Friday night, the Naperville North Huskies (1-0) captured a home victory over the Neuqua Valley Wildcats (0-1).  Despite heavy rains and senior running back Leon Hardy’s pre-season injury, the Huskies played well against the Wildcats.

Both teams played heavy defense on Friday, and both struggled to score as a result. Senior safety David Pinkerton has positive thoughts about his team’s performance, but he also acknowledged their faults on the field.

“It feels great to finally beat Neuqua for the first time in a couple of years,” Pinkerton said. “It’s great to play as a team and get the win. But we need to cut out all the penalties. We had a lot of unnecessary penalties that really set us back.”

In the first half, the Huskies came out on top, leading the Wildcats 7-0 with a touchdown at 4:40 in the first quarter. That was the only touchdown to be scored all half. Quickly after the touchdown, a huge rainstorm fell over the stadium and poured on the crowd.

Fortunately, the rain did not delay the game or mess with the Huskies’ momentum. In fact, senior quarterback Chris Gajcak believes that the rain gave his team more energy.

“I think the weather just amped us up more,” Gajcak said. “All the rain coming down and being out there, it was just the coolest view, and everyone played harder.”

At the end of the third quarter, the Huskies were again able to find the end zone, due largely to a QB Sneak that put them well within scoring range. At the start of the fourth quarter, the Wildcats finished a successful passing drive with their first touchdown of the game.

In the final 38 seconds of the game, Neuqua scored the final touchdown, tightening the gap to 14-13. The Wildcats lined up to attempt a two-point conversion, with hopes for an upset victory.

Both Neuqua and NNHS fans were deathly quiet as the Wildcats looked for the extra two, and the Dawg Pound went ballistic as junior Joey Zitella blocked the pass for the win. Coach Drendel said he was proud of how his team performed under pressure.

“We were really proud of our kids,” Coach Drendel said. “They played really hard, they played emotional, and [they played] with a full team effort. We played about 50-60 different kids tonight, and everyone was in the game. It was a great night for Huskie football and Naperville North.”

The Huskies’ next game will be at Thornton High School, on Friday, September 5.