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WW South continues its run over Wheaton North
Updated: October 21, 2011 10:50PM
After two years where most everything came easily for Wheaton Warrenville South, it’s been pretty much the opposite this season.
But here the Tigers are, back atop the DuPage Valley Conference yet again after Friday night’s 27-13 victory at home over No. 16 Wheaton North.
Dan Vitale ran for two touchdowns and Daniel Roadman returned an interception for a score as two-time defending Class 7A champ WW South (6-3, 5-1) won its fifth straight after a 1-3 start. Wheaton North (7-2, 6-1) had a six-game winning streak snapped and failed in its bid to beat its crosstown rival for the first time since 2002.
“We’re listening to our coaches,” Vitale said. “That’s the thing we struggled with in the beginning [of the season].”
Vitale, a Northwestern recruit, has been a big part of the WW South offense all season and his contributions became even more key when senior quarterback Thaddeus Armstrong was sidelined by a broken rib suffered in last week’s win vs. Glenbard East.
That gave the starting job to sophomore Ryan Graham, who threw a six-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Cook with 11:54 left in the game to push the Tigers’ lead to 27-7.
“Ryan’s a good athlete, as you can tell,” said WW South coach Ron Muhitch, who has used both quarterbacks all season. “He earned his money tonight. ... One thing I asked him to do was take care of the football – which is huge, very important for a sophomore to do that.”
And it was important for the Tigers to chew up big blocks of time running Vitale behind a young, but improving offensive line. The Northwestern recruit carried the ball 34 times for 142 yards. That total included a one-yard touchdown runs at 9:26 and 4:38 of the second quarter.
Wheaton North got within 13-7 on Patrick Sharp’s 29-yard touchdown run two minutes before halftime, but Roadman ran back an interception 34 yards with 47 seconds left in the half for a 20-7 lead.
Wheaton North’s John Peltz (13 of 26, 123 yards, two interceptions) hit Micah Penn with a 20-yard touchdown pass to make it 27-13 with 8:56 left. The Falcons then got down to the WW South 20, but turned the ball over on downs with 3:23 left when Penn was stopped for no gain on fourth-and-one.
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