Huskies out to prove they can be resilient

Facing adversity this season hasn't been an issue for Naperville North.

Until now.

After last week's 42-41 triple-overtime loss to Wheaton Warrenville South that decided the outright DuPage Valley Conference champion, everyone's interested to see how the Huskies react.

They'll find out tonight when Marian Catholic pays a visit to Naperville for a first-round Class 8A playoff football matchup.

"We didn't win the conference and we're not unbeaten, but things happen," said Naperville North coach Larry McKeon. "You have to be resilient."

Even after suffering their first loss, the second-seeded Huskies are confident they can make a run at their first state title since 1992.

The talent starts with quarterback Jordan Tassio, a three-year varsity starter. A dual threat behind center, Tassio's thrown for 970 yards and 12 touchdowns and rushed for 520 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Behind a line led by Ben Domyancic, the double wing ground game has piled up 2,468 yards with Nick Mlady, Tom Costantino and others. Add in 260-pound fullback Tyrone Saunders, and the Huskies have little trouble in short-yardage situations.

Defensively the challenge looks familiar -- a similar version of the double wing. Fifteenth-seeded Marian Catholic (5-4), which notched its playoff-clinching fifth win in Week 8 against Benet, is a physical team that hammers with fullback Malcolm Allen.

"We've got to keep them off the field," McKeon said. "They don't always score but they eat up the clock."

The Huskies play especially physical up front with linemen David Salutric and Kyle Lackner. A deep unit also includes linebackers Andre Crawford and Bryan Bailin along with defensive backs Ben Kelsey and Dan Hess.

Fueled by last week's loss, expect them to be even more physical tonight.

"On the whole we played a pretty good game," McKeon said. "We just have to take that and move forward."