Naperville North grinds out win
The opening drive of Naperville North's 27-14 win at Marist was a 12-play, 65-yard display of downhill running that took nearly seven minutes off the clock.
It established the brand of football Naperville North would display all evening.
The Huskies (7-3) dominated the time of possession battle and capitalized on the fatigue of the RedHawks defense with long and physically demanding drives. The result was a three-touchdown first-half advantage that the balanced offense of Marist (6-4) ran out of time trying to erase.
Naperville North's Alex Kinne capped off the lengthy first drive with an 8-yard touchdown blast. The Huskies pounded the ball behind the legs of Antonio Owens, Nick Sianta and quarterback Matt LaCosse, and mental mistakes haunted the RedHawks.
Marist coughed up the football on its second play from scrimmage, but Naperville North turned the ball over on downs. On the next Marist possession, Naperville North linebacker Anthony Panagos intercepted quarterback Luke Oosterbaan. This time the Huskies took full advantage of the short field with a touchdown run from Owens.
Naperville North's third touchdown came on a 1-yard blast by Boston College-bound Nick Lifka. It was the icing on the cake of another punishing drive culminating with Lifka's score out of the jumbo package.
With the RedHawks desperate for points before halftime, they pieced together a drive that ended on the Naperville North 2-yard line with time expiring.
Marist's balanced offense drove down to the Naperville North 10-yard line late in the third quarter, but a fumble recovery by Lifka brought the ball right back to the Huskies.
Despite Oosterbaan finishing his night with 23 completions to six receivers, the RedHawks didnt have any points in the first three quarters.
Needing three scores in the fourth quarter, Oosterbaan connected on a touchdown pass to Mike Skalitzky with 11 minutes left in the game. The momentum was short-lived as the ensuing onside kick attempt was recovered by Naperville North.
With the Huskies in perfect position to drain the clock, they didn't miss a beat. Naperville North's fourth-quarter scoring drive took six crucial minutes off the clock. The possession was highlighted by a daring fourth-down conversion picked up by LaCosse.
The designed quarterback keeper came on fourth-and-2 and was called by Naperville North first-year coach Sean Drendel.
“We felt we could get two yards,” Drendel said. “Sometimes you have to make a gutsy decision, and that was mine tonight.”
With the RedHawks offense watching time tick away from the sidelines, Naperville North took a three-score lead after the drive was eventually capped off with a short touchdown run by Sianta.
Marist scored one final touchdown in the closing minutes of the fourth, but after another failed onside kick, attempt LaCosse took a knee to end the game.
Naperville North will face York at home in next week's second round of the Class 8A playoffs.
“I can't wait for next week. I'm happy we were 6-3, because now we have that second game at home in front of our home fans,” Lifka said.