Jayke Collins scores all of Naperville North’s TDs to beat Naperville Central: ‘There’s nothing to beat this’
Naperville North running back Jayke Collins was an unknown commodity as he began his first varsity season.
He’s not anymore.
Collins’ stock is on the rise as his performance has gotten better with each passing week.
“He’s a junior, and he does a great job for us,” Naperville North coach Sean Drendel said. “We’re super proud of him. We knew he was going to be a good player for us, and he’s done some great things.”
The 5-foot-9, 170-pound Collins had his greatest game yet Friday night. He rushed 25 times for 136 yards and three touchdowns, all career highs, to lift the Huskies to a 21-14 victory over rival Naperville Central in a DuPage Valley Conference opener at North Central College.
According to Naperville North athletic director Jon Pereiro, a capacity crowd of 6,000 showed up at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium. They were treated to a gritty performance by Collins, who dazzled in his first crosstown game as the Huskies (3-1, 1-0) earned their third straight win.
“It felt great, especially in this stadium,” he said. “There’s nothing to beat this, beating our rivals.”
It didn’t come easily, of course. Naperville Central (1-3, 0-1) scored on its first possession when senior quarterback Simon Hayes found senior wide receiver Kyle Clark for a 6-yard touchdown pass.
But the Redhawks didn’t score again until Hayes, who threw for 149 yards and rushed for another 81, tossed a 1-yard scoring strike to junior running back Ryan Jacobson with 1.1 seconds left in the game.
In between, Collins and sophomore running back Victor Tyson chipped away at Naperville Central’s defense.
Collins had scoring runs of 2 yards, 10 yards and 1 yard, the last of which gave the Huskies a 21-7 lead with 1:39 left in the fourth quarter. He carried seven times and accounted for all of the yards on the 49-yard drive.
“A lot of power worked really well for us,” Collins said. “The run was there all day. Some passes were open too.
“We had a great day offensively. We knew it was going to be a big rivalry, but we were ready for it.”
Collins said everyone knew what the Huskies would do on offense. He credited the offensive linemen — sophomore Frank Harvey, juniors Clark Roush and Craig Prentice, and seniors Jake Johnson, Nolan Scarbrough and Alexander Akkeron — for making sure the Redhawks couldn’t stop them.
“They were opening up gaps for me all day,” Collins said. “I was ready to hit them, and we were clicking.”
Naperville North senior quarterback Dante Colasante, who completed 16 of 23 pass attempts for 126 yards, also was impressed with the front line.
“The run definitely set up the pass,” he said. “Tonight our O-line played lights out.
“They knew the run was coming, and we were still able to run the ball pretty well the entire night, so just props to the O-line.”
Collins also received props from senior leaders like Colasante and receiver Jack Zitko, who caught eight passes for 63 yards.
“Jayke is a great running back,” Colasante said. “His work ethic, I think, is what makes him so good. He’s always striving to be better, and that’s what I love about him.”
Collins’ physical skills are also impressive.
“He’s super fast — he runs track as well — and he also knows what holes to hit, so I have full confidence that Jayke can get the job done,” Colasante said. “I can’t say enough good things about him.”
Zitko admired Collins’ ability to shine on such a big stage.
“That just shows a lot about who he is,” Zitko said. “He’s an absolute dog. Especially as a young kid, I think, he’s grown his confidence a lot, and I just think his ability to run the football and get those extra yards is unbelievable.
“We always talk about him falling forward is awesome. Just watching him run is awesome.”
Drendel likes what he’s seeing from Collins, who has rushed for 362 yards and six touchdowns on 73 carries this season.
“He’s got great balance, and he’s got great speed, and he takes those things and uses them all together,” Drendel said. “He played awesome tonight.”