Naperville Central, led by Aiden Clark’s 141 yards and 3 TDs, rolls past Schaumburg

NAPERVILLE – Naperville Central has high hopes of making a deep postseason run this year.

Friday night in their Class 8A playoff opener, the Redhawks showed why.

The Redhawks excelled on both sides of the ball against visiting Schaumburg, scoring a 48-0 victory over the Saxons in a total team effort in Naperville.

Running back Aiden Clark led the way for the Redhawks with 141 yards rushing and three touchdowns.

“We’re a family,” said Naperville Central right tackle Tyler Thornton, a junior. “I would give everything for every single guy that’s wearing red tonight.

“There’s been times where we’ve gone through tough things together, like the game last week (a 28-7 loss to Lincoln-Way East). But we always kept it together, truly a family.”

The seventh-seeded Redhawks struck early and often against Schaumburg, the 26th seed.

Clark opened the scoring in the first quarter with a 44-yard TD run off tackle, then quarterback Sebastian Hayes found Ryan Downey with an 11-yard scoring strike.

In the second period, the Redhawks found the end zone two more times; a 13-yard run up the middle by Clark, and a TD toss from Hayes to Garrett Nichols for 62 yards down the right sideline.

On defense, the Redhawks’ Paul Peradotti and Gavin Ellison pitched in with key interceptions.

Thornton said that with a 27-0 halftime lead, he and his teammates talked about just keeping the momentum going.

“Keep running the ball, keep doing what we do,” he said. “We’ve got some injured players that we’ll be getting back, and we’re doing this for them.”

Senior receiver Javonte McCoy was a bright spot in the first half for Schaumburg, with 6 catches.

He finished the game with a total of 10 receptions for 64 yards.

“He’s just a special football player,” said Saxons coach Mark Stilling of McCoy. “He’s an unbelievable teammate and is just one of those kids who makes everybody around him better.”

Naperville Central (9-1) closed the game with three touchdowns in the second half, the first coming on a 48-yard run by Clark.

Jalen Isom followed that with a rushing TD from 24 yards and junior James Vent had the final tally, grabbing a 22-yard touchdown pass from backup QB Dylan Richards.

“We all put our hearts out there tonight,” Vent said. “We’ve been practicing all week for this, and we earned it.”

Despite the defeat, one that closed out their season with a 5-5 record, Stilling was impressed with his team’s effort — not only against the Redhawks but also through the entire season.

“Hopefully, we’ve moved the needle,” Stilling said. “That was the goal 51 weeks ago, move the needle and raise the expectation level.

“Tonight’s outcome doesn’t change how proud of these kids I am. The number of injuries we’ve had and these guys just kept fighting, persevering, battling, and finding a way.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/20241101/prep-football/naperville-central-looks-primed-for-deep-playoff-run-in-victory-over-schaumburg/