents another “first” for its six-year-old program as it takes to the Benedetti-Wehrli turf for the first time.
Asked what another “first” – a victory over one of its two District 204 rivals – would mean to his program, Kleinhans was matter of fact.
“I think it would be huge,” he said. “It’s an exciting week and you’re playing at North Central, adds excitement for the kids. But we feel like our guys are working really hard and we want them to get rewarded for the hard work that they’ve been doing each and every week. We just to play to the best of our ability. That’s really what we want to do.”
Friday Night Lights – Live on Channel 17 and streaming at NCTV17.com
Separated by just four miles on Eola Road, Metea Valley and Waubonsie Valley will travel east this Friday night and meet on neutral turf at NCC’s Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium for the annual Prairie Classic football game.  Kick-off is at 7:30PM and  NCTV17 is excited to bring viewers all the live action. This is the first time in its six year history that Metea has participated in this annual District 204 football tradition and Coach Kleinhans and his Mustangs are ready to take center stage. Metea will face Coach Murphy’s Warriors who are coming off a big upset victory over Naperville Central. Tune in to Channel 17 or go online at NCTV17.com for a front row seat. DVDs of the game can be ordered online for $10 at: http://www.nctv17.com/product/community-events/  50% of the proceeds will be donated to Metea and Waubonsie Valley’s Booster Clubs.
