Just how long has it been since Naperville Central has found itself in the position it does when it visits Roselle on Friday with an outright DuPage Valley Conference title on the line?
Actuality says 364 days. But reality says so much more.
Naperville Central entered its Week 9 home date a year ago with Wheaton Warrenvile South with designs on claiming the program’s first outright DVC title since 2001 with a victory.
The Tigers, however, proceeded to spoil their way to a share with a 27-20 victory at Memorial Stadium – extending the Redhawks’ outright conference title drought to yet another year.
But – come Friday – Conor Joyce, Emmanuel Rugamba and the rest of the Redhawks get a second crack at returning the program to the top of the DVC heap all by their lonesome.
After a 14-year wait, what’s one more year?
“Yeah, because of last year when we had the DVC championship against Wheaton South,” Joyce said when asked if he and his teammates were aware of the multi-year drought. “We knew it was a big deal last year and then we ended up splitting it.
“So – this year – we’re well aware of it and every year we have two goals: conference championship and state championship. So we have the opportunity to be the outright DVC champions, which is our goal. We’re not taking that lightly.”
Joyce, Luke Brady, Jeremiah Wiggins, Rugamba and Matt Lehmann have been charged offensively with leading the Redhawks to a 7-1 record through eight games this year.
A victory over Lake Park would not only give the Redhawks an outright DVC title, but it would also give them their first 8-1 record in a regular season since 2004.
Fourteen years ago, quarterback Phil Horvath, fullback Jason Paquette and wide receivers Tyke Spencer and Dan Passarelli were tasked with guiding a Naperville Central offense that averaged 36.7 points in winning their first 13 games.
Naperville Central’s quest for a second state title in three years following the Owen Daniels and Ryan Clifford-led group that went 14-0 in 1999 fell three points short against Downers Grove South.
Most of the seniors on the 2015 team were just three years old when Horvath and company went 13-1 in 2001 to cap a five-year stretch that saw Naperville Central go a combined 57-8.
They have nothing but respect for those who laid the foundation for the program, which has nine seasons of double-digit wins to go with the state titles from 1999 and 2013.
“Everyone knows the Ryan Clifford state touchdown record and Owen Daniels and that era,” Joyce said. “Everyone’s familiar with those guys because we would always look up to those guys when we were little. Me personally, my brother played running back in 2006 and I have all the ’99 through 2001 highlight films.
“So I’ve been watching those since I was a little kid knowing all the quarterbacks and all the good players – just to be compared with those guys is a good accomplishment for us because that’s when Naperville Central was at its top.”
Rugamba was a sophomore on the 2013 team that went 6-3 in the regular season before rattling off five wins, including upsets of Homewood-Flossmoor, Marist and Loyola, on the way to laying claim to the Class 8A state title.
Rugamba, who caught 23 passes for 383 yards and two TDs as a sophomore, has 36 receptions for 540 yards and five touchdowns through eight games this year.
Asked what has changed over the last three years – which has seen Naperville Central win 27 games up to this point – his answer is pretty simple.
“I feel that where this started off, this 7-1 team that we have here and the talent that we have here,” Rugamba said, “I’d say it started off with the leadership that we had my sophomore year, with the senior leadership that we had. Just the response to 4-5 (in 2012) and that just telling the guys that anything’s possible. So I feel that really jumpstarted it through two years ago to where the program’s going right now.”
