It’s time to begin the conference portion of the schedule as Football Friday kicks off week four of the high school season. At this point, teams have a good idea of what they have on their rosters and the margin for error begins to slim down for teams hoping to compete for a conference title or stay in the hunt for the post season. Let’s get into the highlights! Football Friday is sponsored by BMO Harris Bank.
Naperville North vs. Neuqua Valley
We begin with the marquee matchup of Week four as Neuqua Valley hosts Naperville North in a rematch of last season’s thrilling Huskie victory in the DVC Bowl. Both teams coming off big wins over out of state opponents named St. Mary’s.
In the opening quarter, Naperville North on the move. Quarterback Aidan Gray rolls right and throws to Luke Pettaway who makes the grab inside the ten yard line. Huskie running back Nathan Jacobs punches it in a few plays later for a 6-0 lead.
Neuqua trailing 9-7 in the third quarter. The handoff goes to running back Silvano Spatafora who goes around the right end and fights his way in for the touchdown from 12 yards out. The Wildcats take a 15-9 lead.
Later in the quarter, Cats facing 4th and 6 inside the Huskie 20. Ryan Mohler pitches to Matt Chevalier who throws it back to Mohler on the halfback pass. Mohler makes the catch and charges into the end zone. A huge play puts Neuqua on top 22-9.
Naperville North trying to dig their way back into the game. Aidan Gray takes it into the end zone himself to cut into the deficit.
But Neuqua Valley clicks into high gear offensively in the second half. Matt Chevalier caps off the game with a 21 yard touchdown run. The Wildcats with an impressive 29-16 win, improving to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the DVC.
Waubonsie Valley vs. Naperville Central
Now to Naperville Central where the fans are going gold in this game for Pediatric Cancer awareness. The host Redhawks are coming off a blowout win over Riverside University from Milwaukee last week. Waubonsie Valley is still in search of win number one on the season, hitting the road for the first time since Week one.
Central with the ball inside their own ten yard line, but not for long as running back Tyler Dodd makes a great cut and gets some helpful blocks along this 51 yard run inside the Waubonsie 40 yard line. Dodd would score from a yard out a few plays later to cap off a 98 yard drive.
Into the second quarter, Redhawks driving again. Quarterback Chris McCormack shows off his mix of speed and strength, keeping the ball himself and breaking a tackle around the left edge as he scores from 15 yards out. Redhawks lead 14-0.
In the third quarter, the Warriors looking to get back in the game. Luke Elsea drops a pass into the arms of a wide open Tyler Threat who gets behind the defense and waltzes in for a 54 yard touchdown. Big play to get Waubonsie back in the game.
But that is as close as the Warriors would get. Naperville Central pulls away, here we see McCormack throw a swing pass to Chris Bern who swerves into the end zone. The Redhawks improve to 3-1 after the 35-7 victory.
Metea Valley vs. DeKalb
Metea Valley travels west to face DeKalb. These teams met up for a thrilling matchup a season ago with the Mustangs coming out on top. Metea in search of win number one, but the Barbs are red hot after two straight victories.
First drive of the game for DeKalb, quarterback Adrian McVicar drops a deep ball to Ethan McCarty who makes a fantastic contested grab in the endzone to put the Barbs on top 7-0 early.
Metea Valley punting the ball away later in the half and here we see McCarty make the catch and break the tackle before bursting up field and going all the way for the touchdown. DeKalb goes on to roll from there, making it three straight wins for the Barbs by a score of 48-0.
St. Rita vs. Benet Academy
Benet Academy back at Benedictine University to face a scuffling St. Rita team. Both the Redwings and Mustangs would love to come out on top in this one to a avoid a 1-3 start. Benet hoping to rebound after a close loss to Brother Rice a week ago.
In the opening quarter, Redwings on the move after a long completion to Pierce Walsh. Quarterback Jacob Hoeppel rolls right and throws back to an open Pat Pitello in the end zone to put the Wings on top 6-3.
Same score in the second quarter. St. Rita back to punt from their own 48 yard line. Punter Conor Talty sees some open space to his right and takes off for the first down marker. He ends up making it a lot farther than that, winding his way through a stunned Redwing defense into the end zone to put the Mustangs on top.
St. Rita now leading 27-6 in the third quarter. Owen Takahashi takes the dump off pass from Hoeppel up the middle to give Benet a chance as the lead is cut to just two scores.
However the Mustangs are able to slam the door shut on the ensuing drive. Running back DJ Stewart is able to power his way into the end zone to put the game out of reach. St. Rita comes into Lisle and leaves with a 41-12 road victory and improves to 2-2.
Standings and Schedules
We see some major movement in the DVC standings following the Week four action. Neuqua Valley now moves into a first place tie alongside Naperville Central and DeKalb while Naperville North drops all the way to fourth place. Obviously there is still plenty of time to make up ground, but you can see how the conference title will likely come down to the final week!
Notre Dame stands alone atop to CCL/ESCC Green Division standings after a come from behind road win over Nazareth Academy. St. Rita in second with Benet and Nazareth tied for third.
Taking a look at the Week 5 schedule we have some big matchups that are certain to shake up the standings even more. Naperville Central hosts Neuqua Valley for a matchup that rarely disappoints. Naperville North looks to bounce back against a surging DeKalb squad, while Metea Valley and Waubonsie Valley meet up for the Eola Bowl and somebody is going to come away with their first win!
The CCL/ESCC Green Division schedule sees all four teams hitting the road next week. Benet Academy is in a must win scenario in Chicago against Marian Catholic.
The midway point of the regular season is here and next week is sure to provide some electricity as the stakes continue to rise. As always we thank you for watching. See you next week! For Football Friday, I’m Justin Cornwell.
For more prep sports highlights, visit the Naperville Sports Weekly page!
