Naperville North wins for McKeon, playoff berth

With several former standout players on hand to honor retiring coach Larry McKeon, the current crop of Naperville North football players went out and put on a show of their own to make sure to extend their coach's career into the playoffs.

McKeon, who has coached at the school since 1983, told his players Thursday that he would be stepping down after this season came to a close. The 4-4 team, in a need of a win to secure a 13th consecutive playoff berth, promptly struck visiting West Chicago with 3 quick touchdowns en route to a 41-0 win Friday night in Naperville.

Senior safety Dave Hess got things going early for Naperville North (5-4, 3-4) by recovering a fumbled Wildcats pitch and returning it 68 yards for a touchdown. The score came on the second play from scrimmage and followed a Huskies fumble on the opening kickoff. Hess then ended West Chicago's second drive with a leaping interception, one of four costly turnovers by the Wildcats who trailed 34-0 at the half.

"We were real excited and we came out fired up," Hess said. "We wanted to take coach out on a high note. You look at his record and he's got a good record, but he's an ever better person."

While the Huskies defense - which also came away with an interception from Jon Ryan and fumble recoveries from Mike Fattore and Daniel Pieroni - was tossing a shutout at West Chicago, the Naperville North offense didn't let the rainy conditions slow down an attack that rebounded well from last week's 3-point showing against Wheaton North.

Idris Hanidu went over 100 yards on just 5 carries and had a 36-yard TD run and a 20-yard TD pass from Matt LaCosse, who also scored on a 27-yard run as the hosts put 5 touchdowns on the board in the first half.

"We knew coming into this game that it could possibly be coach McKeon's last game on this field and we came out and played our hardest. We did it all for him," Hanidu said.

Fullback-linebacker Nick Lifka did his part, running for 80 yards on 8 carries, including TD runs of 11 and 2 yards. Lifka also dropped West Chicago's Nick Carnot for an 8-yard loss late in the first half, one of three sacks the Huskies recorded on consecutive plays to help preserve the shutout.

"We did a great job on defense and offensively that was probably our best game of the year," said McKeon, whose team will find out Saturday who it will face in the first round of the Class 8A playoffs. "It's just been a great time. I couldn't ask for a better job and better people to work with. The kids haven't changed much over the years when it comes to football."