With senior night festivities before the game and playoff pairings scheduled for release the following day, a number of Naperville Central players were slightly distracted at the beginning of Friday night's season finale against West Chicago.

   "I don't know if we overlooked West Chicago or looked too far into the playoffs," said senior wide receiver Tyke Spencer. "We tried not to. I know I was trying not to. But that's hard sometimes."

   A prolonged lack of concentration by the Redhawks seemed to be West Chicago's only chance in this one — but Central quickly found its composure.

   After some uncharacteristic first-quarter lapses on both sides of the ball, the Redhawks took control and rolled to a very Central-like 42-9 victory at Memorial Stadium in Naperville.

   Central (9-0, 7-0 DuPage Valley Conference) captured its third consecutive conference crown and has won 27 consecutive conference games. The Redhawks have not lost a regular-season game since 1998.

   Now, Central moves on to the postseason, where it expects to be the No. 1 seed and favorite in the IHSA's first Class 8A playoffs. Seeds and pairings were announced Saturday after The Sun went to press.

   Last season, Central entered the playoffs in a similar situation, only to be upended by Naperville North. Understandably, that loss left scars.

   "That hurt. That's not the way you want to go out, losing to your rival," Spencer said. "You have to use it to motivate yourself for the playoffs."

   But Spencer said these Redhawks are more prepared for the postseason than the 2000 team. He points to the maturity of senior quarterback Phil Horvath as a major reason. Horvath became the starter last season — perhaps prematurely — when quarterback Owen Daniels went down with a season-ending injury.

   "Last year, Phil took over in the fourth game, but he was still a junior and he hadn't been working with us all summer, because he was working with the second team," he said. "This year, we just have things clicking. The timing is down. The running game is also on fire."

   The Horvath-to-Spencer connection clicked for one of the biggest plays Friday night. Central led 14-6 midway through the second quarter when Horvath (11-of-17, 143 yards, three touchdowns) foiled a West Chicago blitz with a screen to Spencer. The receiver darted 57 yards down the sideline for the touchdown, and the Redhawks never looked back.

   Later, Horvath threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to tight end Chris Benson, and a 2-yarder to Mike Lucas.

   Running back Jason Paquette had another monster game for the Redhawks, though he played only two and a half quarters. Paquette carried 13 times for 136 yards, including touchdowns of 17 and 33 yards. He has 12 touchdowns this season.

   The former fullback has settled nicely into the tailback slot vacated by the injured Kyle Griffith. But when Paquette switched positions three weeks ago, fullback became an area of concern for the Redhawks.

   That's when Eric Small entered the picture. That's freshman Eric Small, the first freshman to play for Joe Bunge in his 20-plus seasons as a varsity coach at Central and Chicago's Tilden High School.

   The 6-foot-1-inch, 210-pound bruiser was tearing things up for the sophomore team when Bunge gave him the call.

   "It's what had to be done," Bunge said. "There are always reservations when you have a freshman, but he's playing great. Will he be ready for the playoffs? He'll have to be."

   Small rushed for 32 yards Friday and helped the offensive line create a number of gaping holes for Paquette.

   The rest of the Redhawks have taken to the youngster and realize he has an important role to play in a run to the state championship.

   "He's a humble kid, a nice kid," Spencer said. "He's always saying 'Yes sir,' and he's always listening to coach. We tease him a little because he's a freshman, but we don't pick on him or anything, because he's a nice kid."

   After posting shutouts in two straight games, the Redhawks defense got a bit of a wake-up call Friday night from West Chicago's spread offense.

   On its first possession, the Wildcats (3-6, 1-6) drove down to the Central 25 before a West Chicago penalty halted the drive. Early in the second quarter, West Chicago scored its only touchdown when Morris Barber took a screen pass and sprinted 50 yards to bring his team within 14-6. Despite missing the extra point, West Chicago looked poised to stay in the game.

   "It was kind of rough at the beginning. We pulled it together eventually, but we were kind of unsure to begin with," said Central senior linebacker Nick Ehrlich, who added that the Redhawks defense might be more susceptible to the pass than the run. "(West Chicago) brought in some new formations.

   "Also, it was senior night. I don't want to make excuses, but we didn't play our best. It was harder to focus on the game."

   Ehrlich and his mates recovered, sacking West Chicago quarterback Jared Hall six times. Ehrlich, a first-year starter, said that despite the defensive breakdowns against West Chicago, he has seen the defense steadily improve as the season has progressed.

   "Our defense is picking it up," he said. "Last year they stayed at the same level. We seem to be picking it up more and more as the games goes on."

   So, Central sets out on the road to Champaign, looking to recapture the glory of 1999 and hoping to put last year's bitter postseason loss firmly in the past.

   "The goals of both teams (the 2000 and 2001 teams) were the same — to have an undefeated regular season, which they both have done," Bunge said. "Is this team more prepared? We'll see. Every team out there worries us, and we are concerned with everything we do. We want to make sure we are good in every phase of the game. We try not to take anything for granted."

Naperville Central 42, West Chicago 9

West Chicago 0 9 0 0 — 9 Naperville Central 7 21 7 7 — 42 ag NC — Paquette, 17-yard run (Szatko kick). NC — Paquette, 33-yard run (Szatko kick). WC — Barber, 50-yard pass from Hall (kick failed). NC — Spencer, 57-yard pass from Horvath (Szatko kick). WC — Brown, 35-yard field goal. NC — Benson, 15-yard pass from Horvath (Szatko kick). NC — Lucas, 2-yard pass from Horvath (Szatko kick). NC — Barenbrugge, 3-yard run (Szatko kick).

Team statistics WC NC First downs 9 18 Comp-att-int 9-18-0 11-17-0 Yards passing 146 143 Rushes-yards 35-92 37-230 Total yards 238 371 Fumbles-lost 3-1 0-0 Penalties-yards 6-35 2-20

Individual statistics -

RUSHING: West Chicago — Coleman 7-34, Nubie 7-23, Trygar 6-19, Barber 3-12, Schuyler 3-12, Alfaro 1-5, O'Hara 1-5, Hall 7-(-18). Naperville Central — Paquette 13-136, Barenbrugge 12-51, Small 6-32, Horvath 3-5, Nardi 1-4, Jewell 1-3, Litwin 1-(-1). PASSING: West Chicago — Hall 9-17-0 146, Coleman 0-1-0 0. Naperville Central — Horvath 11-17-0 143.

RECEIVING: West Chicago — O'Hara 3-61, Barber 1-50, Zumpano 2-18, Coleman 1-11, Klingberg 1-4, Trygar 1-2. Naperville Central — Spencer 3-89, Passarelli 3-27, Benson 1-15, Small 2-8, Lucas 1-2, Scheuler 1-2. Sophomore game: Naperville Central 23, West Chicago 13