Wheaton North 25, Addison Trail 0

After the last 48 hours they've had, the Wheaton North Falcons didn't fret playing their home opener on their cross-town rivals' turf.

"We would have played in a parking lot," said senior lineman Kevin Whitt.

With power still out on the north side of Wheaton after Thursday's storms, the Falcons' game was postponed to Saturday. They learned that morning they'd be playing Addison Trail at Wheaton Warrenville South.

They played like a team itching to hit somebody.

A swarming Falcons defense forced 3 turnovers, recorded 3 sacks and held Addison Trail to 52 total yards of offense until the last drive of the game in a 25-0 win.

"The kids played very sound, and I loved the way they played with their heart and their effort," Falcons coach Matt Foster said. "They went whistle to whistle."

Wheaton North's defense wasted little time making an impact on the game.

On Addison Trail's first possession, Falcons linebacker Jack Quinn pounced on a fumble, setting up Wheaton North at the Blazers' 19-yard line. Two plays later, Ivan Tamba ran in a 13-yard score for a 6-0 lead.

"I didn't really do much -- the play went the other way, my teammates made the strip and it was kind of there for me," Quinn said. "Our line got penetration all day, and bounced it out to the linebackers and defensive backs to make plays."

Wheaton North made it 12-0 with 1:51 left in the first, as Eric Terrazas connected with Corey Thonn on a 48-yard touchdown pass on a bomb down the right hashmark.

Mike Trumpy, who had 22 carries for 105 yards, made it 18-0 with a 2-yard run with 8:19 left in the first half.

Taylor Graham's 3-yard touchdown pass to Wade Cervenka in the fourth quarter capped off the scoring.

On the other side of the ball Matt Waldersen, Ben Lettenberger and Keith Maltese had sacks for Wheaton North.

"Coaches always say you have to flow to the ball no matter what," Whitt said. "You get knocked down, you get back up and find it."

"I'm really proud of our kids," Foster said. "We didn't have school Friday, they didn't know where they would play until this morning, and a lot of our kids have house damage and water in their homes. They showed a lot of character today."

Addison Trail coach Paul Parpet tipped his hat to the Wheaton North defense but also paid mention to his own group of defenders.

Vince Beachem, the lone returning starter, had an interception for the Blazers.

"Those are 10 new starters out there, not one is over 200 pounds -- my hat's off to them," Parpet said. "We'll get better on offense."