Last Friday, Oct. 10, Naperville North lost to Wheaton Warrenville South (WWS) 41-0 at their last home game of the season.

It was the toughest night of the season for the Huskies (2-5, 0-4 DuPage Valley Conference). Within the 60 minutes of play, WWS (3-4, 2-2 DVC) scored six unanswered touchdowns on NNHS, disqualifying them for the upcoming IHSA State Playoffs. Head Coach Sean Drendel was particularly displeased with his team’s defeat.

“It was disappointing, from the standpoint that we didn’t play like I know we could play,” Drendel said. “So that makes it tough. It’s all about confidence, and currently we don’t have it with our varsity kids.”

The game started evenly enough. Both teams met with equal records, on the cusp of pre-playoff elimination. NNHS received the opening kick and had their drive stuffed around the 30-yard line. The Tigers’ offense struggled similarly in their first time on offense, and they punted. The Huskies then looked to capitalize with their second chance at offense but were dealt a blow when senior receiver Chris Gajcak was sidelined from a knee injury off of an attempted reception. Gajcak later talked about his mentality while sidelined.

“Basically, after that, I thought ‘try to get up and get back in game’,” Gajcak said.

The Huskies could not convert and were again forced to turn the Tigers’ offense loose. Soon after receiving their second punt, WWS gave the ball to senior wide receiver Keishawn Watson, who pushed out a 25-yard touchdown rush. This started the Tigers on their night of dominance.

The Tigers went on to score two more touchdowns in the half, with NNHS only managing to gain 39 yards and one first down. Even with the return of Gajcak, the Huskies trailed in all aspects of the game. Unfortunately for them, the second half would bring more Tiger domination.

No matter what the Huskies did offensively, WWS stuffed them. The Tigers’ defense halted the running game, grounded the passing game and dominated NNHS’ offensive line. Similarly, the Tigers’ offense commanded Harshbarger-Welzel field, and both Jonathan Johnson and Watson of WWS gained more individual yardage than the entire Huskie offense.

It was an especially tough night for senior Evan Kujawski, NNHS’ starting quarterback, whose offense would only manage a game total of 140 yards.  Now, they hope to leave their final mark on this season and to finish it stronger than how it has been previously played.

“We want to come out in these next two games, and we’re not going to take it easy on anybody,” Kujawksi said. “We’re not gonna come out and lay down. I’m excited for these next to games to leave my mark, because we obviously didn’t so far.”

The Huskies next game will be against the Wheaton North Falcons, on Friday, Oct. 17.