by Roy Taylor, Sun Correspondent

Before the 2003 season, Wheaton Warrenville South football coach Ron Muhitch said he was looking to his offense to carry his team’s load throughout the season.

The offense came through in the Sept. 19 DuPage Valley Conference matchup with West Chicago at Red Grange Field. The Tigers scored every time they had the ball in the 56-7 blowout of the Wildcats.

Wheaton Warrenville South (3-1, 2-0 DuPage Valley Conference) rushed for 250 yards, led by a 13-carry, 92-yard performance by senior running back Tywon Green.

Evident in the final score, the defense also contributed to the victory. After allowing a long scoring drive in the second quarter that brought the score to 12-7, the group stiffened. Over the final 32 minutes of the game, the Tigers defense forced two fumbles and an interception while holding West Chicago scoreless.

“I thought the defense was the part of this team we had to get rebuilt, but I’m pleased,” Muhitch said.

Wheaton Warrenville South and West Chicago (2-2, 0-2) came into the game with identical 2-1 records, and the contest looked to be well-matched until midway through the second period. The Tigers received the opening kickoff and mounted a balanced 13-play, 80-yard drive, which was capped off by Green’s first score on a 4-yard run.

“I liked our third-down conversions on the first drive. We had some nice, poised completions by (Nick) Panno that made it work for us,” Muhitch said.

The Tigers next took over on their 33-yard line, and on the fourth play Green exploded on a 38-yard draw for his second touchdown. West Chicago defenders looked to be closing in at their 20-yard line when Green employed a burst of speed to avoid the tackle. After Todd Snyder missed his second extra point attempt of the evening, the Tigers led 12-0.

On their second possession, West Chicago looked like it would keep the game close. The Wildcats mounted their own 15-play, 83-yard drive that resulted in a 5-yard touchdown run by T.J. Shanahan. The quarterback bootlegged left, then cut inside, displaying some flash of his own for the score. The Wildcats trailed 12-7 with 7:27 remaining in the second quarter.

The rest of the game belonged to Wheaton Warrenville South. Daniel Falvey scored first on a 3-yard touchdown dive, capping a drive that began with a 41-yard reception by flanker Brett Jackson. Panno’s overthrown pass over the middle looked like a sure interception until Jackson stole the ball away from a Wildcats defender.

West Chicago then tried to get back into the game by throwing, but Shanahan fumbled at his 3-yard line. Christopher Arthurs recovered the fumble and Green scored his third touchdown of the night.

The Tigers got the ball back one more time in the first half, kicked a field goal and led 29-7 at halftime.

Wheaton Warrenville South looked most dominating in the third quarter. West Chicago’s first possession ended in a blocked punt by Eric Puzon. Panno then finished his 14-for-20, 218-yard performance with a 32-yard touchdown pass to tight end Nick Possley.

“We have a great group of unselfish kids on offense,” Muhitch said. “Nick Panno is doing a great job as a leader, and we have a lot of talent for him to get the ball to. We’ve tried to groom Nick to be a person that will make good decisions out on the field, and he’s done a great job with that.”

After another Green touchdown, Muhitch replaced Panno at quarterback with Jackson, who had already caught four passes for 72 yards. On his third run, Jackson burst 45 yards up the middle for the Tigers’ seventh touchdown of the night.

“We have a good situation at quarterback with Panno and Jackson,” Muhitch said. “We moved Jackson to flanker this year to keep him on the field all the time, and he seems to score almost every time he touches the ball on the option.”

After an interception by Graham Corcoran with 7:30 remaining, the Tigers mounted one more successful 40-yard drive, which Zachary Bambach completed with a 20-yard touchdown run.

When asked to remark on his four-touchdown performance, Green began with the standard praise of his offensive line but didn’t stop there.

“Our linemen are the core of the team right now, both on offense and defense. We also have a quarterback that’s a great leader, and I love this field,” Green said, referring to the new Field Turf that was installed over the summer.

Muhitch echoed Green’s praise for the surface.

“We’ve taken some teams to state before we had this field, so I can only imagine it helping our program now,” he said.