Steady Naperville North stays undefeated
For all the Xs and Os that went Naperville North's way in the fourth quarter of Friday's football game at Lake Park, the outcome came down to the personnel on the field.
Specifically, a senior-heavy lineup found a way to turn the momentum back in the Huskies' favor.
The result was Naperville North's 28-23 DuPage Valley Conference victory over the Lancers in Roselle, a win that vaults the Huskies to 4-0 for the first time since 2008.
Remarkably, it also matches Naperville North's win total from the last two seasons combined.
"We're been in this situation before," said Naperville North defensive back Grant Ericksen, who snared 2 fourth-quarter interceptions. "We all looked at each other and calmed each other down, and we were able to make some plays."
The Huskies (4-0, 2-1) led Lake Park (2-2, 1-2) 21-3 at the half, but the Lancers - for a third straight week - rallied to within 21-16 heading to the fourth quarter on a pair of touchdown passes from Jackson Behles, who threw for 286 yards and 3 touchdowns, to Tyler Davis.
Lake Park appeared headed for the go-ahead score when it had first-and-goal at the 7-yard line, but on second down Ericksen leapt in the air, tipped the ball and pulled it down for a stunning sideline interception in the end zone.
The Lancers got the ball back with under six minutes to play but Ericksen grabbed another interception. Two plays later Huskies running back Eric Wright burst through the line out of the Wildcat formation and went 40 yards for the game-sealing touchdown.
"I was really nervous in the second half but it just feels great to get that win and not let them come back," Wright said. "We're just trying to make the Huskie name come back."
Behles threw his third touchdown pass to Davis to narrow the gap to 28-23, but Lake Park never got the ball back. Wright, who rushed for 153 yards, managed a pair of first downs to end the game.
"That's three weeks in a row we've fallen behind like that, and it's something we need to fix," said Lake Park Chris Roll. "We need to change something because we can't keep relying on second-half football."
Cross Robinson added 120 rushing yards for the Huskies, who rushed for 291 yards on the night. Robinson, Wright and Matt Montgomery scored on the ground for Naperville North in the first half.
Zach Deardorff's 22-yard field goal accounted for the Lancers' lone first-half points.
"It's a good feeling to get (to 4-0) in the DVC," said Huskies coach Sean Drendel. "Like I've said before. Any win you can get, you'll take."
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