Two much to bear

Naperville North players look on with disappointment as Wheaton Warrenville South executes a 2-point conversion Friday to clip the Huskies.
Beck Diefenbach / Staff photographer

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WHEATON -- Wheaton Warrenville South coach Ron Muhitch considered calling the "infamous" hook-and-ladder play with about one minute remaining against Naperville North on Friday.

Muhitch's predecessor, John Thorne, used that play to shock North 14-10 in the final three minutes of their 1993 game of defending Class 6A and 5A state champions. As legend has it, no matchup between these two DuPage Valley Conference teams has lived up to it since.

Until now.

Friday's instant classic featured two 8-0 teams fighting for the DVC crown in the regular-season finale, and it took three overtime periods to decide it. Finally, WW South executed what will someday be known to the Huskies as the infamous 2-point conversion play that defeated North 42-41 at Grange Field in Wheaton.

"When I went and called the timeout and talked to them the play before I said, 'You want to go for two?'" Muhitch said. "And they said, 'Yeah, let's get it, let's go after it.'"

Trailing 41-40 in triple overtime, quarterback Mike Piatkowski aligned a one-back formation with two split ends and a wide receiver to create a bevy of blockers on the right side of the line.

Piatkowski took the snap, followed his teammates and then slightly cut the play back toward the middle before barreling into some Huskies and over the goal line for the win.

For 14 years, the rivalry has been remembered for Tim Lester's 12-yard curl pass to Kasey Klaas and Klaas' pitch to Bobby Nelson, who ran it 80 yards for the winning score. Now, and for years to come, it will be all about Piatkowski's play.

"It's an 18 squeeze, and the line blocked it perfect," Piatkowski said. "I saw a lane, and I just cut it up."

That one play meant a third straight conference title, a 27th straight regular-season win and a 23rd straight win overall for The Associated Press' No. 3-ranked team.

For the second-ranked Huskies, that play meant no league championship, no perfect regular season and three straight losses to the Tigers, the reigning Class 8A state champs.

This year, the Tigers (9-0, 7-0 DVC) will compete in the Class 7A playoffs while the Huskies (8-1, 6-1) remain in Class 8A.

"Of course I'm upset. We all wanted the perfect 9-0 season and the perfect 14-0 season," North quarterback Jordan Tassio said. "Like coach (Larry) McKeon said, we can be upset about the loss but we can't be sad because a new season starts tomorrow and everyone's 0-0."

Tassio equaled the hype of the big game. He accounted for five touchdowns, including the Huskies' final four. He forced overtime with a 20-yard quarterback keeper with 1:51 left in the game.

At that point, McKeon nearly went for a 2-point conversion of his own to try and take a 21-20 lead. Instead, he had Tassio kick the extra point to tie the game.

"We were going see if they jumped offside," McKeon said. "If they jumped offside, we were probably going to go for two in that situation."

The Tigers punted their next possession but got the ball back two North plays later when Samuel Burke corralled his first interception of the year.

With less than a minute to go, the capacity crowd supported the Tigers all the way to the Huskies' 21-yard line. On fourth-and-7, Muhitch opted for place-kicker Dan Conroy to attempt his third field goal of the night.

Having already connected from 35 and 41 yards - his longest made field goal of the season - a 38-yarder to win the game seemed reasonable. Or at least it would have been if not for North's Mark Puknaitis, who dove and blocked the kick.

"When Puknaitis blocked that kick, I was the happiest person in the entire world," Tassio said. "I was so relieved."

In overtime, Tassio dominated. He scored three touchdowns, including on the first play of both the second and third overtimes on 10-yard quarterback keepers.

The ease with which he found the end zone during extra time not only boosted the Huskies, it also pressured the Tigers into quickly finding a way to win.

The result? Piatkowski's 2-point conversion and a photo finish for the ages.

"I told the kids," Muhitch said, "'How in the world could you ever imagine that the DVC Grand Papa had scheduled these teams in this year?"

Contact Brad Engel at bengel@scn1.com or 630-416-5289.