Host Stevenson was hoping to get in the win column while Wheaton North wanted to remain undefeated Friday night in the second week of the 2025 football season.

The contest wound up going down to the wire as the Patriots clung to a 10-7 lead with under a minute to play. The Falcons almost forced overtime, but a 24-yard field goal attempt by Ryan Chrusciel hit the left upright with 39.1 seconds remaining as Stevenson (1-1) held on for a 10-7 nonconference victory.

The Falcons got on the scoreboard first on a trick play. Quarterback Jake Johnson (8-for-14, 59 yards) threw a lateral pass to tight end Adam Schilling, who fired a 39-yard touchdown pass to Shane Diericx before Chrusciel’s extra point made the score 7-0 with 3:52 left in the first quarter.

The Patriots had a chance to score midway through the second quarter. But Daniel Lentz fumbled on the Wheaton North 31-yard-line as Andrew Segura recovered the fumble to kill the drive.

The Falcons had an opportunity to get more points late in the second quarter. But on first-and-10 from the Stevenson 16, John Concialdi intercepted a pass by Johnson in the end zone as the score remained 7-0 at halftime. Johnson was injured late in the first half and he might have sustained a broken collarbone according to coach Joe Wardynski.

“Wheaton North is a really good football team, and a lot of credit to them and their staff,” said Stevenson coach Brent Becker. “I was proud of our kids. We made plays when we needed to make plays and it’s a lot better to come out on the winning end than what we did a week ago.”

A 47-yard field goal by Caden An with 6:16 left in the third quarter cut the lead to 7-3. Then the Falcons dropped a punt early in the fourth quarter to give the Pats the ball on the Wheaton North 8-yard-line.

Two plays later, Aidan Elliott (25 yards on 7 carries) scored on a 3-yard run to give Stevenson a 10-7 lead with 11:05 to play.

“Our defense battled out there, they really saved us all game,” said Stevenson quarterback Aidan Crawley, who was 3-for-12 for 23 yards passing. “Wheaton North came out here to our place, they had a solid defense and they played us well. We made a lot of mistakes on the offensive side of the ball that definitely need to be cleaned up before we head into conference play for sure.”

Wheaton North’s Max Serbick had 61 yards on 20 rushes. Reserve quarterback Burke Neibch was 5-for-7 for 54 yards passing, including a 35-yard pass to Tyler Kading during the Falcons’ late-game drive.

Stevenson’s Dylan Fawcett had 18 yards on two carries. Stevenson’s Frank Concialdi had an interception early in the third quarter.

“There were things that we could have executed and done better, but they (Stevenson) are a good team and they’re going to win a bunch of games,” Wardynski said. “I’m proud of the way our kids stuck with it. We had some more injuries tonight and losing some of your top guys in the first two weeks is not easy. I thought our defense played well. In the second half especially we put them on some short fields and they still went out and got stops.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/20250905/prep-football/stevenson-survives-wheaton-norths-late-rally-to-even-record-at-1-1/