Minnesota recruit Owen Lansu, Downers Grove North look sharp in dispatching Wheaton Warrenville South

DOWNERS GROVE – Owen Lansu said he had a case of the nerves before his first-ever playoff game last season.

What about this year’s playoff opener Nov. 1?

The Downers Grove North junior quarterback and Minnesota recruit treated his team’s first-round game like any other.

“To be honest with you, I wasn’t nervous at all going into tonight,” Lansu said. “I had confidence. I felt good. I didn’t know what to expect going into last year’s game. Tonight, it was like any other game. We knew we were prepared and knew what we had to do.”

[ Photos: Downers Grove North vs. Wheaton Warrenville South ]

Lansu looked the part of a confident, experienced quarterback.

He directed touchdown drives on five of six possessions and threw for two touchdowns in an efficient performance. Fifth-seeded Downers Grove North scored the final 27 points for a 34-7 win over 28th-seeded Wheaton Warrenville South in a Class 7A first-round game.

The Trojans (9-1) advanced to face Fenwick (8-2) at 1 p.m. Saturday in Downers Grove.

Taking what the defense gave him and leading a short passing game with surgical precision, Lansu displayed two traits that make him one of the state’s elite quarterbacks: a quick release and accuracy.

The Downers Grove North junior completed 18-of-21 passes to five receivers for 216 yards. It started with the game’s opening march when Lansu connected on three of four passes in a drive that culminated with Alec Fiermuga’s 19-yard touchdown run.

“They were playing Cover-4, they were giving us a lot of free stuff, so our mindset was just take the free stuff until they take it away, march down the field,” Lansu said. “The message for us all year is that when we execute, nobody can stop us. Tonight, I thought we did a good job of executing.”

Downers Grove North coach Joe Horeni is used to seeing his second-year starter execute at a high level.

The Trojans’ second possession ended with Jake Gregorio 1-yard TD run. Lansu then went 4-for-4 in a six-play, 98-yard drive capped by Will Vala’s impressive 43-yard catch-and-run TD through multiple tackle attempts for a 20-7 lead.

“When you have a quarterback that’s as accurate as Owen, it’s a great benefit,” Horeni said. “He gets the ball out fast. Our guys protected well but sometimes they don’t have to because he gets the ball out so fast.”

Wheaton Warrenville South (5-5) matched Downers Grove North’s first drive with a TD of its own. Senior quarterback Luca Carbonaro scrambled for an 8-yard TD run.

The Tigers, trailing 20-7 in the closing minutes of the first half, drove to the Downers Grove North 10-yard line with a chance to draw to within a score at the half. The drive stalled and Wheaton Warrenville South missed a 33-yard field goal attempt on the last play of the half.

“Sputtering in the red zone there, it really would have been nice to get points at the end of that,” Wheaton Warrenville South coach Sean Norris said. “When you play good teams, it comes down to fundamentals. We didn’t tackle in the first half well. We gave up a couple busted explosive plays, we didn’t block well – again, fundamentals will carry you against good teams. Those things will hurt you, big time.”

After giving up a touchdown on Wheaton Warrenville South’s first drive, Downers Grove North’s defense didn’t give up anything else. Joe Edwards had two of the Trojans’ three sacks and Oliver Thulin, who had five catches on offense, had one of Downers Grove North’s two second-half interceptions.

“Game plan coming in was gotta work with three guys getting pressure on the QB, but eventually we started mixing in four guys and we were able to get to them a lot more often,” Edwards said.

Lansu threw a 17-yard TD pass to Charlie Cruse and Fiermuga, who ran for 77 yards on 12 carries, completed the scoring with a 2-yard run.

Vala had five catches for 87 yards and Cruse four catches for 40.

Carbonaro was 21 for 34 for 129 yards. Northern Illinois recruit Amari Williams caught nine passes for 75 yards for Wheaton Warrenville South.

Downers Grove North, last year’s 7A runner-up, cleared a first hurdle against a tricky first-round opponent in its bid to return to state.

“That was a really good 5-4 team we played,” Horeni said. “They’re well-coached, tough to handle defensively. My defensive coordinator was saying they run 27 different formations with multiple variations. Tough to prepare for ... quarterback is phenomenal. Happy with the way the boys executed.”