Central adds buffer before key stretch

Naperville Central senior Riley O'Toole makes good on one of his two touchdown catches on the night while being pressured by West Aurora's Josh Zinzer.
Jonathan Miano / Staff photographer

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By Patrick Mooney

pmooney@scn1.com

AURORA -- The calculus has already begun, trying to figure out how to reach at least five or six wins and playoff consideration.

If magic numbers seem premature, then check out the Chicago Sun-Times poll - four DuPage Valley Conference teams are ranked in the top 16. Naperville Central (3-0, 1-0) could soon be joining them.

Under steady rainfall Friday night in Aurora, Central imposed its will in this DVC opener. Whether it was the push generated by a quick defensive line, a spread offense's system precision, or simply the random bounces of the ball on a slick field, everything broke for Central in a 41-2 victory over West Aurora.

"We treated this game as a playoff game all week," Central coach Mike Stine said. "That was our focus, that's how we wanted to come out. We knew West Aurora was an extremely dangerous team. We felt like we had to try and get on them early."

West Aurora (2-1, 0-1) had been pointing to this season as a breakthrough, a chance for its first playoff appearance since 1994. But the rain didn't bother quarterback Nick Linne, who threw three first-half touchdown passes, and neither did the Blackhawks.

"We didn't do anything, absolutely nothing the entire night. When you do nothing the entire night, you get your (expletive) beat 41-2. That's what happens," West Aurora coach Buck Drach said. "(Central's) a good football team. They're not that good, not that good at all. Thirty-five years, I've never had something like this."

The Redhawks will find out just how good they are across the next three weeks against Wheaton North, Wheaton Warrenville South and Naperville North, even if they don't talk like that. Wide receiver Mike Oles, who caught a touchdown pass Friday, framed it this way: "We're going to prepare the same way we did with West Aurora."

Central thought it could take advantage of the Blackhawks' smaller cornerbacks, and 6-foot-4-inch wide receiver Riley O'Toole beat one-on-one coverage on a jump ball in the left corner of the end zone for the game's first touchdown. He caught another when Linne, working out of an empty backfield with a five-receiver set, beat the blitz and lofted the ball for a 29-yard touchdown pass.

The Redhawks can feel good about Linne's decision-making guiding an offense now averaging 31 points per game, senior running back Nick Kukuc's return from a shoulder injury and the defense that was supposed to lead them.

It allowed only two first downs all night, and in the third quarter defensive lineman Mike Kraft and defensive back Jeremy Pomeroy both scored touchdowns off fumbles, meaning a running clock would fast forward this game. Central, a program known for making late playoff runs, has arrived ahead of schedule.