The temperature feels like summer even with the calendar flipping to October. With Week Six of Football Friday upon us, the final month of the regular season could get scary for some of our local teams if they don’t start picking up some victories. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
Neuqua Valley vs. Homewood Flossmoor
The Neuqua Valley Wildcats picked up a much-needed win over Metea Valley a week ago. The Cats visit a tough Homewood-Flossmoor squad in hopes of evening up their record at 3-3.
Neuqua is down 7-0 early, but quarterback Drake Mennecke fakes the pitch and throws over the middle to William Kallsh. He outraces the Viking defense and crosses the plane to tie things up.
On the next Wildcat possession, trailing 14-7, Mennecke fakes the pitch and loads up again. This time he connects with Ben Stefanski over the middle, who takes it to the house for a 59-yard score to tie it back up at 14.
Now leading 35-27 in the second half, Mennecke looks to put it away as he rolls to the right side and looks to run, but then tosses it to the endzone to a wide open Joshua Reppmann for his sixth total touchdown on the night, as Neuqua Valley has the offense cooking with a huge 42-27 win to move back to .500 in the season standings.
St. Patrick vs. Benet Academy
Benet Academy is two wins away from qualifying for the playoffs for a second straight season. The Redwings hope to wash away the bad taste of a loss to Mt. Carmel a week ago by celebrating Homecoming against St. Patrick.
Benet leads 10-7 late in the second, until quarterback Ben Clevinger finds a wide-open Luka Diomede over the middle as he leaks into the flat, and with no one around him, he strolls in for the TD as Benet leads 17-10 at halftime.
The second half is a different story as Gavin Gardiner throws a dart to the endzone, where Timmy Schayer beats his man for six as we’re all tied up at 17.
On the next Shamrocks possession near midfield, the give is to Jayden Miranda, and he busts one up the gut into green grass, taking it all the way for a 52-yard touchdown run to put St. Patrick back in front.
Benet tries to counter as Clevinger hooks up with Diomede again, this time taking the 50-50 ball for a 29-yard touchdown catch as we are all squared at 24-24.
However, St. Patrick literally runs away with it, as Anthony Catron busts another run past the pile and takes it to the house for another touchdown. St. Patrick outscores Benet 36-7 in the second half, winning 46-24 as Benet falls to 3-3.
Normal West vs. Waubonsie Valley
Waubonsie Valley has been one of the more competitive teams in the area, but still has no wins to show for it. The Warriors hope to get off the schneid as they welcome Normal West, making the long trip from the Twin Cities.
Waubonsie trails 19-7 in the third quarter and is in need of heroics. They would get just that. On third and long Nolan Alberson tosses it deep to Gavin Ali Hanlon, who fights his way in for the touchdown to put Waubonsie down by five.
In the fourth quarter, with the same score, Alberson drives them to the red zone and hands off to Abriel Epting. He pushes past the line and falls in the endzone for the touchdown, giving Waubonsie its first lead of the night, up 22-19 following a 2-point conversion.
However, the Wildcats pounce back as Efoe Baskins gets the screen pass and gets a convoy of blockers in front of him. He tightropes his way down the sideline and is in for a 70-yard catch and run to put Normal West back on top.
The Wildcats ground game gets it done again as Maliq Givens takes the rock and pushes up the right side and is in for another touchdown. Normal West would hold off Waubonsie late to claim a 40-35 victory, keeping the Warriors winless through six weeks.
Naperville Central vs. Lockport
Naperville Central has its back against the wall with a record of 1-4, needing to win out for a chance at returning to the postseason. The journey begins with a trip to Lockport as the Porters took down Naperville North a week ago.
The Redhawks find themselves down 7-0 late in the first half. Jackson Loth throws a jump ball for Vince Bern in triple coverage. He flies over the defense and makes a remarkable catch to put Central on the board tied at seven.
In the final moments of regulation, the game is still tied at seven, but Central is deep in Lockport territory and looks to seal it with a field goal. Gavin Ellison goes from 48 yards out, but his kick is just short as we go to overtime.
Lockport gets the ball to start OT, as Chris Miller gets the rock and plunges in for the touchdown to make it 14-7.
Last chance for Central, Loth throws another toss up to the endzone but Kyle Clark has it knocked away by Colton Benaitis to secure a Porters win. It’s the second consecutive win for Lockport, as the Redhawks fall to 1-5.
Metea Valley vs. Lincoln Way East
Metea Valley football has shown a lot of improvement this fall, but the Mustangs face their toughest test of the season on the road at Lincoln Way East. The Griffins have crushed all comers over the first five weeks behind one of the more well-balanced rosters in the state.
Midway through the first quarter, Jonas Williams loads up the deep ball and finds a wide-open Chauncey Robinson in the endzone, for a 35-yard touchdown pass to put Lincoln-Way East up 21-0 early.
In the second quarter, back in the red zone, Williams has plenty of time and finds another wide-open receiver. This time it’s Kamari Brown for a 16-yard touchdown pass to make it 28-0. After tossing four in the game, Jonas Williams is now the new IHSA record holder for career touchdown passes with 131.
Metea would get in on the highlights, down at the two-yard line, Charlie Larson gets the direct snap and pushes in for the touchdown to get the Mustangs on the board. It’s too little too late as Lincoln-Way East cruises to a 42-6 win, handing Metea a fourth consecutive loss.
Sandburg vs. Naperville North
Unfortunately, technical issues prevented us from bringing you highlights of the Naperville North vs Sandburg game. The good news is that the Huskies stunned the Eagles with a William Eloe two-point conversion plunge in overtime to win a 36-35 thriller. It’s the first loss of the season for Sandburg as the Huskies even their record at 3-3.
Standings and Schedules
With three weeks left to go in the regular season, we find three of our teams at .500 in Benet, Naperville North, and Neuqua Valley. Metea is still mathematically alive at 2-4 but needs to gain momentum before the postseason. While Naperville Central and Waubonsie Valley are out of playoff contention, they still want to finish the final three games on a high note.
Only three weeks of the regular season remain, which means the opportunities to earn those valuable victories are dwindling. In Week seven, Naperville North visits Neuqua Valley for a major local matchup with each team coming off much-needed victories. Metea Valley will host Naperville Central. Waubonsie Valley will play on its home turf for a third consecutive week against Stagg, while Benet Academy hits the road to take on Fenwick at Triton College.
That wraps up another edition of Football Friday. We’ll see you again in one week! I’m Matt Lauterbach, thanks for watching!
For more prep sports highlights, visit the Naperville Sports Weekly page!
