Defensive TD sparks Naperville North to rout of Neuqua Valley for fifth win

NAPERVILLE – Charlie Wisniewski, a fifth-grader and the brother of Naperville North senior defensive end Michael Wisniewski, was given an awesome responsibility Friday.

The Huskies coaching staff assigned him the task of taking care of the team’s turnover chain, and he had to put it to use with just 3 minutes and 23 seconds gone in Friday night’s game against visiting Neuqua Valley.

Naperville North already led by a touchdown when Gabe Hill got a strip-sack of Wildcats starting quarterback Kiet Truong, and teammate Donovan Howard picked up the fumble inside the Neuqua Valley 10-yard line and raced into the end zone to put the home team up by two scores.

That play sparked the Huskies to a 42-0 Southwest Valley Blue win, their fifth victory of the year and one which saw them become playoff eligible.

“(My teammates) all know my little brother,” said Michael Wisniewski, “and we decided to give it to him because we all love him and we wanted him to be part of the team.

“This win was amazing. We all have great confidence that we’re going to go far this year. I can’t describe how good this feels.”

Naperville North opened the scoring on its first possession on a 2-yard run up the middle by Rahsean Blake-Eiland.

Then the clutch defensive play by Hill and Howard came just 49 seconds later.

“Their guard was a little bit back behind the center,” Hill said. “He was shifting all his momentum over so I just did the swim, got the pressure and used all the momentum against him.”

Naperville North was on the move again in the second quarter, but a terrific pass breakup by Tommy Westrom of the Wildcats saw the Huskies turn the ball over on downs.

But the hosts wouldn’t be denied, striking for two more scores before intermission.

First quarterback Jacob Bell ran 22 yards around end for a touchdown, then Bell threw a 21-yard TD strike to Brock Pettaway to make it 28-0 at halftime.

It was more of the same in the second half with two more touchdowns through the air for Bell.

The QB sent a pass in the flat to Nicholas Manzardo, who raced 82 yards down the right sideline for a score.

Then Bell closed out the barrage with a 6-yard floater to the end zone, corralled by Charlie Shinkle.

Drake Mennecke was a bright spot for Neuqua Valley (1-6, 0-4). The sophomore call-up, a quarterback, got his first varsity experience in the second quarter.

He acquitted himself well by completing nine passes for 65 yards.

“I was obviously nervous,” Mennecke said, “but after the first snap I was fine.

“We’ve got to bounce back as a team and come back better. I felt like we had good practices all week, but just didn’t leave it all on the field tonight.”

Bell finished with 278 yards through the air for Naperville North (5-2, 2-1) while receivers Manzardo (4 catches for 110 yards) and Chico Thomas (8 for 86) had big games.

On the defensive side, Zach Mally and Jordan Robinson recorded interceptions for the Huskies.

“This means everything,” Hill said of the playoff-clinching triumph.