On Aug. 10, the first day of practice throughout the state of Illinois, coach Mike Stine talked quite poignantly about what his expectations were for his team and the high expectations he held for his defense.
Though not the main culprit in last week's 21-7 home loss to , the defense accepted its equal share of the blame and was hell-bent on making sure the Redhawks' Week 1 performance was an aberration.
Thanks to forcing five turnovers, including three interceptions from senior defensive back Ross Murphy, , with its backs very much up against the wall just one week in, stood up tall in coming away with a 28-14 victory over on Friday night in Naperville.
In picking up its third victory over in four all-time meetings, the defense took quick note of having racked up 492 yards on offense last week against and limited the Wildcats to just 206 total yards.
Pivotal in that effort was limiting the production of Wildcats’ junior running back Joey Rhattigan.
A week after running for 167 yards and four TDs in a win over , Rhattigan was held to 83 yards on 20 carries while scoring both touchdowns for (1-1).
"We just want to come out and win the game every day. I don't think we need motivation to come out, beat a cross-town rival like that," Murphy said. "You don't need motivation for that."
While the defense continued its stout play from the week before, 's offense had a much improved night.
Scoring the game's first 21 points, (1-1) ran out to a 21-0 lead with 8:05 remaining in the first half, thanks to a pair of touchdown passes from senior quarterback Ian Lewandowski to senior running back Matt Randolph and with a 31-yard TD run from Lewandowski added in for good measure.
After struggling mightily against , when he went three-of-10 passing for 77 yards and had two crucial interceptions, Lewandowski was much more efficient against the Wildcats on Friday night.
He completed five-of-eight passes for just 61 yards, but two of the five completions went for scores and Lewandowski chipped in on the rushing attack, finishing two yards shy of joining Randolph, who ran for 109 yards on 26 attempts, in triple digits.
“If Ian’s making plays, he’s tough,” ’s Stine said. “He’s a great leader. He’s a great competitor, but it was a team effort. Our special teams were great. Our defense was outstanding. Our offensive line was great, too.”
That “team effort” made things difficult on the Wildcats for the majority of the night.
Spotting the Redhawks 21 points right off the bat certainly doesn’t play to their strengths, which is running the football and playing good, hard-nosed defense.
Both of the Wildcats’ touchdowns came courtesy of a pair of short fields, set up by a fumble by Redhawks’ running back Nick Thomas and an interception from Dan Hammond.
Boudreau finished his night nine-for-21 passing for 104 yards and three interceptions and got hurt on his final interception of the night during Murphy’s return.
A week after looking so sharp against , fell victim to a desperate team that turned in a far more physical effort.
“Can’t put any team up 21 points and expect to do great things,” coach Bryan Wells said. “We fought a little bit there, but (we) can’t take anything away from . They forced what happened, and they came out with their backs against the wall — exactly what we were worried about. Played like a team that a lot was on the line and got after us."
