WW South’s Dan Vitale runs over Providence

Updated: October 28, 2011 10:32PM

Dan Vitale ran a long way to make sure Providence had a short stay in the Class 7A playoffs Friday in Wheaton.

Vitale, a 6-foot-2, 210-pound senior, carried the ball 34 times for 223 yards and scored on runs of seven, 24 and three yards as Wheaton Warrenville South (7-3) ousted Providence 23-16.

Vitale wasn’t surprised to shoulder so much of the load for the Tigers, who gave up a couple of sacks and fumbled five times, losing three, to help keep Providence in the game.

“I’m just going to do whatever I’m told, that’s my job as a senior captain,” Vitale said. “I’ll just do whatever they ask of me. I trust my offensive line. People say they’re young, but they can play and I know their potential. I trust them. I’m running behind them and I’m behind them 100 percent.”

WW South grabbed a quick 7-0 lead after forcing a Providence three-and-out following the opening kick. A 55-yard blast up the middle by Jack Klyczek set up a 26-yard field goal by Nick Beller to get Providence (6-4) on the board late in the first quarter.

Vitale’s 24-yard gallop extended the lead to 14-3 with 7:11 left in the first half, but Chris Salazar (18 of 28, 191 yards, two interceptions) hit Chad Weaver with a 35-yard touchdown strike less than two minutes later. Jesse Padalik’s 29-yard field goal with just under 30 seconds left gave WW South a 17-10 halftime lead.

WW South extended the lead to 23-10 on its first possession of the third quarter thanks to a 7-yard Vitale run, but a Tiger fumble with just over two minutes remaining in the game set up a 1-yard pass from Salazar to Sean Fitzgerald, However, the Celtics were unable to recover the ensuing onside kick and the hosts ran out the clock.

“We had some opportunities, took advantage of some and didn’t take advantage of enough of them,” Providence coach Mark Coglianese said. “Field position was a big key, especially in the first half. Bad field position. But the game came down to we didn’t tackle well. The big back ran hard and we couldn’t stop him when we had to.”

Providence was also forced to throw the ball more than it wanted after falling behind by 13 points early in the second half.

“We couldn’t get much going running the ball, and again it hurts when you’re down and we feel that we have to throw the ball,” Coglianese said. “Our game plan is to get up on teams and be able to run, and if we have to punt, punt. We were forced to throw, had a couple of sacks and a couple of turnovers. That’s obviously not our game, not our strength.”

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