South Elgin hoping to slow down Waubonsie Valley

South Elgin's Rob Cuda makes a throw while taking a hit from Neuqua Valley's Michael Casas earlier this season. The Storm visits undefeated Waubonsie Valley on Friday. | Andrew A. Nelles~For Sun-Times Media

Updated: October 29, 2012 6:14AM

South Elgin is the next team in line to take a shot at slowing down Waubonsie Valley’s pursuit of perfection.

The task at hand will certainly be a tough one for the Storm when it visits the Warriors on Friday night in an Upstate Eight Valley clash. Waubonsie Valley (5-0, 2-0) enters the contest ranked No. 14 in the Sun-Times Super 25 and No. 8 in the Class 8A Associated Press state poll.

“There’s no weakness,” South Elgin coach Dale Schabert said of Waubonsie Valley. “They are solid on defense, offense and special teams. They’ve got a good team and there’s a reason why they’re state ranked.”

The Warriors continued their best start since 1992 by going on the road and blanking Bartlett 19-0 last week. After posting big scoring outputs through the first four games of the season, it was the defense that stole the show against the Hawks as a 35-yard interception return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter by Jeff Markham helped seal the victory.

Senior linebacker Austin Lacke leads Waubonsie Valley’s defense with 36 solo tackles. On the other side of the ball, senior running back Austin Guido leads the way with 1,000 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns.

Senior quarterback Dylan Warden and senior tight end Troy Fumagalli — a Wisconsin recruit — are two other key playmakers for the Warriors, who have been on a mission to make amends for last year’s first-round playoff exit.

“This group of seniors has probably been the best class that has come through Waubonsie Valley in the eight years I’ve been there,” Waubonsie Valley coach Paul Murphy said. “We could see as freshmen they had some special abilities and were very talented. They’ve matured greatly over the last three years.

“We were disappointed last year finishing 8-2 and getting knocked out in the first round of the playoffs as a No. 1 seed, but I think that’s kind of just motivated us and made us more determined to take care of business every game.”

South Elgin (3-2, 2-1) is coming off a 28-21 victory against Metea Valley last week. Tyler Christensen’s 43-yard touchdown reception early in the fourth quarter on a pass from Rob Cuda provided the go-ahead points, and the Storm’s defense came up with three big stops down the stretch to secure the team’s second straight win.

“I thought the kids played well on both sides last week,” Schabert said. “They played hard and made some big plays when we needed them.”

Cuda has completed 83 of 154 passes for 1,085 yards and 13 touchdowns. The junior’s top target has been senior Joe Crivolio, who has 33 catches for 431 yards and six touchdowns.

Senior running back Jeff Broger is another key contributor on offense for South Elgin, which is 0-5 all-time against Waubonsie Valley.

“(South Elgin) has a pretty talented quarterback who throws the ball in tight spots and has a good arm,” Murphy said. “They’ve got a couple nice receivers and a running back that is a track guy and can turn on the jets if he gets in the open field. So we’ve got our hands full containing their offense.”

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