By Bobby Narang
Naperville North High School senior football running back, Lontrez Duckworth, made numerous eye-catching runs against Metea Valley Saturday.
After rushing for 34 yards on his first carry against the Mustangs, Duckworth never slowed down. He ran for a career-best 209 yards and scored five rushing touchdowns in a 48-20 victory in a DuPage Valley Conference game.
On a cold, wind-swept and rain-filled afternoon, Duckworth’s hard-running style was ideal to carry the Huskies to their first victory of the season.
But Duckworth’s play caught the attention of another group of players following the conclusion of the conference game: His teammates.
As Duckworth talked to two reporters about his five-touchdown performance, a large circle of Huskies engulfed the area. With his teammates clapping, laughing, and shouting words throughout the brief interview, Duckworth showed his poise by staying calm and directing his teammates at times. The Huskies, 1-1, 1-1, hadn’t played a game since their season opening defeat at the hands of Conference foe, Neuqua Valley, due to their games against Naperville Central and DeKalb canceled because of COVID-19.
“It felt so good,” Duckworth said. “We’ve been waiting for this game. We came out and wanted it more. Our week of practice was so good. We’ve been going at each other for so long, so we came in here and did our thing.”
Duckworth’s memorable outing included touchdown runs of 2, 2, 20, 47, and 2 yards to help the Huskies beat the Mustangs for the fifth straight season.
“I took my time with my vision and the offensive line did everything else,” Duckworth said. “I know last year I didn’t have the best of years, so this year I really wanted to do well. I know I’m better than last year, and just had to prove it.
I’ve been practicing with the offensive line more, so I can get their mental process. The O-line did great today.”
Metea Valley, 0-3, 0-2, scored a touchdown on its first possession, but allowed 35 straight points. Junior quarterback Logan Frederick passed for 202 yards and two touchdowns, with John Flynn catching nine passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns.
Naperville Central update:
Naperville Central head coach Mike Stine is accustomed to having his game-week disrupted in some sense this Spring. The Redhawks had to swap two opponents in consecutive weeks, then move up their game a day early against DeKalb on the same day of the change.
Yes, it’s been a complicated and difficult season for Stine and company. Yet, the Redhawks have managed to overcome nearly every obstacle. This time, Naperville Central recorded an impressive 41-7 road victory against DeKalb Friday. Central is ranked No. 5 is this week’s Illinois coaches poll following games in the fourth weekend of six weeks.
The game was scheduled for Saturday, but Stine said the two programs moved the game to Friday earlier that same morning. The Redhawks, 4-0, 2-0, will play at Metea Valley Friday. Naperville Central’s defense limited the Barbs to 79 yards rushing and Jaden McGill rushed for 180 yards in the victory.
“We like to do exactly the same thing every week,” Stine said. “We’ve been doing it for years and years, just the same thing on Monday and Tuesday, etc. We have our practice scripted, but this year, we all had to adapt.
“They had to figure our officials and immediately get buses. Those are the two big things, so when that happened, we started the ball rolling. We have a good change of commands, got the messages out to the players, coaches and parents. Our kids have become used to this by now. High school football is a Friday night game, so our kids were excited. We made that transition. It was a great atmosphere. We challenged our kids all week. In our mind, it was a playoff game, a quarterfinal game. DeKalb is very good. We challenged our seniors, and they rose to the occasion.”