Downers Grove North surges to quarterfinal victory against Richards, will meet Hersey in semifinals
Senior two-way standout Jacob Vroman has a lot of trust in his own abilities and plenty of trust in his Downers Grove North teammates as well.
When Richards struck first in Saturday’s Class 7A quarterfinal game in Oak Lawn for a quick 7-0 lead, the Trojans (11-1) were unfazed. With Vroman coming up big on both sides of the ball, Downers Grove North responded with 30 unanswered points on their way to a 38-29 victory that secures a second straight trip to the state semifinals.
“Our coaching is very good, and everyone is kind of together,” Vroman said when asked why the team’s defense has been so stout all year. “I mean, we have some like certain players who are really good, but overall, I think we're just a group that's like: 11 is one. We all come together good. There were little errors today, but we're gonna come and fix those. Normally, we’re pretty dialed in.”
The Bulldogs (9-3) went to their trick bag right away, with quarterback Eric Jacobs firing a 60-yard touchdown pass to Naquan Griffin after having the ball pitched back to him on what began as a running play. Just two plays into the contest the hosts were up by a touchdown.
“We were ready for those trick plays, it's just people messed up,” Vroman said. “I mean, we watched them on film many times. So when we go back, we’ll fix that. And I mean, we trust our offense too. Last week, like the second play of the game, they got a pick-six, and we just always trust our defense to get what we need done. And defense trusts the offense.”
Downers Grove North answered the Bulldogs’ early score with a 34-yard touchdown run by quarterback Joey Goodwin, but a bad snap on the PAT kick left them trailing 7-6.
The defense forced a punt and the Trojans went ahead for good on Goodwin’s 26-yard touchdown pass to Vroman, who plays tight end when not wreaking havoc on the other side of the ball. Another bobbled snap looked to mean another missed extra point, but the Bulldogs were guilty of a facemask on the PAT and the Trojans’ Kevin Jay then ran in the conversion to make the score 14-7 after one quarter.
Jay added a pair of touchdown runs and Goodwin connected with Grant Gagnon on his second scoring pass as Downers Grove North went ahead 30-7 in the third quarter before Richards added a pair of touchdowns to make the game’s final score appear closer than it really was.
“I mean that was a wild game for sure. The perseverance of Richards is unbelievable. Those guys did a great job. They prepared really well,” Trojans coach Joe Horeni said.
“Proud of our kids, obviously. Our defense usually, you know, responds, and they did. And we put up some points, which we hadn't been putting up as many points as that. So obviously, that was beneficial for us today.”
Jay too, was glad to see the team’s offense put up solid numbers through the air on the ground.
“Oh yeah, you know, all week we were talking about being more balanced. You know, we were more of a run-heavy team going into the playoffs, and I feel like today we're more balanced and made them worried about both the pass and a run,” said Jay, who along with Grant Georgas gave the Trojans a solid 1-2 rushing attack. “So it was great to get both sides of the offense rolling in.
“Like I said, the defense has been amazing. They came out, gave up one early, but they made the adjustments. We had a long drive, gave them time to make some adjustments, and then we got it flowing on both sides of the ball. So that's great that we got both sides of the ball flowing like that.”
A tough team awaits in next week’s semifinals as the third-seeded Trojans will travel to second-seeded Hersey.
“I feel like we definitely got rolling today, and hopefully we carry this momentum into next week versus a very good Hersey team,” Jay added.