Over and done for Naperville Central

Redhawks offense scores early, not often enough to move on

CHICAGO -- Naperville Central turned Marist into a ball-control, field-position type of team, and it still wasn't enough to advance in the Class 8A tournament.

That's not Marist's identity -- it headed into Saturday night averaging around 37 points per game behind a future Football Bowl Subdivision quarterback. But it found a way to win on Saturday night in Chicago.

With a 24-7 second-round victory, No. 4 Marist moves on to face No. 1 Fremd in the state quarterfinals. And that's what you have to do in the playoffs, make the necessary adjustments when the offense isn't quite clicking.

Senior quarterback Mike Perish, who has given a verbal commitment to Western Michigan, completed 20-of-30 passes for 231 yards and two touchdowns to lead Marist (9-2).

"We started off real slow on 'D' for sure," Marist wide receiver/defensive back Dan Piko said. "We noticed that this wasn't going to be a cakewalk. We just had to buckle down."

No. 5 Central (8-3), which last advanced to the state quarterfinals in 2006, scored on its second possession of the game, but didn't put another point on the board the rest of the way.

"For whatever reason, (we) bogged down offensively. We could move the ball but then we'd have a bad play, a penalty," Central coach Mike Stine said. "Coming in, we kind of thought we needed to get three or four scores to beat them, and that's what it was going to take. Offensively, we didn't do that."

Until Nick Valla's 34-yard touchdown reception with 70 seconds remaining, Central had held Marist scoreless in the second half and was on pace to limit the RedHawks to their lowest point output of the season.

For a half, Central pretty much approximated what it wanted to do in its game plan, yet still headed into the break trailing 17-7. As hoped, Central made Marist work against a long field, but its two touchdown drives went 84 and 81 yards. And Central prevented a third touchdown late in the first half, as Ben Falloon instead kicked a 37-yard field goal.

But twice Perish converted on third-and-long with passes to Piko and McKinley Moore to sustain the first scoring drive, which was capped by a four-yard run from Anthony Szul. And Perish found wide receiver Bill Lundy for an 11-yard touchdown in the second quarter.

Central moved the ball consistently, keeping Marist's offense on the sideline, but turnovers sabotaged the effort. It began its opening drive on Marist's 36-yard line, but on its first offensive play from scrimmage, Hayden Daniels fumbled after catching a wide receiver screen. Another possession ended when Piko made an interception off a tipped ball.

A Perish interception set up Central's first score. Senior quarterback Nick Linne rolled left, found a running lane and barreled into the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead.

Marist brought the pressure in the third quarter, sacking Linne three times, as Central struggled to find the big play that could shift the game's momentum. Linne went 16 of 32 for 117 yards. Ben Murphy rushed 11 times for 84 yards.

"I thought there were a lot of plays that could have been open if we had a little more time, but you can't harp on our o-line for that," Linne said. "They did what they had to do. Sometimes (Marist) was sending an extra guy and we just didn't have anybody to protect. (That's) just what happens sometimes."

This season Central checked several items off its potential list of goals -- rivalry-game victories over Waubonsie Valley, Neuqua Valley and Naperville North, as well as its first playoff win since 2006.

But Wheaton Warrenville South and Glenbard North remained a step or two ahead in the DuPage Valley Conference, and its season ended abruptly Saturday night, before any Redhawk thought it should.

"We kind of thought it was going to be an offensive battle. Really, our defense, you can't talk more about them -- they did great," Linne said. "You got to give them credit. They really put us in a situation to win there. You can't ask for anymore from them. They really fought hard. It's not that our offense didn't fight hard. We just couldn't put it together.

"That's the way football is sometimes. It's unfortunate it has to happen in the playoffs."