Naperville Central running back Elijah Jordan took Saturday’s rivalry game against Naperville North deeply personal.
Junior quarterback Sam Jackson, Jordan’s classmate, pointed out as much.
“He said this game really mattered to him,” Jackson said.
Jordan did something about it with a crucial 33-yard touchdown run, powering the host Redhawks to a 23-7 DuPage Valley Conference victory.
“My line did a great job blocking and I just had to get into space,” Jordan said of his TD in the third quarter. “It was a meaningful game to play, and I was just happy to be part of that.”
The emergence of the 6-foot, 205-pound Jordan as a running threat, along with Jackson’s all-around game, has brought balance to an athletic and explosive attack for Naperville Central (2-3, 2-0).
The game was postponed after Friday night’s rain and weather delayed the original showdown set for North Central College.
Naperville Central won its second straight. Jackson threw TD passes of 13 and 14 yards, respectively, to Keon Green and Jadon Thompson.
The strike to Green near the end of the first quarter marked the only scoring before halftime.
“I thought it was an incomplete pass,” Jackson said. “Keon made a great play on the ball.”
Naperville North (1-4, 1-1) mounted an 11-play, 80-yard drive in the third quarter to pull within 14-7.
Zeke Williams punctuated the possession with the 7-yard touchdown catch from Anthony Gabrione.
“I thought we really battled in a tough spot,” Naperville North coach Sean Drendel said. “We got down 14-0 and could have easily shut it down at that point.
“Central is very talented and very well coached, and when you play them, you need some bounces to go your way. Nothing really went right when we needed it to be there.”
A week after scoring four TDs, Jackson again showed his versatility, but he was not thrilled by his performance.
It still was good enough.
“North is a good team, and we knew they were not just going to lay down for us,” he said. “We also knew they are a second-half team. Just having the one score was not going to be enough.”
Defensive lineman Aidan Rex made a fourth-down stop that ended the Huskies’ last serious drive of the second half.
Jackson put the game away by hooking up with Thompson. The victory sets up a potential first-place showdown Friday against Neuqua Valley.
“Naperville Central made more plays and played better than we did,” Gabrione said.
Drendel sees a team learning to grow through adversity.
“We are still a young team, with a lot of players playing varsity for the first time,” he said. “I was really proud of how we played and hard we fought.”
Kevin McGavin is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun. Freelance reporter Patrick Z. McGavin also contributed.
