Glenbard North grinds out victory
Glenbard North proved that it could win ugly in its season opener against Oak Park-River Forest.
Last season the Panthers' strong suit was their defense, and they proved that not many things have changed since last season. Glenbard North won a defensive battle 12-6 Friday in Carol Stream.
Oak Park-River Forest (0-1) was held to 168 yards of total offense, with 112 of those yards coming in the second half.
"We did a pretty solid job of getting pressure on their quarterback," Glenbard North coach Ryan Wilkens said. "We have quite a bit of guys playing on both sides of the ball, so I am happy with the way we played.
One of those guys playing on both sides of the ball was Evin Natick. Natick ran for 67 yards on 14 carries and caught 2 passes for 45 yards. Natick also scored both of the Panthers touchdowns on runs of 6 and 4 yards. Natick also had 11 tackles on defense.
"I have really been concentrating on defense," Natick said. "We have a trio of running backs, so I know that I am not going to be carrying the ball 30 times a game this season. I am just trying to do everything I can to help this team win."
Oak Park running back Tony Stapleton had a tough time running the ball against the tough Panthers. Stapleton finished the game with 48 yards on 21 carries.
"They have very quick backers (linebackers and cornerbacks)," Stapleton said. "They really moved around and gave me a rough time. There were not as many cutbacks as I usually see in a game, and they took away a lot of my lanes tonight. They really outplayed us tonight, on both sides of the ball.
The Panthers (1-0) led 12-0 with just more than two minutes left in the game and looked to be heading for its first shutout of the season. Glenbard North was set to punt the ball away, but the snap to punter Brandon Clark sailed over his head and went into the end zone.
Clark got the ball but his punt was blocked and the Huskies scored two plays later to make the score 12-6 with 1:51 remaining in the game.
"We really wanted the shutout," Natick said. "But we only gave up 6 points. If we only give up 6 points a game for the rest of the season, we should win a lot of games this year."