Naperville Central edges out Waubonsie

Updated: March 28, 2011 12:20PM

Another year and another close win for Naperville Central against neighborhood rival Waubonsie Valley.

The Redhawks' offense put together a 17-play, 89-yard drive, which gobbled up close to eight minutes in the final quarter and quarterback Hayden Daniels capped it off with a 13-yard scoring run, to help Central to a 17-10 win against Waubonsie on Friday night.

"I think that is four straight wins for them against us," Waubonsie defensive end and fullback Devon Morgan said. "Man, it is tough to lose to them again, but I love playing against these guys. It was a great game."

Daniels scored with 1:06 remaining.

The Warriors (0-1) managed to drive to the Redhawks' 20 with 1.9 seconds remaining, but quarterback Tom Kolzow's pass attempt to teammate Eric Josupait in the end zone was knocked away by Central defenders Pat Clark and Will Sayer as time expired.

Daniels' winning run came on a third-down play.

"I was looking (for) tight end Chris Levine coming off the left and nothing was there," Daniels said. "(Waubonsie) gave me a little room and I made a move and somehow I got into the end zone. It was a great play by everyone -- receivers, linemen and backs all threw some blocks."

Daniels gave up his body as he dove into the end zone and as a result, he had the wind knocked out of him, which sidelined him for the ensuing 2-point conversion.

Ian Lewandowski ran in the conversion to give the Redhawks a seven-point lead.

The game was won on Central's only offensive possession of the fourth quarter when it took the field at its own 11 with 10:03 remaining in the fourth quarter and trailing 10-9.

Slowly, the Redhawks (1-0) moved the ball.

The key conversion on the drive was Lewandowski's fourth-down pass to Tyler Bell, which was Lewandkowski's only completion of the game.

"I got the ball to Tyler Bell because I knew he was going to make a play and he did," said Lewandowski, who completed 1 of 4 passes for 23 yards. "We put (Daniels) out at wide receiver hoping he would beat his man deep, but instead I went to the other side and Tyler got the job done."

Morgan said that was the key play of the game.

"Against a good team like them, you have to get a stop when you get the chance," Morgan said. "We have to work on finishing. We have to stop them in that situation."

Waubonsie coach Paul Murphy agreed.

"Our defense has to get a stop there and get off the field," Murphy said. "They had the ball for almost eight minutes on that one drive. We have to get the ball back in that situation. We didn't make enough plays, once again, to beat a quality opponent."

Waubonsie led 7-6 at halftime and 10-9 entering the fourth quarter.

Daniels completed 11 of 22 passes for 112 yards with one interception and had seven rushes for 24 yards.

Central's Matt Randolph led the Redhawks with 12 carries for 89 yards.

Kolzow completed 15 of 28 passes for 126 yards with one interception.

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