By Brad Engel
STAFF WRITER

  You can all put your hands down now.

   Naperville Central senior running back Jason Paquette has the answer. The question? How will Central respond to the loss of starting tailback Kyle Griffith, who suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during a 49-20 victory against Glenbard North the previous week?

   Paquette (18 carries, 160 yards rushing) replaced Central's leading rusher Friday, handling the majority of the load from the backfield and scoring three touchdowns on the ground en route to Central's 35-0 victory against Naperville North in the 33rd annual Wes Spencer Crosstown Classic.

   The teacher calling on Paquette? Griffith, who had been showing Paquette the ropes at tailback all week.

   "I came out playing this game for him," said Paquette, usually the Redhawks' starting fullback. "He's one of my best buddies, and him going down is huge. I know I had to step and follow his shoes, and they're big shoes to follow."

   The victory gave Central (7-0 overall, 5-0 DuPage Valley Conference) a one-game lead ahead of Wheaton Warrenville South in the DVC. North (4-3, 2-3) remains in fourth place with two weeks to play in the regular season.

   North, flashing what senior quarterback Rob Slette guessed to be new uniforms as a surprise from coach Larry McKeon, gave fans a defensive display in the first half.

   The Huskies punted at the end of their first possession to start the game, giving Central the ball at the Redhawks 31-yard line after junior Dan Passarelli's 5-yard return. Paquette carried the ball 16 yards combined on the first two plays of the game, starting what turned into a 55-yard drive. It ended on fourth-and-2 on North's 14-yard line when quarterback Phil Horvath threw long to senior wide receiver Tyke Spencer with North defensive back Andy Richards covering. The pass fell incomplete.

   "With Tyke Spencer and Dan Passarelli, you got two great receivers," said North junior free safety Bryan Vavruska, the team leader in interceptions with six. "Like last week, (the Tigers) had (Brett) Adamson at Wheaton Warrenville South — I could just play his side. Now we have to watch two great receivers and a great quarterback, so there's not much you can do."

   North did everything it could do to thwart Central's next three drives of the half. The first ended in another incomplete pass to Spencer and was almost intercepted by Vavruska on fourth-and-2, the second ended when senior cornerback Mark Kieso picked off a 42-yard pass on third-and-18, and the third resulted in another failed fourth-down conversion, this time a 6-yard scramble by Horvath.

   North followed with a 38-yard drive, the Huskies' longest of the half, that ended in a series of incomplete passes with less than 30 seconds to play in the second quarter. Having completed his first three passes of the drive, Slette drove the Huskies to first-and-10 on Central's 42-yard line. Then junior halfback Corey McKeon beat free safety Brad Matthews but dropped the pass near the red zone, wide receiver Kyle Morgan dropped a pass and Slette threw out of bounds with Huskies tackles Pat Watson and Ryan Senica in pursuit. Facing fourth-and-10, still on the 42-yard line, nose guard Andy Crowder sacked Slette for a loss of 3 yards as time expired.

   "We got it going with the passing late there in the second quarter," Slette said. "We came out in the second half. We were fired up. (We gave up) a couple of big plays. And Central's a good team. You can't let them have big plays like that. You can't let them in the game like that and shut the door on us."

   Central blew through the second half with five consecutive touchdowns. Paquette ran four of the five plays on Central's first possession before breaking left for a 37-yard touchdown run.

   "In the first half they came out really tough, coming up big on fourth down (three) times in a row, and in the second half, that first drive was huge — get the momentum and then just keep rolling," Paquette said.

   North tried a fourth-down conversion on the ensuing possession, snapping the punt to fullback Steve Sarm instead of senior punter Chris Cahill, but it resulted in a 1-yard loss and turnover on downs.

   Central took over on its own 44-yard line, drove to the 5 and scored on third-and-goal. Horvath threw complete to Spencer with linebacker Greg Perry nearing the play.

   "Their DBs were really good," Spencer said. "They came out with a really great scheme. They played a lot of (double coverage), they dropped a lot of guys off, and later on in the game they started an extra back every once in a while, usually on third downs."

   Sarm fumbled on North's next possession, and three plays later Paquette scored his second touchdown on a 6-yard run. A North punt preceded the Redhawks' fourth score, a 52-yard touchdown pass from Horvath to Passarelli, who broke three tackles on the play. North failed in another fourth-down situation one possession before Paquette broke for a final 51-yard touchdown run.

   "The cross-town rival, the bragging rights — we were all jacked for this game," Paquette said. "We just came out super intense in the second half and knew what we had to do."

   It's everything Griffith really could have wanted for his teammates in the city matchup. A victory, a shutout and an even-better chance for the top seed in the state playoff series. The offense lowered its points-against average to 9.4 per game and delivered the Huskies their third consecutive loss this season.

   "It's real tough for (Griffith) now because this could be the last time we get the chance to play North and he may not get a chance," Spencer said. "I just tried to give him some positive words. You never know, he might still be able to come back for the playoffs. He's a real team player, so any time we win he's happy."

10/07/01

By Quarter: Central 0 0 28 7 — 35 North 0 0 0 0 — 0 ag NC — Paquette, 37-yard run (Szatko kick). NC — Spencer, 5-yard pass from Horvath (Szatko kick). NC — Paquette, 6-yard run (Szatko kick). NC — Passarelli, 52-yard pass from Horvath (Szatko kick). NC — Paquette, 51-yard run (Szatko)

NC NN First downs 15 10 Comp-att-int 14-21-1 10-21-1 Yards passing 231 86 Rushes-yards 35-205 34-80 Total yards 436 166 Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-1 Penalties-yards 6-30 4-20

RUSHING: Central -- Paquette 18-160, Horvath 4-15, Barenbrugge 3-11, Passarelli 4-9, Small 2-6, Miller 2-4, Jewell 2-0. North -- McKeon 6-42, Sarm 13-31, Costantino 9-18, Slette 6-(-11).
PASSING: Central -- Horvath 14-21-1 231. North -- Slette 10-21-1 86.
RECEIVING: Central -- Spencer 5-75, Passarelli 4-102, Benson 2-41, Small 1-6, Long 1-4, Schueler 1-3. North -- Costantino 3-29, Morgan 3-26, Sarm 1-14, Roney 1-13, McKeon 1-4, Powell 1-0.