Season off to sloppy start for Waubonsie

AURORA - Waubonsie Valley handed Naperville Central an unexpected gift in Friday night's season opener.

En route to a 24-14 loss to the Redhawks, the Warriors racked up 155 penalty yards in the sloppiest season opener coach Paul Murphy can remember in a very long time.

"In four years I've been here, we've never had a first game with that many penalties," he said. "We're not known for that. Blame me. I didn't do something right to get this team ready to play tonight and we're going to get it straightened out starting tomorrow. We will be a different football team next Friday night, I guarantee you."

The Warriors (0-1) went into halftime holding onto a 7-7 tie, but things fell apart after the Warriors got stuck on their own four-yard line during the first possession of the third quarter.

After two penalties pushed Waubonsie to its own 1-yard line and Indiana-bound kicker Mitch Ewald found himself punting out of the end zone, which gave the Redhawks (1-0) excellent field position at the Warriors 34-yard line. Six plays later junior quarterback Nick Linne scored on a six-yard keeper to give Central a 13-7 lead.

The Redhawks never looked back and the Warriors never caught up.

Linne finished 10-of-22 with 203 yards and one touchdown.

Arguably the final nail in the Warriors coffin came after Central's Kalen Petty scored on a 70-yard punt return in the fourth. But even before that, the momentum began to shift in Central's favor even earlier than the third quarter.

With 17.3 seconds left in the first half, wide receiver Riley O'Toole caught a deep 59-yard touchdown pass from Linne that put the Redhawks on the board. An extra point from senior Jonathon Hutchinson tied things up. O'Toole finished with four receptions for 84 yards and one touchdown.

The Warriors got on the board first when senior quarterback Tyler Castro, a three-year varsity starter, scored on a one-yard keeper with 2:05 left in the first quarter. Ewald scored the extra point.

Castro, who was playing behind an entirely new offensive line, also connected with junior wide receiver Scott Kuehn on a 14-yard pass with a little over four minutes left in the fourth quarter. Kuehn finished with six catches for 69 yards.

Castro finished 16-of-35 with 212 yards and one touchdown. Senior wide receiver Mark Hilgers led the Warriors with eight catches for 112 yards. Naperville Central 24, Waubonsie Valley 14