Last Friday, Oct. 3, the Naperville North High School varsity football team lost to the Naperville Central Redhawks with a score of 27-6.

NCHS (5-1, 3-0 DuPage Valley Conference) took the lead early on Friday, and the Huskies (2-4, 0-3 DVC) battled to catch up. But the NNHS offense struggled continuously to get into a scoring position and did not finish a drive until late into the third quarter. NNHS head football coach Sean Drendel reflected on Friday’s defeat.

“In football, one or two plays that you don’t think make a difference can certainly swing the tide,” Drendel said. “Things didn’t go right early on, and that caused us problems.”

The Huskies fared well against NCHS in the first quarter of play. Both defenses stuffed drives and forced punts, stopping both offenses shy of the end zone. NCHS’ kicker Connor Assalley put the Redhawks on the board at 3:45, with a 25-yard field goal. Shortly after NNHS received the kickoff, an interception started another Redhawk drive. This drive would result in a 3-yard shovel pass touchdown at the start of the second quarter, which would be the last score for either team in the half.

Heading into the second half, Drendel said he felt confident his team could reverse their fortunes. The team’s defense had only allowed two scores, and its offense was starting to warm up. But misfortune would repeatedly strike the Huskies in the following quarter.

After a QB rush and a fumble recovery resulted in two Redhawk touchdowns, NNHS was in deep water, trailing 24-0. The Huskie offense hurried down the field after NCHS’ fourth consecutive score. NNHS finally found the end zone at 1:23 in the third, with an option pass by senior Chris Gajcak. NNHS looked to shorten NCHS’ lead further with a 2-point conversion, but found no luck at the goal line. The Huskies continually tried to mount a comeback, but were stuffed by the Redhawks’ pass coverage and defensive line each time. The last points were scored from a 33-yard NCHS field goal by Assalley, making the final score of 27-6.

The Huskies’ offense tried a new tactic against their crosstown rivals on Friday, the long pass. Usually a running team, NNHS attempted to find receiving yards with senior quarterback Evan Kujawski. But the Redhawks’ coverage often proved too strong for NNHS, and four passes were intercepted.

Though Gajcak is NNHS’ usual quarterback, he was swapped on Friday to help with a number of important receptions as the Huskies’ receiver. Gajcak said that he his comfortable with whichever position helps his team win.

The two teams seemed to have reverse momentum going into Friday’s game. Central was coming off a 5-win streak, and NNHS a 4-loss streak. Central now has an assured spot in the IHSA playoffs, while the Huskies are one loss away from not qualifying.

Gajcak spoke about his team’s determination to stay in the race for state.

“We have to win out,” Gajcak said. “And as a team, we believe we can. Our number one goal is to get ready to play our hearts out and practice like it’s our last week.”