Wildcats earn key DuPage Valley win
DAILY HERALD SUBURBAN GAME OF THE WEEK NO. 18 NEUQUA VALLEY 31, NAPERVILLE NORTH 28
Daily Herald
The logjam atop the DuPage Valley Conference got a little less congested Friday.
Neuqua Valley ( 5- 1, 4- 1) scored on four consecutive possessions to build a 25- 6 lead, and Stephen Ruiz hit field goals of 37, 45 and a school- record 50 yards as the Wildcats beat Naperville North 3128 in Naperville.
Neuqua Valley opened the scoring on a two- yard touchdown run by running back Cameron Raupach to cap a seven- play, 64- yard drive. Ruiz’s 37- yard field goal extended the lead to 10- 0 with 8: 13 remaining in the second quarter.
The Huskies answered two minutes later on a two- yard run by Brett Zdrubecky, but Miles Rathell caught a 16- yard touchdown pass from Jake Eskoff and Chevalier’s penalty- aided two- point run gave the hosts an 18- 6 lead at halftime.
Meanwhile, Naperville North ( 4- 2, 3- 2) wasted two scoring opportunities in the first half.
The Huskies reached the Neuqua Valley 28- yard line on their first possession before the drive stalled on a sack and three incompletions, and a holding penalty and incompletion squashed a first- andgoal chance at the Neuqua Valley seven- yard line with fewer than 20 seconds remaining.
Eskoff’s 35- yard pass to Rathell set up Raupach’s two- yard touchdown run to push the lead to 25- 6 a little more than two minutes into the second half, but Naperville North got an 11- yard touchdown pass from Drake Davis to Nick Calcagno and a two- point conversion with 1: 41 left in the third quarter to close within 25- 14.
Ruiz, who missed wide left on a 43- yard field- goal try late in the third quarter, then eclipsed the school record by eight yards when he hit his 50- yarder with 9: 40 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Naperville North’s woes continued in the fourth quarter. The Huskies came up short on a fourth- down try deep in their own territory early in the fourth quarter, then lost a fumble at their own 33- yard line with just under six minutes remaining.
But after holding Neuqua Valley on fourth down deep in their own territory, the Huskies drove 77 yards to get within 28- 20 on Davis’ 27- yard pass to Ryan Laurenzo with 4: 10 remaining. However, the try for two points and a subsequent onside kick failed.
Ruiz booted a 45- yard field goal with 1: 32 remaining to seemingly put the game out of reach, butDavis found Calcagno from 11 yards out with 26.8 seconds remaining and Clifford Vickers ran the two- point try to close to 31- 28. Naperville North’s ensuing onside kick failed.