What’s left for the football team?

It was the toughest night of the season. Naperville North High School’s playoff prospects, which began with so much promise against Neuqua Valley High School, were diminished with a 41-0 loss against Wheaton Warrenville South.

Undefeated in their first two weeks of play, the Huskies seemed to have a legitimate chance in the post-season. But with six straight losses over their next six games, everyone at NNHS has been asking the same question: what happened to Huskie football? Head Coach Sean Drendel shed light on what has went wrong.

“Well, [we] stopped believing in what we were doing,” Drendel said. “The Glenbard North game, looking back now, really hurt us. We had a chance to beat a really good team, and we fell for them late in the game. It hurts. It changes your belief in what you’re doing, and it changes the mental attitude towards the game.”

The season’s fate was debatably sealed against Glenbard North at the NNHS homecoming match. The Huskies scored 19 points in the first half, holding the Panthers at zero. Then, NNHS allowed 21 unanswered points and lost the night. The team left their home turf stunned. It was tough for the Huskies to lose their homecoming game. It was just as bad, according to senior team captain Joe Gissler, that the victory was within their grasp. And for the remainder of the season, they would no longer just be fighting for a winning record. They would be fighting to prove that they could win again.

Over the coming weeks, the Huskies continued to struggle. After facing defeat from the Lake Park Lancers, the Huskies swapped out quarterback Chris Gajcak with fellow senior Evan Kujawski, in an effort to unsettle opposing offenses and find new ways to convert. Naperville Community Television anchor Justin Zipser, who has provided off-field coverage of NNHS, feels that this offensive inconsistency may have adversely affected the Huskies.

“It just seemed that they didn’t have enough continuity with the quarterback position,” Zipser said. “[The coaches] put two different guys out there, both giving a tremendous effort but with different styles. It seems like the offense struggled as a result.”

Due to preseason injuries, it seemed as though the football team was cursed from the start. NNHS’ star running back, senior Leon Hardy, tore multiple ligaments in his leg during an August practice. Many, including Drendel, felt the sting of losing such an influential player on the team.

“It hurt. Any time you lose your starting running back, it’s going to hurt you,” Drendel said. “We kind of rallied behind him early in the season, and then you lose someone who could make a big play. Losing a piece of the team hurts, [but] you gotta make things happen without him.”

In order to combat this injury, the coaches tailored an offense revolving around Gajcak. Strong with the quarterback sneak and the short pass, the Huskies tried to win their games yard-by-yard.

For a time, it appeared that the Huskies overcame their struggles in the preseason. Their summer camps proved to be one of the best in NNHS’ history with regards to muscle-building, according to Gissler. And for the first time for any student at NNHS, the Huskies started the season by beating Neuqua Valley High School. The following Friday, the Huskies traveled to Thornton High School, a team that they had not lost to in their playing history. As expected, NNHS won a decisive 35-18 victory against the Thornton Wildcats.

The real trouble for NNHS began against Phillips High School, a team that the Huskies felt confident they could beat. When they lost 40-7 at Lane Stadium, the Huskies psyche was dealt a severe blow. And according to Gissler, they have been trying to improve morale at their practices.

“Going into that Philips game, we were coming off of a 2-0 start,” Gissler said. “We got a little lackadaisical with our practice and our attitude. Moving forward, we realized that you can’t bring energy just to games. You gotta bring it home.”

But so far, the season has continued in defeat for the Huskies, and these last three football games proved exceptionally demoralizing. Since their loss against the Lake Park Lancers, NNHS has allowed 112 points and scored nine. And their recent match up against Wheaton-Warrenville South shook the team to its core, with their last home game resulting in a shut-out loss. This season will go down in history as one of the worst for the NNHS football team.

However, Zipser sees a silver lining to the team’s hardships this season. For the number of juniors playing as varsity starters this season, excellent fundamentals have been established. The memory of their losses this season could motivate them next fall.

“I think the team is pretty young right now,” Zipser said. “All the juniors coming back next year will have already gone through the ringer this year. Going into next season, they will be stronger and more confident because of what happened this season.”

But for the seniors at NNHS, there is no next season. And there are no playoffs. They only have one week left, and then it ends. This is not something that Gissler takes lightly.

“No matter what happens, we have to finish strong,” Gissler said. “There is too much invested and too much love into this program. Some of these guys on the team, myself included, have been waiting to play since we were kids. There is no way any of us are trying to take this opportunity for granted.”