One wild night for Wright, Fremd in win over Naperville North
Fremd's football team transformed itself from a band of Vikings to a pack of wildcats, and the Huskies were left to lick their wounds.
No. 1-seeded Fremd rallied from a 14-0 second-quarter deficit by giving the football to Evan Wright - operating out of the wildcat formation for the first time - and scoring 22 unanswered points for a 22-14 first-round victory in Class 8A at Fremd's Hale Hildebrandt Field.
The victory keeps Fremd's season alive. The 10-0 Vikings will either host Belleville East or play at Lake Park next week in the second round.
The loss brought Naperville North coach Larry McKeon's storied career to a close after 27 seasons that included a pair of state championships.
"What can you say?" said McKeon after coaching his final game. "Our seniors are heartbroken. I'm proud of them. They're great kids. They try as hard as they can, and that's all you can ask."
For the first quarter and half of the second, the Huskies were in charge. With a strong wind at their backs, they held field position and scored first on Nick Lifka's (12 carries, 69 yards) 2-yard run with 4:12 left in the quarter.
Lifka, an all DuPage Valley Conference linebacker, caught a 7-yard touchdown pass from Matt Lacosse with 7:49 left in the half to give North a 14-0 lead.
"My first 2 touchdowns of the year were last week against North Chicago," Lifka said. "Our offensive line really blocked well, especially in the first half."
"We knew how good they were," Fremd coach Mike Donatucci said. "They easily could be 7-2. Larry's done a good job for 27 years, and they play like winners.
"He's a class guy," Donatucci said. "The program is a total reflection of him."
The game turned around when the Vikings unveiled their wildcat offense with Wright in charge.
"We needed a change of pace," Donatucci said. "We hadn't done it in games."
"We looked at it as something we could go to," Wright said. "I love having the ball in my hands."
They drove 67 yards in 13 plays, cutting the score to 14-7 when Wright (31 carries, 134 yards) scored on a 3-yard run with 1:56 left in the half.
Four plays later, Jack Konopka stripped the ball from North's Idris Hanidu (16 carries for 52 yards), and Alexander Vanduch recovered on the Huskies 32. Five plays later Kevin Schaeffer kicked a 35-yard field goal with 21.1 seconds left in the half, slicing the margin to 14-10.
Wright and Jayme Szafranski (8 carries, 50 yards) did virtually all of Fremd's running in the second half, and fullback Justin Wallace scored the go-ahead touchdown, a 1-yard run with 1:28 left in the third quarter, capping a 14-play 72-yard drive.
Wright was perfect in 3 pass attempts, and his third completion, for 24 yards to Jeff Diegel gave the Vikings an 8-point lead with 7:49 left in the game.