Waubonsie Valley (5-3, 4-3 DuPage Valley) @ Wheaton North (3-5, 3-4 DuPage Valley), 7:30 p.m.
Last week: Waubonsie Valley lost at Naperville North, 25-24 (OT); Wheaton North lost at Naperville Central, 34-14
Storyline: Waubonsie Valley heads to Wheaton to close out its regular-season schedule against Wheaton North with its postseason ticket still unofficially claimed.
Because of last week’s 25-24 loss in overtime at Naperville North, the Warriors must win against the Falcons to ensure a spot in the Class 8A postseson field. Otherwise, it’ll be left up to chance with their playoff points.
Against the Huskies, the Warriors overcame a 10-3 halftime deficit to send their game into overtime with the help of two Jack Connolly second-half TD passes.
Connolly’s third TD pass – a 11-yard strike to Charles Robinson – opened up the scoring in overtime but Luke Cegles’ third touchdown pass of the game and ensuing two-point conversion helped Naperville North stun Waubonsie Valley.
Connolly’s work through the air helped give the Warriors a chance as the Huskies did a nice job on Max Ihry in holding him to just 56 yards.
Whereas Waubonsie Valley still harbors postseason aspirations, Wheaton North’s postseason dreams vanished a week ago with a 34-14 loss at Naperville Central.
The Falcons fell behind the Redhawks, 31-0, before a two-yard TD run from quarterback Luke Anthony in the third quarter.
Anthony would find Marcus Gustaveson late in regulation for Wheaton North’s other score against the Redhawks as it was handed a third straight loss.
Wheaton North will miss the postseason for a second straight year – the first time that’s happened since 2005 and 2006.
Waubonsie Valley coach Paul Murphy on Wheaton North:
: “They’ve got a great quarterback (Anthony) who throws the ball all over the place. They’re well-coached, like all DVC teams are coached. They will probably throw the ball more than any team we’ve seen this year, so we’ve got to be ready to defend the pass but also not give up the running game because they run those read-pass option plays where they’ve got a run and a pass with every play. Depending on how you’re lined up, they’re going to go to what they think what is available to them. So it’ll be a good challenge for our defense.
“Once again, we’re going to find out how they want to play the option and we got to take what they give us. If they give us a play-action pass like Naperville North did, we’re going to take advantage of it. If they give us the pitch phase in the option, we’re going to take advantage of it. That’s why Tanner (Westwood) had such a good game. We just got to be more consistent in how we’re playing.”
