Wheaton Warrenville South (1-3, 1-3 DuPage Valley) @ No. 10 Naperville Central (3-1, 3-1 DuPage Valley), 7:30PM
Last week: Wheaton Warrenville South lost to Neuqua Valley, 28-14; Naperville Central lost at Waubonsie Valley, 15-14
Storyline: With its outright lead in the DuPage Valley Conference now gone, Naperville Central returns to Memorial Stadium with redemption and revenge on its mind.
The Redhawks’ task Friday is two-fold: redeem themselves for letting a 14-0 fourth-quarter lead at Waubonsie Valley slip away last Saturday and payback the Tigers for their Week 9 victory at Memorial Stadium a year ago.
Paced by Jeremiah Wiggins’ 108 yards and 55-yard TD on the first series of the third quarter, Naperville Central ran for 244 yards against the Warriors last week.
Because of that production, quarterback Conor Joyce – who ran for 79 yards – only threw for 47 yards and 15 of his 17 passes came in the second half.
While the Redhawks want to be a run-first football team, more production through the air will be necessarily down the stretch of the season.
Wheaton Warrenville South ended Naperville Central’s hopes of its first outright DVC title since 2001 with a 27-20 road victory in Week 9 last year.
The Tigers, dealing with several injuries, are off to a 1-3 start – both overall and in the DVC – and have lost three straight games.
In last week’s home loss to Neuqua Valley, Wheaton Warrenville South managed just 177 total yards.
Quarterback Michael Stebbins was lost to a collarbone injury in a Week 2 loss at Lake Park and running back J.J. Johnson went down with an ankle sprain against Glenbard North in Week 3.
The Tigers have made the postseason in 11 of the last 12 years and a loss would put them on brink of postseason elimination, much like a year ago.
But Wheaton Warrenville South dug out of a 1-4 start last year to finish 5-4 and in the Class 7A playoffs – all because of that Week 9 victory at Memorial Stadium.
Naperville Central coach Mike Stine on Wheaton Warrenville South: “I think that they’re (no different). On film, they look like the same defense as a year ago. They’re fundamentally sound. They’re not doing anything different. You know how they’re going to line up. They’re going to play as an 11-man unit defensively. They’re extremely well-coached. It’s hard to get them out of position and they don’t make a lot of mental mistakes getting out of position. It’s going to come down to execution. Can you out-execute them? They make it very difficult.
“Hopefully our defense makes it very difficult on teams also. Then it comes down to turnovers and special teams and a field position game. Last year, both games really went down to the last play. We got fortunate enough to win one of them. It’s going to be the same battle as it always is. They’re 1-3, but they’re a better (team than 1-3 record indicates). Heck, there’s a lot of teams that are (better than their record indicates).”
