LaCosse, Naperville North find relief in victory
Matt LaCosse had every intention of playing against West Aurora on Friday night.
The Naperville North quarterback relieved Bryan Sleik late in the first quarter, and the Huskies powered their way to a hard-fought 21-7 victory over the Blackhawks in DuPage Valley Conference football action in Aurora.
"I thought I was going to start," said LaCosse, who has signed with Minnesota. "It wasn't my decision."
After a scoreless opening quarter, in which both teams squandered scoring opportunities, Naperville North broke through late in the second quarter.
LaCosse fumbled a snap deep in West Aurora territory on the Huskies' previous possession, but the senior redirected the team back into the red zone on its next drive.
Culminating a 7-play drive in which he called his own number, LaCosse scored out of shotgun formation from 4 yards to break the scoreless deadlock two minutes and 14 seconds before the intermission.
The Naperville North defense allowed West Aurora its only first-half first down on the Blackhawks' first play from scrimmage.
Nick Litka, the Huskies' Boston College-bound middle linebacker, spearheaded the Naperville North defense that stuffed the run and harassed West Aurora quarterback Josh Campbell into a pair of interceptions.
"He's a heck of a football player," Naperville North coach Sean Drendel said of Litka. "He is like the old-school football player."
West Aurora was three-and-out to start the second half, and Naperville North again capitalized on ideal field position to double its advantage.
LaCosse, who finished with 108 yards rushing and 82 more through the air, orchestrated a 6-play drive that Nick Sianta finished with a 1-yard plunge.
West Aurora finally solved the Huskies' defense on its ensuing possession.
Campbell found Cole Childs for three critical first-down connections, the last from 10 yards as the Blackhawks marched 75 yards in 8 plays to halve their deficit.
LaCosse and Co., however, had the answer to the Blackhawks' lone score.
Sianta sandwiched a pair of Raheem Martin double-digit runs with one of his own, and LaCosse scored his second touchdown of the night six plays after Antonio Owens' 20-yard touchdown reception was nullified by a holding penalty.
"We're still not clicking on offense like we need to," Drendel said. "We have to be able to figure out something in the red zone."
West Aurora would have four more cracks at the Naperville North defense, but interceptions by Dan Cleary and Matt Sagen thwarted two chances.
The other two ended with fourth-down stops by Litka.
Naperville North enjoyed a 71-42 edge in plays from scrimmage.
"I'll take that defense any day of the week," West Aurora coach Buck Drach said. "That was as good an effort as we have had in many years. Our defense was on the field twice as long as our offense was."