Going into Week 3 of the 2017 DuPage Valley Conference, the Redhawks were looking strong with a 2-0 record from wins against Neuqua Valley and Glenbard North.  The Redhawks have been pretty healthy for most of the season with the exception of starting running back AJ Deinhart, who hurt his ankle against Neuqua Valley.

Metea Valley, on the other hand was struggling early in the season with an 0-2 start. The Redhawks won the toss and opted to kick first. Things were going well for the Redhawks at the start with Metea poorly handling the kick and down at the 10 yard line. After that, the Redhawks defense forced Metea into a 3 and out and that led to a Metea Valley punt to the 32-yard line.

Then the Redhawks offense took  the field. The Redhawks soon were in the end zone because of spectacular running by running back Danny Hughes. After the PAT by Vaughn Hallstrom, the Redhawks got ready to kick the ball off to Metea. Early in Metea’s second drive, their quarterback tried to throw a pass to their wide receiver, but the Redhawks’ Michael Amberg intercepted the ball and gave the Redhawks possession deep in Mustang territory.

The next Redhawk drive got off to a rocky start with a fumble by the running back that nearly went to Metea. Fortunately, Joe Kennedy recovered the ball and the Redhawks maintained possession. After that scare, things improved for the Redhawks in form of the passing game with quarterback Payton Thorne making good passes to Tommy Coyne, culminating in Redhawks touchdown.

Metea had more success on their next  drive than the others, but they were eventually stopped close to the 50 yard line by the Redhawk defense. After Metea turned over the ball on downs, the Redhawks started advancing into Mustang territory and were about 20 yards from the end zone at the end of the first quarter.

Thorne scored a rushing touchdown early in the second quarter to give the Redhawks a 21-0 lead, then threw a touchdown to Jayden Reed after a Metea punt away to extend the lead. .

Despite a poor offensive performance in previous drives, Metea Valley still had an impressive play up their sleeves. About halfway into the second quarter, the Mustangs quarterback took the snap and lateraled the ball to a receiver who threw the ball down the field to a wide open receiver for a touchdown.

Even though this play surprised the Redhawks, it did not change the trajectory of the game, as it was followed by an impressive drive that ended with a Thorne touchdown run. After the PAT, Hallstrom kicked off, but the ball went out of bounds so the Mustangs started from the 35 yard line. Despite the good field position, the Mustangs failed to capitalize and a Redhawks sack led to a Metea punt.

The Redhawks continued to dominate Metea with a massive 43 yard gain, which led to a 21 yard touchdown run by Danny Hughes. After the Hallstrom kick, the Redhawks kicked off to Metea who did not run it back far. The Metea drive was brief and it was soon halftime with the Redhawks having a 42-7 lead over the Mustangs.

Redhawks defensive back coach Tim Boeker was impressed with the half saying, “ we played a great half of football”, and also, “If we continue to work hard, then we can achieve a big victory.”

The third quarter of the game was not as eventful as the first and second quarter with the exception of Thorne throwing a 32-yard touchdown pass to increase the lead for the Redhawks by 42 points. After the third quarter, the Redhawks put their backups on the field for most positions including quarterback, running back and kicker.

During the fourth quarter, Metea Valley was unable to go anywhere offensively and the Redhawks got the ball back. During this drive, Anthony Antrobus rushed the ball well scored a touchdown. Metea Valley blocked the PAT attempt, but it was too late to change anything in the game as the Redhawks held a 55-7 lead over the Mustangs.

The Redhawks again got another penalty on the kickoff, so the Mustangs started on their 35 yard line. Again, Metea was unable to take advantage of good field position and punted the ball. Soon, the Redhawks kneeled the ball and ended the game with a 55-7 win.

After the game, Redhawks coach Mike Stine said, “we excelled on all three parts of the game, offense, defense, and special teams.” Stine also said, “if we continue to work on fundamentals, then we should be good for next week against Waubonsie.”

After this massive win, the Redhawks move to 3-0 heading into their next game at Waubonsie Valley.