Neuqua Valley still looking for 2-0 start

Updated: September 1, 2011 7:23PM

Neuqua Valley entered this season with desires and expectations of accomplishing some firsts for its 14-year-old varsity program.

The program’s bid for its first-ever appearance in a state quarterfinal is well-documented, especially in light of last year’s second-round close call against eventual Class 8A runner-up Mount Carmel when it dropped a 21-14 decision at home in overtime.

But what many outside of the program’s walls may not realize is Neuqua Valley has never begun a season 2-0, a task that has grown considerably tougher when one considers that it has opened the year against both Naperville North and Naperville Central in each of the past three seasons, including this year.

“If you go back and look at the DVC and research just the teams that have had to play both Napervilles back-to-back weeks, no matter where it’s at in the season, historically teams don’t do very well against them,” Neuqua Valley coach Bryan Wells said before the season. “If we could get those two, it would be pretty awesome.”

Thanks to last Friday’s 37-23 victory over Naperville North, the program’s second victory over Naperville North overall and first since 2005, that first step is checked off the do-list.

The Wildcats, ranked 25th by the Sun-Times, now have an opportunity to finally secure that elusive first 2-0 start tonight in Naperville when it goes for a second straight victory over Naperville Central after pulling out a 20-18 triumph last season when Nate Laskowski’s potential game-winning field goal for Naperville Central clanged off the left upright with 14.6 seconds left in regulation.

Spearheaded by calling senior running back Joey Rhattigan’s name 34 times against the Huskies, the Wildcats rolled out to a 37-16 lead early in the fourth quarter as the Wildcats won their season opener for only the second time in their 14-year history.

Making Neuqua Valley fans forget the void left by Trent Snyder, whose 1,418 yards last season placed him third on the program’s single-season rushing list, for at least 48 minutes last Friday, Rhattigan shredded through the Huskies’ defense to the tune of 167 yards and four TDs, including a 40-yard run to open up the game’s scoring two minutes and 21 seconds into the contest.

The Wildcats racked up 492 total yards against Naperville North, 305 of them coming on the ground. Rhattigan received help from junior running back Danny Dudek, who ran for 136 yards on 13 carries, and senior quarterback Nate Boudreau, who finished the game eight-of-17 passing for 187 yards.

Boudreau’s lone touchdown pass of the night, a 36-yarder to junior wideout Jeff Evak, finished the team’s scoring early in the fourth quarter.

“I think what’s going to happen is people are gonna stack up trying to stop the run game and he’s gonna hurt them,” Wells said of Boudreau. “He’s gonna hurt them with the pass game and that’s exactly what you want. When you run the football, you hope to be able to pass efficiently. And your passing game is a type that’s gonna just hurt people and either moving chains, which is what happened the other night, or touchdowns, which is what happened the other night. I think he’s going to surprise some people and I think he’s gonna be difficult to defend because we’re gonna run the ball well.”

While Neuqua Valley (1-0) is aiming for its first-ever 2-0 start, Naperville Central comes into tonight licking its wounds a little bit.

The Redhawks’ offense looked very lackluster and uninspired throughout much of their 21-7 loss at home to Waubonsie Valley last week.

Senior quarterback Ian Lewandowski only completed three passes on the night and was intercepted twice, while Matt Randolph, despite running for 129 yards, had a key fumble in the first half that halted momentum.

Three turnovers in the first half didn’t help matters and Naperville Central didn’t crack the scoreboard until 2:26 was left in the game when Lewandowski hit junior wide receiver Blake Butler for a 55-yard touchdown.

Lewandowski and Redhawks’ coach Mike Stine both know the passing game, after accounting for only 72 yards against the Warriors last Friday, must get better quickly. That won’t be an easy task against a Wildcats’ defense that permitted only 111 passing yards to Naperville North last Friday.

“We’ve been working pass plays every single day a little bit more (this week in practice),” Lewandowski said, “because we haven’t been able to hit those. This week, I gotta be able to complete some of my passes and not make the bad reads and throw as many interceptions. Just hoping to make the right reads (tonight), be able to tell the coverages and everything.

“I think we’ll be all right in the pass game, when it comes down to it.”

Much talk has surrounded Naperville Central’s desire to prevent a senior class from reaching the postseason in each of its two varsity seasons for the first time since Stine’s first year working at the school in 1984, but it’s the dreadful prospect of starting out 0-2 is what it has been tackling head on this week.

Naperville Central hasn’t had to cope with a 0-2 start to a season since 2006, Stine’s first year at the helm.

The Redhawks dropped their first three games that year before recovering by winning eight in a row before losing 28-7 at home to Mount Carmel in a Class 8A state quarterfinal.

With a third straight home game to open up the season and DuPage Valley Conference play against Glenbard East awaiting next week, another 0-2 start isn’t something Stine and his charges want any part of.

“This is one of nine (games). Last week was the first one. (Tonight) is the second one,” Stine said. “This is the most important game of the year because it’s (the) next game. We’re not changing everything. I think if you run into a panic mode, if you try and change everything, you send a message that what you’re doing you don’t believe in. We believe in what we’re doing and we’re gonna keep the ship sailing.

“This is a very resilient senior class. We believe in this senior class and they’re gonna play hard. We played hard last week. We just didn’t make enough plays. This week, we’ll go out and we’ll play hard and hopefully make some more plays.”

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