Pass attack lifts Neuqua

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Confidence comes from making plays. Even if the play doesn't count for anything.

When Conner Yearian leaped to catch an Alex Lincoln pass along the Plainfield Central sideline, he came down out of bounds. Lincoln, the Neuqua Valley quarterback, was struggling early, despite already having thrown a touchdown pass to Josh Schaffer.

Lincoln had missed open receivers. He'd been sacked. He'd thrown an interception that led to a Plainfield Central touchdown. But after barely missing with Yearian, Lincoln completed 11 of his final 17 passes, mixing in three more touchdown tosses as Neuqua downed visiting Plainfield Central 36-21 on Friday night.

Yearian caught two of those scoring passes. But it started with the catch out of bounds midway through the second quarter with a 7-6 lead.

"Once I got to the sidelines, the coaches were telling me that (incompletion) definitely made them respect me and Josh," said Yearian, who had three catches for 41 yards. "That showed we had a passing game and they should be ready for it."

Schaffer finished with five catches for 81 yards and one touchdown, while Mike Camire added three receptions for 62 yards and the other touchdown from Lincoln, an 18-yard grab that completed the scoring for home team.

Neuqua (1-1) beat Plainfield Central for only the fourth time in 10 tries, but won for the third consecutive time at home in the series.

After mustering only 39 passing yards against Naperville North in Week 1, Lincoln piled up 194 yards Friday.

"We wanted to get the passing game going after last week," Schaffer said. "We calmed down and found our mistakes on film, and we turned it around."

They did it so well the trio - Schaffer, Yearian and Camire - was seated together on the bench during the fourth quarter, confident the win was at hand and the passing game was taking off.