by Roy Taylor, Sun Correspondent

Naperville Central Head Coach Joe Bunge’s philosophy this week was simple, if a little unorthodox. With his team facing a must-win contest on the heels of a three-game losing streak, he decided to work his players hard and take the gambles he had to.

Bunge’s steps paid off, as the Redhawks (2-3 DuPage Valley Conference, 4-3 overall) dominated Glenbard East (2-3 DuPage Valley, 3-4 overall) during their 35-7 victory Friday night.

“The lads were not too happy with us this week at practice; we weren’t very nice to them,” Bunge said We challenged them a little bit, they came around, and they did a great job.”

Central rushed for 290 yards on 51 carries during the game, which featured nine different Redhawk ballcarriers. Quarterback Joe Polancich attempted only eight passes on the night, completing four, and also led the team in rushing with 106 yards on 14 carries and two touchdowns.

While Bunge was pleased that his offense stepped up, he said that his defense played as he expected them to. The Redhawk defenders held Glenbard East to 200 total yards and delivered three sacks at key moments.

“The offense started to come around tonight, they executed when we needed them to, and our defense played good as they usually do,” Bunge said. “We tackled well and didn’t let them fall forward for many yards.

The game that ended up being dominated by Central began on an ominous note. The Redhawks won the coin toss and elected to defer to the second half. Glenbard East was forced to punt on their first series on a fourth-and-one from its 29-yard line.

Central muffed the reception at its own 40 and the Rams recovered the loose ball. What looked to be a good decision to defer now looked questionable as the Rams had first and ten at the Central 35-yard line.

Enter the Redhawk defense, which made key plays at crucial times all night. On third and five at the Central 30, East lost two yards on a sweep, setting up fourth-and-7. Glenbard East chose to go for it, and quarterback Brad Frost looked to be in position to scramble for the conversion. At just the right time, Mike Sheets and Jim Stetson came free and sacked Frost, getting the Redhawks out of a dangerous position early in the game.

Following the turnover on downs, Central took advantage of the good fortune given them by their defense, driving 65 yards for a touchdown. The drive consumed 7:29 of the first quarter, ending on a 2-yard quarterback draw by Polancich for the score. The touchdown would not have occurred were it not for Bunge’s gamble on fourth-and-goal from the 2.

On its following series, Glenbard East converted two first downs and moved the ball 23 yards before they were forced to punt. After a nice kick, Central was pinned inside their 20 yard line. The Redhawks advanced nine yards, but faced another fourth down and inches at their own 24. Bunge decided to go for the first down despite the poor field position.

“I saw the ball, and we needed about a foot,” Bunge said. “Why not go for it? It was risky, but we moved the ball well on the first possession, and we decided to go for it. It worked out OK, didn’t it?”

The fourth-down conversion seemed to give the Redhawks momentum to control the game for the duration. On the very next play, Polancich hit wide receiver Eric Halderman for a 39-yard gain, then three plays later the quarterback scored on a nifty 31-yard run. Later in the second quarter, tailback Matt Petti scored the first of his two touchdowns on the night, and Central led 21-0 at halftime.

The Redhawks continued their dominance of Glenbard East for the remainder of the contest. Running back Jon Elwardt, back in the lineup after missing the last three and a half games with a dislocated elbow, rushed for a touchdown and Petti added his second to make the score 35-0 Central with 10:51 remaining in the game. The Rams finally got on the board with 5:13 left on a 23-yard halfback option pass from Kevin Peppers to Tim Walker.

While the offense gets most of the credit for the victory, Central’s defense and special teams quietly contributed. Defensive lineman Jim Stetson finished the night with 2 ½ sacks, and kicker Chris Nendick booted five of his six kickoffs out of the endzone.

“We need to get better every week, and we didn’t get better this week,” East coach Dennis Lueck said. “That’s a real problem for us.”