Ben Kleinhans kept his coach’s advice and his dad’s emotions in check in the moments leading up to his son, Drew Kleinhans’, varsity debut Friday.

A quick hug.

An “I love you.”

And they were off.

“He didn’t want to say too much, because he didn’t want my emotions to get too high,” said Drew Kleinhans, Oswego’s junior quarterback. “He gave me a little pat on the butt, and we were off.”

Drew Kleinhans indeed had it from there.

The son of Oswego’s offensive coordinator was masterful in his first varsity game, throwing for two touchdowns and running in a third in the first half. Oswego’s defense did its part, shutting out host Naperville Central into the fourth quarter of a 31-15 nonconference win to open the season.

Dekker Zelensek’s 85-yard touchdown run capped off Oswego’s 28-0 first half, a half in which the Panthers held Naperville Central to 40 yards while rolling up 269.

“We couldn’t have had a better first half,” said Oswego senior receiver Teddy Manikas, who caught the first of Kleinhans’ touchdown passes. “We came out fired up, ready to go.”

Kleinhans was ready to go.

After Cam Loghmani intercepted a pass on Naperville Central’s first play from scrimmage, Kleinhans dropped in a perfect 14-yard TD pass to Manikas on third-and-goal.

Two drives later, Kleinhans’ 53-yard pass to Manikas set up a 1-yard Kleinhans TD run for a 14-0 lead.

“That pick by Cam, like I told everyone, once we get going it’s hard to stop us. We got momentum off that,” Kleinhans said. “It’s great to have a three-year starter to throw the ball to in Teddy Manikas. I got so much trust in him.”

Manikas, a returning all-conference receiver, feels the same about his quarterback.

“I saw it was one-on-one with the cornerback, I knew Drew would put it in the right spot and it was a beauty,” Manikas said. “For this being his first varsity start, he did phenomenal. Drew and I are on the same page all the time.”

Kleinhans, who was 9 for 15 for 173 yards, later threw a 40-yard TD pass to Mariano Velasco.

“He has leadership, toughness, ability. You can see that from watching film, anybody can see that,” Oswego coach Brian Cooney said. “Just the overall leadership and command for a junior first year. You think deer in the headlights, but he’s a competitor. He was ready for it.”

No surprise there. Drew Kleinhans has indeed been around the game his whole life. His dad, himself a former quarterback at Waubonsie Valley, was head coach at Metea Valley for seven seasons before coming to Oswego.

One of Ben’s three boys, Drew has watched and waited. Working with his dad now, it’s special.

“It’s sick – just being out here with him, it’s like a dream come true," Drew Kleinhans said. “Having your dad coach you, all that good stuff. Being here on the same page, having confidence in each other. It’s what any quarterback would want, their dad coaching them as offensive coordinator. It’s amazing.”

Naperville Central, much like Oswego, graduated the vast majority of its starters from a team that reached the Class 8A semifinals a year ago.

The Redhawks looked it for much of the night, turning it over twice and not managing much offense. But after sophomore quarterback Ethan Tryon was knocked out with an apparent elbow injury in the fourth quarter, senior Jackson Loth gave the Redhawks energy.

Loth, 11 for 14 for 175 yards, directed two scoring drives, throwing TDs to Decker McDonald and Mark Williams.

“Every time we have challenged Jackson, every time we have put him in a competitive situation he has done stuff like that,” Naperville Central coach Mike Ulreich said. “I was really proud of him.”

Zelensek rushed for 138 yards on 14 carries and Quinten Jackson had an interception for Oswego, which hosts defending Class 6A runner-up Geneva in Week 2.

“With us losing so many guys from last year, and having people constantly doubting us, telling us we’re not going to be anything after losing so many guys,” Manikas said, “it just sparked us.”