Wheaton North stopped with strong run attack

Wheaton North's mirror image, a bright-red burst, came crashing in between the tackles. Naperville Central's Nick Kukuc runs in a constant crouch, on the verge of collision, his center of gravity low, his shoulders hunched high.

Facing a tie game in the fourth quarter Sept. 14, the Redhawks leaned on Kukuc. Seven-zoning them to death, that's how quarterback Harrrison Daniels termed it, 6, 7 yards at a time, over and over at Memorial Stadium in Naperville. When he called the play in the huddle, Daniels asked his teammates sarcastically: "You think this is going to work?"

Kukuc grabbed the ball five times on the 80-yard march, capping it with a 3-yard touchdown run that catapulted Central to a 28-14 DuPage Valley Conference win over Wheaton North.

"We found out their weakness, right up the middle," Kukuc said afterward. "We just started takin' it and goin' and goin'."

That 13-play drive snapped a 7-7 tie, and marked the initial surge in Central's 21-point, fourth-quarter flood. In doing so, The Redhawks (3-1, 2-0 DVC) smashed expectations that this is strictly a finesse team, one driven by misdirection plays, flare passes and fake reverses.

"It wasn't dink-and-dime football," Central coach Mike Stine said. "It was old-fashioned, smack 'em-in-the-mouth football."

The Redhawks came to that point after an inefficient first half. Central scored on its first possession, but the 48-yard march came with warning signs. Three of Daniels' first six passes were dropped, and a holding penalty nearly ruined Central's first drive, which Kukuc salvaged with a 5-yard touchdown run.

Still, Central's quick-strike offense appeared out of sync. Andrew Zelinski's diving second-quarter interception gave the Redhawks the ball on Wheaton North's 20-yard line, but they still couldn't capitalize.

By the third quarter, it was finally time for Central to line up behind its big offensive line and run right at the Falcons (2-2, 0-2).

With injured running back Mike Caulfield leaning on crutches before the game, Kukuc had another shot Friday. After watching Kukuc trying to make an extra move in the first half, Stine delivered this message: "You get one cut and then you got to run downhill."

Ironically, it was the Falcons who entered Sept. 14 with the established ground attack.

Wheaton North's power running game figured to be a good measure of just how far Central's new defensive unit has come. Waubonsie Valley pushed the Redhawks all over Memorial Stadium in Week 1, and Mike Trumpy, a 6-foot, 195-pound bruiser, loomed in Wheaton North's backfield with the potential to cause similar problems.

"We really wanted to make this like a breakout game for us and continue to build on this," Central cornerback Jeremy Jones said.

At first Trumpy worked as a battering ram through the middle of Central's defense, finishing with 197 yards on 26 carries. Trumpy caught the Redhawks out of their preferred 3-4 defense near the end of the first half, busting a 50-yard run down the sideline. Four plays later, and with seconds remaining in the half, Trumpy plunged into the end zone to tie the game at 7.

But Central's defense held strong. The Falcons began their first drive of the second half on their own 10-yard line, and they fed Trumpy 10 times, moving into the red zone. Wheaton North appeared on the verge of taking the lead, but Riley O'Toole then broke up a pass on third-and-5, and Central blocked the following field goal attempt.

The Falcons travel to West Aurora on Sept. 21 for a 7:30 p.m. contest.

Contact Patrick Mooney at pmooney@scn1.com or 630-416-5107.