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Waubonsie Valley’s defense overpowers Oswego
Updated: September 3, 2011 12:53AM
Near midfield, as the last of the team handshake lines dispersed to opposite sidelines of vastly disparate moods, Waubonsie Valley coach Paul Murphy grabbed Oswego’s Ryan West in a hug, offering words of encouragement to a quarterback who was hurried and beaten relentlessly by a Warriors defense that simply overwhelmed the Panthers’ blocking schemes.
Earlier in the week, there was tension in Murphy’s voice when speaking about West, who threw for five touchdowns and over 400 yards in a Week 1 loss.
“I didn’t know if we could stop them, honestly,” Murphy allowed himself to admit after the Warriors’ 34-14 victory Friday.
It’s the first time a Waubonsie Valley team has started a season 2-0 since the undefeated team of 1992.
Waubonsie co-defensive coordinators Ron Griffin and Duane Butts, along with defensive line coaches Brent Kiger and Matt Murphy, came up with a new game plan for the Panthers’ spread attack — one far different than the one used against Naperville Central last week and even from the victory over Oswego last year.
By studying West’s progressions, and his footwork under duress, the Warriors had defensive linemen Zack McCabe, Anthony Touchstone, Zac Steele and Riley Kittridge occupy blockers while linebackers Austin Lacke and Tommy Wooten blitzed from all over the field.
Lacke, who blitzed just twice last week, finished with two sacks and two tackles for loss while Wooten had 2œ sacks and one QB hurry.
“We figured if we kept rushing him, we’d get to him,” Wooten said of West. “And as fast of a defense as we are, we got to him.”
For his part, West said he didn’t make the right adjustments.
“They were blitzing from the outside and the middle the entire game,” West said. “During halftime, we talked about it. The line has to slide right or left depending on where they blitzed. We just didn’t do that very well tonight.
“That’s on me. I have to watch more film on it. They’re a different team than last year and blitzed more than last year, but I should’ve checked out of a lot of plays and shortened up the routes a little bit more.”
What the last two weeks have proven is that the Warriors have incredible defensive flexibility and the talent to implement unique game plans in a short period of time. The offense will score points — but defense is what’s going to carry the Warriors to heights not seen on Eola Road in decades.
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