The hit of the party: Naperville N. advances
Like a cannon, Naperville North's kick coverage team shot out of halftime.
Leading the charge was Kyle Lackner, who practically launched himself at the returner and forced a game-changing turnover.
A season-making turnover that, at the time, barely registered with the all-state, Western Michigan-bound defensive lineman.
"I didn't think it was that good of a hit," he said. "I thought it was an OK hit."
Yeah, right. And the Huskies are an "OK" team.
Sparked by Lackner's wicked forced fumble at the start of the third quarter, Naperville North soon after broke a scoreless tie, tallied three straight touchdowns and powered its way to a 20-8 football victory over host Homewood-Flossmoor in Friday's Class 8A semifinals.
The second-seeded Huskies (12-1) advance to the state title game next week in Champaign to face today's winner between Glenbard North and Mt. Carmel.
It'll be the program's first title game appearance since 1994 when the Huskies fell to Homewood-Flossmoor.
"At their core they just refuse to lose," Huskies coach Larry McKeon said of his team that's hoping to win the program's second state title, the first coming in 1992. "They're winners."
The Huskies defense excelled all night, but the offense especially struggled in the first half despite a 130-43 advantage in yardage and an 8-2 edge in first downs.
Missed Naperville North opportunities and two fumbles kept the game scoreless at the half, a situation that changed thanks to Lackner.
Bryan Bailin recovered the fumbled kick return, giving the Huskies the ball at H-F's 19-yard line. Four plays later Tyrone Saunders burst into the end zone from 2 yards out to help give the team a 7-0 lead.
Naperville North quickly got the ball back. A 34-yard pass from Jordan Tassio, who had 25 rushing yards and 96 passing, to Alex Dieckmann set up Tassio's 1-yard keeper and a 14-0 lead midway through the third quarter.
The way the defense played, that was plenty.
The Huskies forced 4 turnovers, including a pair of Dan Hess interceptions to keep the 16th-seeded Vikings (8-5) at bay.
"We talked about flying around but staying under control and staying in our lanes," said Hess, who now has 5 picks on the season.
A fourth-down stop led to Naperville North's final touchdown early in the fourth quarter. Nick Mlady, who had 90 rushing yards on 14 carries, ran for 18 yards on a short drive capped by Saunders' 1-yard plunge that gave the Huskies a 20-0 lead.
A punt snap over Tassio's head put H-F at the Huskies' 5-yard line. Vikings quarterback Russell Ellington scored and then threw a 2-point pass to pull his team within 20-8 with 48 seconds left.
Naperville North limited H-F to 110 total yards, including 79 for Iowa-bound Ellington.
"We couldn't get it going until the second half, but we finally did get it going," said Huskies offensive lineman Ben Domyancic. "We said all along that whoever scored first was going to win it, and we took care of it."