Spring Football Saturday // Week Six

We finally made it! The final week of the 2021 Spring Football season is here. Five of our teams in action and a few of our teams saved their best games for last. Waubonsie Valley the only team not playing this week due to COVID. Let’s start with the Friday night contests from Week Six of Spring Football Saturday.

Maine South vs. Naperville Central

One of the most exciting matchups in the entire state this weekend features two teams who have not been defeated this season. Naperville Central hosts Maine South in a battle of the Hawks.

Second quarter, tied up at 7-7. Maine South QB Rowan Keefe hands off to Joe Dellumo on the counter and Dellumo breaks free down the sidelines for a 75-yard touchdown. The Hawks in front of the Redhawks 14-7.

Later in the quarter, Owen Prucha drops back and hits Jaden McGill on the wheel route. The QB, turned DB, turned RB goes all the way for a 59-yard touchdown pass. Tied once again at 14-14.

With Maine South leading 24-21 early in the 4th, Aiden Ellison absolutely drills this 40-yard field goal to tie the game. Naperville Central takes a 31-24 lead later in the quarter on another Jaden McGill touchdown.

31-24 Naperville Central, 4th and 17 for Maine South on the Redhawk 19 yard line. Keefe under pressure but drops a pass to Will Guzaldo who comes down with the touchdown in between two Central defenders. Hawks down 31-30 with 1:13 to play in the game.

All Maine South needs is an extra point to tie the game, but Shane Roth breaks through the line and blocks the kick! Naperville Central hangs on to win in thrilling fashion 31-30. What a memorable final game for longtime head coach Mike Stine.

Metea Valley vs. Neuqua Valley

Metea Valley travels to Neuqua Valley as the Wildcats hope to end the season undefeated while the Mustangs look to end the 2021 season on a high note.

First quarter, Neuqua up 7-0. Metea going for it on 4th and 1 deep inside Wildcat territory. But Trey Borske is there for the stuff to force a turnover on downs. The final game for the third Borske brother.

Also playing his final game is Armani Moreno. He gets the toss from Mark Mennecke and strolls into the end zone as the Wildcats push the lead to 14-0.

Neuqua turns to backup quarterback RJ Cluxton to get some reps in the second half. The big righty tosses a pass to Grant Larkin who gets into the end zone. Wildcats pouring it on.

The exclamation point for this game belongs to Armani Moreno. The senior only played in three games this season but he made them count. This 80 yard touchdown run is one of four on the night. Neuqua Valley a perfect 4-0 on the season.

Dekalb vs. Naperville North

Last game of the season and Naperville North finally gets a home game. The Huskies host the always dangerous Barbs of Dekalb. Each team needs a W to secure a winning season.

Three minutes into the game, John Bell drops back to pass, it’s deflected but somehow finds the hands of Aiden Pierce who goes all the way for the opening touchdown. What a play!

Near the end of the first quarter, Toriano Tate takes the handoff, bulldozes a defender and powers his way 46-yards for the touchdown. Plenty of big plays in this one.

Near the end of the half, Trenton Kyler with a pass to Tate who goes up and snags the second of his three touchdowns in the game. This kid is an absolute monster, and he’s only a junior. So that probably keeps DVC coaches awake at night.

North trailing 34-27 with under five minutes to play. The Huskies Aidan Gray at quarterback now and he shows off the wheels. 50 yards later he is into the end zone as Naperville North comes from 14 down to tie the game.

Eight seconds left on the clock, North inside the five and Gray keeps it himself and powers into the end zone for the game winning touchdown. A thrilling 41-34 victory to end the season for the Huskies.

Benet vs Nazareth Academy

Our final team to wrap up the spring season is Benet Academy traveling to Nazareth Academy for a Saturday matinee. The Roadrunners always a tough test, although they are only 2-2 coming into the game. Redwings looking for their first win over Nazareth since 2016.

A defensive battle in this one, we jump to the third quarter with no score as Nick Bafia keeps the ball himself and rumbles 40 yards for the first down. That leads to a Will Benish field goal to give the Redwings a 3-0 lead heading to the 4th quarter.

Nazareth looking to get its offense going, but the BA defense is stout all game long. Michael Malec and Pierce Walsh get one of several big sacks on the afternoon.

With less than ten seconds left, Nazareth is forced to attempt a 55-yard field goal to force overtime, but the kick falls well short. Benet picks up win number two by the score of 3-0. And if you think that sounds more like a soccer score, Benet boys soccer defeated Nazareth 7-0 earlier this month.

Final Standings

So let’s take a look at the final standings following Week Six of spring football. First in the DVC a bit of an explanation as Neuqua Valley takes the top spot at 4-0. Naperville Central did not lose any games they played this year, but it was announced this week that the Redhawks were forfeiting the Week 1 victory over Waubonsie Valley due to a player eligibility issue. Unfortunately we were unable to see the Redhawks and Wildcats meet up to decide the true conference champion. Naperville North leaps over Dekalb to finish third after two wins to end the year.

In the ESCC/CCL Orange Division, Benet’s victory over Nazareth moves the Redwings into first place. St. Laurence defeated De La Salle on Friday night to move into third.

And that will do it for the six week, Spring Football Saturday series. It wasn’t always pretty and we never knew what the schedule would bring each week, but there was a lot of fun football along the way. Hopefully this Fall we will see a full season of high school football. It will be here before you know it. Thank you so much for watching this season, it has been a pleasure as always to bring you this wrap-up each week. See you in August! For Spring Football Saturday, I’m Justin Cornwell.