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Sports

Class 7A Football: Providence Gets Run Down by Wheaton Warrenville South's Vitale

Wheaton Warrenville South 23, Providence 16: Celtics can't find a way to stop Northwestern-bound running back, who rushes for 225 yards and three touchdowns.

Breaking It Down: Wheaton Warrenville South (7-3) leaned heavily on Northwestern-bound running back Dan Vitale in its 23-16 victory over (6-4) in Friday night’s Class 7A opening-round playoff game in Wheaton.

The Celtics, who never led in the contest, trailed 17-10 at halftime. The host Tigers used seven plays—all running plays by Vitale—to open the second half with a touchdown drive to take a 23-10 lead. The Celtics recovered a fumble late in the fourth quarter and pulled within 23-16, but they failed to recover an onside kick and never got a chance to score a potential game-tying touchdown.

Patch's MVP: Wheaton Warrenville South's Dan Vitale carried the ball 35 times for 225 yards and scored all three touchdowns for the Tigers.

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Wheaton Warrenville South Stat Pack: While Vitale carried the load, Corey Davis caught four passes for 41 yards.

Providence Stat Pack: Quarterback Chris Salazar was 17-of-27 passing for 170 yards with two touchdown passes and two interceptions. Chad Weaver caught eight passes for 95 yards, Jack Klyczek had 58 yards on two carries, and Brandon Price had 42 yards on seven carries.

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Quotable I: Providence coach Mark Coglianese on having chances to rally: "We had some opportunities, and we took advantage of some, but we didn't take advantage of enough of them."

Quotable II: Wheaton Warrenville South coach Ron Muhitch: "It was a good, classic first-round game and it shouldn't be this hard in terms of getting things done, but for both teams they played hard and you can't ask for anything more."

What's Next: Providence's season has come to an end. Wheaton Warrenville South will play Lincoln-Way East next weekend in the second round of Class 7A play.

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