Waubonsie’s Warden impresses in first start

Updated: September 20, 2011 8:14PM

Thrown into the fire in Waubonsie Valley’s 27-20 loss at Bartlett in Week 3 after senior starter Mitch Stefani broke his collarbone, Warriors’ junior quarterback Dylan Warden almost led the team all the way back.

With the Warriors trailing 20-0, Warden looked unfazed in the fourth quarter by finishing the game 7-of-16 passing for 168 yards and a touchdown while running 10 times for 47 yards and two scores.

“This week in practice, his whole demeanor, his whole body language is totally different than it’s been since June,” Waubonsie Valley coach Paul Murphy said last week. “He knows he’s the starter, he knows he’s the guy and I think lessons he’s learned the first two weeks of the JV games plus the second half Friday night (against Bartlett) now have put him in a position where he’s playing like a varsity quarterback should play.”

Making his first varsity start Friday at home against Lake Park, he continued his progress by giving the Lancers and the Warriors’ future opponents an added dimension to worry about — his legs.

Warden ran for 94 yards and four touchdowns and threw for another TD as the Warriors built a 40-0 halftime lead en route to routing Lake Park, 54-7.

Waubonsie Valley (3-1, 1-1 Upstate Eight Valley) travels this Friday to District 204 brethren Metea Valley for the first time, with Warden entrenched as the starter for the time being as Stefani is expected to miss at least three more weeks. That would include its Week 7 meeting with its other District 204 rival, Neuqua Valley, at North Central College on Oct. 7.

“Fortunately, I don’t have to answer that question until that occurs,” Murphy said of Stefani’s return and how it would impact the quarterback rotation. “Obviously, you take everything into account. You take into account how Dylan’s doing, where is Mitch in terms of the healing process. Is he 100 percent? Are they gonna let him play at 85 percent? All depends on where the strength is in that shoulder.

“The good news is it’s his non-throwing shoulder. It’s his left shoulder, so the bottom line, when he comes back, is he going to be able to take a hit without fear of it breaking again? If he gets to the point where he’s confident in that, then he gives us a second option for our offense.”

Central’s first road foray a success

Given the benefit of opening the season at Memorial Stadium for the season’s first three games, Naperville Central won two of three, with the lone setback coming in Week 1 with a 21-7 loss to Waubonsie Valley.

Going on the road for the first time last week, the Redhawks won their third straight game overall and their 14th straight game over West Aurora courtesy of Friday’s 35-20 victory over the Blackhawks in Aurora.

On the heels of rushing for a career-high 271 yards and five TDs in a 48-7 rout of Glenbard East in Week 3, senior running back Matt Randolph gashed West Aurora for 193 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the 15-point victory Friday.

“Actually, as a coach, I think most coaches would prefer to play on the road,” Naperville Central coach Mike Stine said last week. “You have the kids longer, their attention. From the time these kids get out of school basically. From 4 on, we have them. When we play at home, they have an extra hour, hour-and-a-half of down time where there is just a little bit more lag time. On the road, I like it. When we’re around here, there is not all the distractions when we’re in the building. Playing a road game, actually as a coach, I’m looking forward to going on the road.”

Naperville Central (3-1, 2-0 DuPage Valley) is once again on the road this Friday, traveling to play two-time defending DuPage Valley Conference and Class 7A state champion Wheaton Warrenville South.

The Tigers sit at 1-3 overall and 1-1 in the DVC after last Friday’s 17-14 road defeat at Naperville North, which snapped a 15-game DVC winning streak that dated back to the start of the 2009 season.

North’s playoff prospects
greatly improve

While Naperville North coach Sean Drendel deflected talk of a “must-win” immediately in the aftermath of Naperville North’s 17-14 victory over Wheaton Warrenville South last Friday, its impact on the program’s playoff aspirations in 2011 can’t be ignored.

The Huskies’ three-point victory over the Tigers, their first over the program that has claimed the last two Class 7A state titles since 2008’s regular-season finale, got the Huskies back to .500 heading into Friday’s game with West Chicago.

“It’s a huge game. Not so often that someone knocks off Wheaton South,” senior quarterback Tyler Gehr said after his 125 rushing yards on the night and 68-yard TD run in the second quarter helped set the tone in the victory.

“I think they had 15 consecutive conference games, win streak, and we beat them up. I think we’re gonna explode from this point and hopefully just keep progressing and this isn’t the best we’re gonna be playing. We’re gonna get better and better.”

Had Naperville North lost for the seventh time in its past eight meetings with Wheaton Warrenville South, it would have needed to beat either Naperville Central in Week 8 or Glenbard North in the regular-season finale to get to five wins — playoff eligibility — and reach the postseason for a 15th consecutive year.

“I think by the end of the season, we’ll be a real tough team,” Gehr said.

Benet struggles to find answers

Off to its first 0-4 start since 2005 while playing without a couple starters on both lines, Benet enters this weekend facing postseason elimination.

Friday’s 17-14 loss to Marist has put the Redwings in the unenviable spot of needing to win out the rest of the way to reach the postseason for a second straight year, something the program hasn’t done since 2003-04.

Through all the adversity his team has endured so far through the season’s first four weeks, and it doesn’t get any easier on Saturday when the Redwings host No. 4 Joliet Catholic, Redwings’ coach Pat New is still pleased with his team’s attitude and effort.

“I was talking to my team (on Sept. 12) and, at this point, a coach really gets angry with his team and he starts questioning guys,” New said last week. “I love the attitude of our team. I think our guys work hard and I really like these players a lot. So the message I had for them was, in life, you’re always gonna have setbacks, always.

“Life will never go perfect for you. You’re always going to experience failures at some point in life. I said it’s really a test of your character and you got to step up and you got to fight through it. I think when your back’s up against the wall, you gotta roll up the shirt sleeves, get to work and just work your way through it. I think it’s a great life lesson for our players.”

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