Naperville Central holds off furious Fremd rally to advance to 8A quarterfinals

NAPERVILLE – After a blowout of a first half, a wild second half saw Naperville Central hold off Fremd on Friday with an ending that was too much for any Hollywood scriptwriter to get away with.

The Class 8A second-round playoff game between a pair of 9-1 teams was supposed to go down to the wire, which it most certainly did.

But before the Redhawks prevailed 31-28, they had stormed out to a 24-0 lead after two quarters only to have Vikings quarterback Johnny O’Brien throw three touchdowns in the third quarter and a fourth one with 4:41 left to play to close to within 31-28.

O’Brien passed for 417 yards with three scores to Marquan Brewster, the last one a 15-yarder that set the stage for a crazy last few minutes.

First the Vikings attempted an onside kick, but a false start led them to kick away after the 5-yard walk off.

Looking to run the clock out and preserve a lead that had shrunk dramatically in the second half, the Redhawks turned to star running back Aiden Clark to pick up yards and work the clock. Clark, who finished the night with 165 yards and a touchdown on 35 runs, did help Central pick up one first down, but with less than two minutes to play, the team turned to a surprising hero, Aaron Nussbaum.

The senior suffered a torn ACL in a game against Lockport on Oct. 4 and it appeared as if his season and prep career were over. But he returned Friday sporting a knee brace and made some key blocks to help Clark pile up his hefty numbers.

On second-and-8 and with most everyone in the crowd expecting another Clark run, the Redhawks went with a play action pass and Nussbaum, who hadn’t caught a pass in two years, hauled in a pass from Sebastian Hayes and rambled 27 yards to the Vikings’ 25.

Three more runs garnered one last first down and the game was over. The Redhawks didn’t score an offensive point in the second half but Gavin Wade’s 55-yard interception return touchdown was a key play.

The Redhawks will play at Lyons Township next week in the quarterfinals.

“That was my first catch of the year. Actually, that was my first target since my sophomore season,” a happy, yet surprised Nussbaum said. “We knew we were running the ball and trying to run the clock out. I really didn’t expect the pass to come my way.”

Hayes helped the Redhawks jump out to the big lead by going 15 for 19 in the first half, including touchdown passes to Garrett Nichols and DeShaun Williams. But the defense played a big role by picking off O’Brien in the end zone once and also coming away with a fumble after a strip sack by Troy Kashul and a recovery by Jake Stanish.

But O’Brien, who is committed to play at Northwestern, put on an aerial display in the second half and almost erased the big deficit.

On the first possession of the second half, O’Brien passed his way down the field in less than two minutes, capped by a 35-yard touchdown to Brewster, who finished with 10 catches for 143 yards and three scores.

Later, it was 31-21 after three quarters before Brewster’s third score made things real interesting late.

“The second half we really got things going,” Brewster said. “The whole team is tough and we said [at the half] it was just time to fight. This is the playoffs.”

Brennan Saxe had nine catches for 121 and a touchdown, and was not happy Fremd’s great season came to a close.

“We love each other and we gave it our all in the second half,” he said. “We had a heck of a season but it stinks that we didn’t come out on top.”

Nussbaum also is loving his team, and looking forward to at least one more week playing with his guys.

“After the Lockport game the doctor told me my season was over but a second doctor said if I worked hard and wore a brace that I could come back in four or five weeks,” he said. “It’s my senior year and I wanted to get back. Love beats hate and I love these guys and I got seven more days with all of them.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/20241108/prep-football/naperville-central-fends-off-fremds-furious-comeback-advances-to-8a-quarterfinals/