Total dominance.
That’s what Naperville Central’s football team has accomplished all year long in all facets of the game. With crushing wins over top teams like Wheaton-Warrenville South, Lockport and Stevenson, the Redhawks have proven that even the best of the rest cannot hang with them.
Naperville North will be no different.
Though the Huskies boast a strong record, they lack the dominance Central has displayed in all but one of its wins. Several of the Huskies’ wins have been late-game squeakers, which could have gone either way. The Huskies could easily have two or three more losses.
The Redhawks are the opposite. All but one of their wins has been a one-sided decisive victory. The powerful offense has scored roughly 40 points a game and continues to roll despite the loss of starting quarterback Owen Daniels to an ACL injury.
Whether it’s Phil Horvath’s passing to receivers Kevin Noel and Tyke Spencer, or Kyle Griffith and Matt Yellin tearing up the ground game, Central has always found a way to put points on the board–and lots of them.
Though the offensive arsenal leaves the defense plenty of room for error, the defense has not needed it. Despite having faced some of the area’s top offenses, the Redhawks have been one of the least-scored-upon teams in the state.
Before last Friday’s narrow 31-30 win over Glenbard North, they hadn’t given up a point.
With linebacker Ryan Amberson, lineman Joe Alvarez and defensive backs Brian Uhlir and Mitch Nowicki anchoring the defense, opposing offenses haven’t had a chance to think about scoring. In a few of the shutouts, the opposition has failed to even get inside the 20-yard line.
Though last week’s game may have been a sub-par performance, it may prove to be a wakeup call and remind the team that it is not invincible. This is important, because the team cannot afford a letdown against the Huskies, probably the strongest team the Redhawks have faced thus far. With the disappointment of being scored upon in last week’s game, the defense will come out with greater intensity than in past weeks.
Need another reason the Redhawks will win Friday’s game? Compare this year’s game with last season’s.
In last year’s clash of the Napervilles, the Redhawks won by double digits on North’s home field. This year the Huskies lose the only thing they had going for them last year–home field–with the site move to North Central College. Surely Central’s football-obsessed student body will ensure most of the crowd is wearing red and white, not blue and orange.
In addition to losing home-field advantage, this year’s Huskies will also have to put up with a more dynamic Redhawks offense and a stingier defense than last year. Combining the overpowering offense, stingy defense and vocal fan support, the Redhawks will defeat the inferior Huskies Friday night.
North supporters can hope against all hope for a Huskies victory, but they seem to overlook one crucial point:
How can the Huskies win if they don’t score?
