Naperville N. dedicates victory to Drendel
Friday night's football game between Naperville North and Wheaton North meant much more to the Huskies than just an opportunity to head into next week's season finale with a chance to claim the DuPage Valley Conference title.
Instead, the Huskies played to honor the memory of longtime Naperville North coach and fan Gene Drendel, who passed away Thursday.
The Huskies did Drendel proud, earning a hard-fought 27-7 road victory over Wheaton North.
"This week in general has kind of been a sad week for us. Losing a Huskie is never a good thing," running back Nick Mlady said. "He was obviously a Huskie who did a lot to the program and made it what it is today.
"We came out there and tried playing this game for him."
Knowing how much his father loved football at Naperville North, assistant coach Sean Drendel made sure to be on the sidelines for Friday's game.
"I needed to come out here for our team and for my family," Drendel said. "He loved Huskie football, and that was the one thing he always looked forward to."
Naperville North (8-0, 6-0) wasted little time honoring Drendel's memory, beginning the game with an 8-play, 65-yard scoring drive to take an early 7-0 lead. Facing third-and-10 from the Wheaton North 35-yard line, Matt Manade found Mlady on a screen pass, and the 6-foot-1, 210 pound senior did the rest of the work. Mlady received superb blocking downfield and scooted into the end zone for the touchdown.
A pair of 31-yard field goals from senior Dan Villalba staked Naperville North to a 13-7 lead through three quarters. Fullback Jack Roberts' 1-yard scoring plunge followed Pat Waite's 5-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter, extending the Naperville North lead to 20 points.
The Falcons (4-4, 2-4) positioned themselves nicely for a chance to take the lead heading into halftime but failed to capitalize with the ball on Naperville North's 5-yard line. Facing fourth-and-2 with just over 40 seconds remaining, quarterback Justin Swider fell victim to the Huskies' pass rush, turning the ball over on downs.
"We knew we were underdogs, and we took a chance and tried to get a score there," Falcons coach Joe Wardynski said. "It was a killer."
Wheaton Warrenville South's 40-0 victory over Glenbard East on Friday night assured DVC fans of a titanic clash for the conference championship next week.
"It's just been one of those games on our schedule that's been circled, and we've been looking forward to," Mlady said. "We're going to get to it this week and come out next week firing."