They’ve outscored their opponents 267-30. They posted an outrageous six consecutive shutouts to start the season. They once held a team to zero yards of total offense in a game.
Control? It’s safe to say No. 1-ranked Naperville Central has had more control than Janet Jackson.
The Redhawks (7-0, 5-0 in the DuPage Valley Conference) are looking to sustain their indomitable control Friday night when they take on crosstown rival No. 6 Naperville North at North Central College. In order to do that, Central coach Joe Bunge said his team needs to focus on controlling one player: North quarterback Jay McCareins.
“We’ve got to try to control McCareins,” Bunge said. “He is elusive and he cuts on a dime. We want to contain him.”
With the exception of last week’s game against Glenbard North, in which the Redhawks allowed their first points of the season and nearly lost 31-30, they’ve contained pretty much everything across the line of scrimmage.
But Central perhaps faces its toughest test of the season in McCareins, a 5-foot-11-inch, 170-pound senior who can hurt defenses with his feet and his arm. The quarterback is the main reason why North (7-0, 5-0) is undefeated and has the potential to upend nationally ranked Central.
McCareins has accounted for 1,268 yards of total offense–928 passing and 340 rushing. He has thrown eight touchdown passes and rushed for four more and has completed 67-of-103 passes with only two interceptions.
Last week’s 26-24 victory over Wheaton Warrenville South was a classic example of how dangerous McCareins can be. In that game he completed 8-of-14 passes for 153 yards and two TDs and also rushed for 103 yards in 15 attempts.
“He can make things happen,” Bunge said.
But if the previous seven games are any indication, the Redhawks should be up to the task. Central opened the season by holding a strong Lockport team to zero yards offense and followed by limiting Stevenson to 117 yards. The Redhawks continued to blank opponents through the first six weeks, including holding Wheaton North to 75 yards two weeks ago. Glenbard North finally scored on Central, but Bunge said it wasn’t a big deal.
“We knew people were going to score on us,” Bunge said. “It’s not something we thought was going to continue.”
The strength of Central’s defense is its size and experience. The Redhawks returned eight defensive starters from last year’s Class 6A state championship team and nine lettermen in all. Defensive tackle Joe Alvarez (6-3, 240), linebackers Ryan Amberson (6-1, 225) and Drew Kocsis (6-2, 225) and safety Brian Uhlir (5-10, 180) are the leaders of a well-rounded defense that is equally adept to stopping the run and the pass.
It will be interesting to see how effective McCareins is at doing either Friday night.
