By Bobby Narang
Wheaton Warrenville South High School’s football team had a not-so memorable start to its season.
The Tigers, a traditional DuPage County powerhouse program, went to Gately Stadium in Chicago to play City heavyweight Simeon.
The Wolverines, rapidly becoming an elite football team comparable to the basketball program, crushed the Tigers, 41-23, in week one.
Second-year Wheaton Warrenville South head coach Sean Norris pushed his players for a bounce-back performance at Neuqua Valley in week two. The Tigers responded with a solid effort on offense, defense, and special teams, for a 10-7 victory in overtime.
“We challenged our guys all week,” Norris said. “The whole message this week was what was going to be our response after week one. We played a talented football team in Simeon, but we got beat defensively. We looked at our tackling and pursuit, which was not good. It was great to see that our defense responded in a huge way against Neuqua Valley. We held them to just more than 100 yards rushing.”
Norris praised several players for stepping up their games against the Wildcats, 1-1, including senior safeties Colin Moore and Charles Butt, defensive tackle Andrew Moore and junior kicker/punter Maison Hass. Moore had eight tackles and a tackle for a loss, Butt tallied 10 tackles. Hass nailed the winning field goal in overtime. Junior wide receiver Daijion Riley caught a 44-yard touchdown pass among his three receptions, Norris said.
“Our two safeties played a great game and led a charge,” Norris said. “Both were filling in the run and the defense played great. We were able to play good defense. Andrew (Moore) did a great job on the front (on defense) Our main goal was to get better against the run, and we did that.
Sophomore quarterback Luca Carbonaro was thrust into the fire in the opener to an some unexpected upheaval a quarterback. Carbonaro had a tough showing against the Wolverines, but showed tremendous grit with a strong showing against the Wildcats.
“We’re starting a sophomore quarterback, so it’s big transition since about 10 days before game one at quarterback position,” Norris said. “We then had to have a new competition between a junior and a sophomore. Luca ended up winning the job based on his game one showing and did a great job against Simeon. He did a nice job against Neuqua Valley. He’s still learning, but he didn’t turn ball over, made some big throws in big situations. He’s got a really high ceiling.”
The Tigers will play their third game in a row on the road, in opening DuKane Conference against St. Charles North. The North Stars, 1-1, beat Lake Zurich, 21-10, in week two.
“We believe our (DuKane) Conference is one of the best in the State,” Norris said. “St. Charles North, coached by Rob Pomazak, is a top quality program year in and year out. Our Conference is good football. We have to take this momentum and do things we did well in practice and be consistent and keep getting better. We’re definitely looking forward to Conference. It should be a great atmosphere at St. Charles North.”