Spending the first half of the season on Naperville Central’s bench was an excruciating experience for Eli Jarrell, although his pain wasn’t the physical kind.
The junior midfielder said he was diagnosed with mononucleosis in August. Jarrell felt fine after a couple of weeks, but he had to wait for doctors to clear him because mono can damage the spleen if activity is resumed too soon.
“It’s awful, especially coming to all the games, because it was not like I was injured, per se,” Jarrell said. “I felt like I could be out there. Nothing was hurting me. It’s just I had to wait.”
That was a tough thing for someone as active as Jarrell.
“It was frustrating, but I spent the time with the trainer, getting back in shape,” he said. “Now I think I’m 100% back.”
Jarrell certainly looked 100% on Tuesday night. He scored the golden goal to lift the Redhawks to a 4-3 overtime victory over Waubonsie Valley in a DuPage Valley Conference game at Memorial Stadium.
Jarrell has scored game-winners before, but not in OT. This one was a 25-yard blast off a back pass from senior midfielder Ryan Lafferty with 4:33 left in the first OT.
“That was awesome,” Jarrell said. “I mean, great feeling — overtime too.”
The Redhawks (12-4-3, 3-2) had lost two previous DVC games — to Naperville North and Metea Valley — in sudden-death overtime.
“Finally getting one, I think it shows us how we can play and how we need to play in the playoffs to be successful,” Jarrell said.
Jarrell knows a thing or two about playoff success. He’s the last remaining member of Naperville Central’s 2022 Class 3A state championship team.
“It was awesome that he was on that team, and I think it’s really helpful that he actually has that experience,” senior midfielder Michael DeFalco said. “He knows what it’s like, and he tells us how hard we’ve got to work.”
Jarrell did that even while waiting to return. His time on the bench helped him see the game differently.
“(It was) watching the team from almost like a coach’s perspective or like a fan’s perspective,” Jarrell said. “After seeing that, I think it was easier to mold with the team.”
It didn’t take Jarrell long to do so. He has scored six goals in eight games, although Tuesday was just the third time he has played a full-timer’s minutes.
“He was out for a long time with an illness that causes you to have low energy,” Naperville Central coach Troy Adams said. “It’s kind of starting to flow a little better now, but there’s that adjustment period.
“He hasn’t been here, and we’ve played other kids in different spots. So it was him understanding, hey, you’ve been out a long time, some other kids have done different things and you need to adjust your game to theirs as well.”
The Warriors (10-5-5, 3-2) led twice in the first half on goals by seniors Lachlan Ladd and Gabriele Pizzo. But senior forward Nathan Laird, a DePaul commit, and sophomore midfielder Gavin Brown scored 31 seconds apart midway through the second half to give the Redhawks a 3-2 lead.
Jarrell assisted on both goals, which proved to be crucial when Waubonsie Valley senior defender Amiel Nichani tied it with 8:30 left in regulation.
“It’s so big that we have Eli back,” DeFalco said. “He’s honestly the rock of our team. He makes such an impact. Without him, it was really tough to win games and battle for 50-50s because he’s so good at it.”
Jarrell had two goals and seven assists as a freshman for the state championship team. He had 15 goals and seven assists last year, when the Redhawks lost to Naperville North in the sectional final.
“We don’t have many guys that have experienced something like that, and to win a sectional or a supersectional is a special thing,” Adams said. “It was just a couple years ago, but it’s still a rarity, still something you want to do every time.”
The third-seeded Redhawks host a 3A regional next week, opening against 14th-seeded Neuqua Valley in the semifinals on Tuesday. They could face sixth-seeded Waubonsie Valley again in the regional final on Oct. 26.
Jarrell, whose brother Owen played at IUPUI, wants to lead the Redhawks on another long playoff run.
“I kind of know the norms of the team and the traditions that we have,” Jarrell said. “To carry that on is a big thing for us.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.
