Huskies eager to open up

Naperville North went with a conservative game plan in the rain last week against Marian Catholic.

That'll change tonight.

The second-seeded Huskies (9-1) know they'll need to be at peak performance levels in their second-round Class 8A playoff football game against No. 7 Bolingbrook (8-2) in Naperville.

All that stands between Bolingbrook and an unbeaten season are losses to Downers Grove South and Homewood-Flossmoor by a combined 6 points. The loss to H-F came in overtime.

"They're as good as any team we'll see all season," said Huskies coach Larry McKeon, whose team piled up 200 rushing yards to beat Marian Catholic 21-0.

Naperville North quarterback Jordan Tassio again controlled last week's game, rushing for 56 yards and throwing for 120 yards and a touchdown. Running backs Tom Costantino, Nick Mlady and Tyrone Saunders took care of the rest with a punishing ground game.

But while the deteriorating field conditions forced the Huskies to work mainly out of the run-oriented double wing, they'll open things up tonight. Expect to see Tassio, who's accounted for nearly 1,700 passing and rushing yards this season, to throw more out of the spread offense to targets like receiver Alex Dieckmann.

"We didn't open up much at all last week," McKeon said. "We need to open up a little bit more on offense."

Bolingbrook, which beat Lincoln-Way Central 7-6 in Week 3, pounded the Knights 31-3 in last week's rematch. Wisconsin-bound running back Erik Smith led the way while rushing for 250 yards.

The Raiders also have big-play potential with quarterback Shadonta Travis. Impact players extend to the defense as well -- lineman Perry Burge returned a fumble for a touchdown last week.

The Huskies defense will lean on its stingy defensive line with Kyle Lackner, the DuPage Valley Conference's defensive lineman of the year, and David Salutric, who notched a game-high 11 tackles last week.

It won't be easy, but a victory tonight will advance the Huskies into the quarterfinals for the first time since 2000.

"We're going to have to play our best to beat them," McKeon said.