Naperville Central takes charge early

Updated: September 3, 2011 12:18AM

A witness to a game-changing drive from the game’s outset one week earlier in a disappointing loss to Waubonsie Valley, turnabout was fair play for Naperville Central opposite another District 204 school.

Straying away from normal procedure by taking the ball to start the game against visiting Neuqua Valley, Naperville Central took the ball right down the field and scored, setting the right tone of its own on its way to a 28-14 victory Friday night.

Redhawks senior quarterback Ian Lewandowski, coming off a subpar performance against the Warriors in Week 1, capped the 10-play, 56-yard drive by connecting with senior running back Matt Randolph for a 20-yard score.

The drive, set up by Randolph’s 42-yard kickoff return to begin the game, took 7:07 off the first-quarter clock and proved to be the perfect tonic in keeping a Wildcats offense, which put up 305 rushing yards and 492 total yards up on Naperville North in a 37-23 victory last week, in check.

“Before the game, me and Coach (Mike) Stine were talking and we said if we won the toss, we’re not gonna defer, we’re gonna receive because we wanted to get the momentum right away. We wanted to put a drive against Neuqua and we thought we’d get a pretty good return,” Lewandowski said of the drive. “We ended up getting a pretty good return from Matt. We all just played with a chip on our shoulder and we saw what the opening drive against us did when we faced Waubonsie. We knew we had to get that and we did.”

A week after completing three passes and two more to opposing defenders, Lewandowski was much better in helping lead a much better offensive attack.

Completing five of his eight passes for 61 yards, including two touchdown tosses to Randolph, Lewandowski also ran for 98 yards, including a 31-yard touchdown run right through the middle of the Wildcats’ defense that increased the Redhawks’ lead to 21-0 with just over four minutes gone in the second quarter.

Solid performances from the two offensive playmakers for Naperville Central (1-1), Lewandowski and Randolph, aided another solid effort from its defense on the way to picking up its third victory in four all-time meetings with Neuqua Valley. The series dates back to its 17-14 victory in a Class 8A first-round game in 2003.

Limiting the Wildcats to only 206 total yards offensively, the Redhawks’ defense forced five turnovers, including three interceptions from senior defensive back Ross Murphy.

“Once they got down by two scores, we knew they were just gonna start throwing it up because (Neuqua Valley senior quarterback Nate Boudreau) has got a good arm and he trusts it,” Murphy said. “They like to run four vertical, so we were just sitting on it all night.”

Getting out to the big lead certainly made it easier for Naperville Central to deal with Neuqua Valley junior running back Joey Rhattigan.

Rhattigan, who ran for 167 yards and four touchdowns last week against Naperville North, was held in check for much of the night, despite scoring both Wildcats touchdowns.

Rhattigan finished with 83 yards on 20 carries and benefitted from a pair of Naperville Central turnovers in setting the table for both of his scores.

Forced to throw for the most of the night because of the hole he and his teammates found themselves in because of a desperate Naperville Central team not wanting to start the season 0-2, Boudreau concluded 9 of 21 passing for 104 yards and three interceptions before leaving with an injury sustained on his final interception.

“Can’t put any team up 21 points and expect to do great things,” Neuqua Valley coach Bryan Wells said. “We fought a little bit there, but (we) can’t take anything away from Naperville Central. They forced what happened, and they came out with their backs against the wall — exactly what we were worried about. Played like a team that a lot was on the line and got after us.”

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