The early birds get the win
Quarterfinal berth for Redhawks after jumping to 21-0 lead
Naperville Central decided to set the offensive tone early against Warren. The Redhawks’ opening play was a bomb to Iowa-bound receiver Emmanuel Rugamba, who hauled it in for a 45-yard gain.
Running back Luke Brady ran it in from the 2-yard line two plays later. Naperville Central was unstoppable early, scoring the first 21 points and hanging on to beat Warren 49-28 Friday in Gurnee. The No. 9 Redhawks (10-1) move into the Class 8A quarterfinals next week against the winner of Waubonsie Valley and Neuqua Valley.
“Yeah, the first play of the game we were talking about on the bus,” Rugamba said. “I was talking to [quarterback] Conor [Joyce] and was like, ‘If they play it this way, this is where I’m going to be. If they play it that way, that’s where I’m going to be.’ ”
That was just a taste of what was in store for the 6-1 Rugamba, who finished with five catches for 136 yards and one touchdown. Joyce completed 9-of-13 passes for 193 yards.
“Usually when you throw it up in the air, he’s going to do good things with it,” Joyce said. “It’s been a while since teams have single-covered Manny. They did like a Cover-2 tonight, which gave a lot of opportunities for Manny, and the offensive line gave us time.”
On Central’s second possession, Matt Lehmann went 33 yards on a jet sweep, setting up Joyce’s one-yard sneak for the touchdown. Before the first quarter was over, Joyce scored from seven yards out.
“They played us pretty even after that. It’s a good thing we got up 21-0,” Redhawks coach Mike Stine said. “Knowing [Warren coach] Bryan [McNulty] and knowing the character of the person he is, we knew his team wouldn’t quit and they didn’t.”
McNulty played linebacker at Naperville Central in the mid-1990s.
Warren (6-5) finally made something happen early in the second quarter. A 45-yard kickoff return by Jalen Powe led to a fiveyard touchdown run from Darrius Crump (28 carries, 132 yards). After Joyce scored his third rushing touchdown, Powe returned the ensuing kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown. But Central added two more scores before halftime on a 30-yard pass to Rugamba and 35-yard interception return by Jon Barker.
Trailing 42-13 at half, Warren didn’t roll over. Powe intercepted a pass on the first play of the third quarter, setting up his own oneyard touchdown run out of the wildcat formation. The Blue Devils then forced a punt and drove 71 yards for another touchdown. Kyle Debevec’s five-yard run made it 4228 with 1:21 left in the third quarter.
“We needed that surge in the beginning,” Powe said. “We just had a slow start. We weren’t ready for them. We could have prepared way better.”
Naperville Central put the game away with another strong drive. Jeremiah Wiggins’ five-yard run was the Redhawks’ only score of the second half.
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