Last week the end zone was foreign territory for Naperville Central, so Friday night the Redhawks needed to find their way to paydirt, especially after host Neuqua Valley struck quickly with a long score.

So, when Kyle Clark made a leaping grab of an 11-yard pass from Redhawks quarterback Jackson Loth, it was as if a heavy burden was lifted off the team’s collective shoulders.

The touchdown not only tied the score, but it led the way to two more touchdown passes from Loth as Naperville Central earned a 24-17 victory to get in the win column after three straight losses to open the season.

Last week the Redhawks lost a 5-3 battle against Sandburg in which neither team reached the end zone.

Friday night in Naperville, the Wildcats (1-3) used an 82-yard pass from Drake Mennecke to Ben Stefanaski for an early lead before Clark and Toth connected to turn things around.

“We’ve been scheming more deep shots this week. We feel we have the players to do it. We feel like we can get behind their secondary like we did a few times there. When the moment was right and the situation was right, perfect spot on the field,” said Clark, whose 11-yard catch at the back of the end zone knotted the game at 7-7 with 2:20 left in the opening quarter.

“It was a great ball by my quarterback and the O-line … you can’t have a great ball if you can’t get the ball out. We knew we needed a strong start because we haven’t had great first halves in recent weeks.”

Loth, who finished the night 10 for 22 for 141 yards and touchdowns to three different receivers, was not surprised to see the offense bounce back from last week. He hopes the strong play carries over as the team looks to rebound from its tough start.

“We practice that play a lot during the week,” Loth said of the pass that resulted in Clark’s touchdown. “I felt like we were ready for it and the guys around me stepped up to the occasion. We were able to come back and win a football game.”

Once the Redhawks had broken through the ice, they took a 17-7 lead into the halftime break after a 39-yard field goal by Gavin Ellison was followed up by the second of Toth’s three touchdowns. This time the junior hit Mark Williams in stride for a 75-yard touchdown with 3:11 left in the first half.

The Wildcats did close to 17-14 in the third quarter on a 6-yard run by Mennecke, but an interception by Andrew Applegate set the stage for a 9-yard scoring pass from Toth to Vincent Bern and the lead was back to double digits.

“We had some opportunities, and the kids played hard,” Neuqua Valley coach Bill Ellinghaus said. “It seems it’s always a one-score game against Naperville Central and it usually comes down to four or five big plays. They made those plays, and we just didn’t do enough down the stretch.”

The Wildcats cut the lead to 24-17 on a 33-yard field by Michael Creedon late but were unsuccessful on an onside kick attempt and the Redhawks prevailed.

Andy Barkley rushed for 106 yards for the Wildcats, while Landon Nelson paced the Naperville Central ground game with 86 yards.