Anyone could tell this was not just any football game for Naperville North. In addition to the normal “Friday night lights”, the Huskies were playing one of their most important games in years against despised rival, Neuqua Valley High School. To top it off, it was the Homecoming game. The Huskies looked to continue their undefeated season against one of the top teams in the state. Alas, the effort was not enough as the 13th ranked Huskies fell short at home losing 35-20 to the 5th ranked Wildcats, in the Chicago Tribune Preps game of the week.

The Wildcats benefitted from the Huskies’ miscues in the first half. The Huskies were unable to execute on their first drive of the game, as on fourth down a high snap went over punter Trevor Wojtyla’s head. Neuqua took advantage immediately as wide receiver and safety Isaiah Robertson scooped up the fumble for a Wildcat touchdown.

Robertson, a Notre Dame commit, played a big part in all three phases for Neuqua. The next Wildcat score came on a big-play drive including a 21-yard catch by Navy commit Owen Piche and Robertson’s leaping 28-yard circus catch. The end result of the drive was a Tyler Cristofaro 13 yard touchdown run. The Huskies answered on an 80 yard drive capped off by Cross Robinson’s three yard touchdown run, but failed to convert the two-point try.

Yet Neuqua wasn’t done as the Huskies inability in stop big plays hurt them again as senior quarterback Jack Bastable found wide receiver Donnie Navarro for a 63-yard touchdown to put the Wildcats up 21-6 at the half.

In the second half, the Huskies tightened things up on both sides of the ball with a defensive stop leading to Cross Robinson’s second touchdown of the night, this time from two yards out. The two-point conversion made it a one score game at 21-14. But Neuqua was too much as the Huskies could not bottle up the Wildcat offense.

Cameron Raupach took a screen pass 23 yards inside the red zone and quarterback Jake Eskoff finished the drive off with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Sterling Gerald. Needing a quick score, quarterback Luke Cegles and the Huskies could not convert on fourth down, turning the ball over inside their own 25 with 6:41 to go. Neuqua added an insurance touchdown on an 11-yard run by Raupach. With the game out of reach, the Huskies were able to add a feel good touchdown, but botched the extra point, to make the final score 35-20.

At the end of it all, the Huskies suffered their first loss of the season due to inconsistency on offense, defense, and special teams. For a team that had averaged 33 points a game coming into this game, the Huskies lacked a strong aerial attack to complement their running game. The Wildcats tight coverage on defense led to a low completion percentage of 46.3% and only 148 passing yards for Cegles. On the defensive side of the ball, big plays cost the Huskies big time as North allowed an average of 7.6 yards per play. In contrast, Neuqua only allowed an average of 4.0 yards per play.

Still, Naperville North (5-1, 4-1) is 2nd in the DVC, and is in good position to finish at that spot. The Huskies, along with Neuqua Valley (6-0, 5-0), are the only teams with less than two conference losses in the DVC.  

The Huskies look to get back on track against their crosstown rival Naperville Central (3-3, 3-2) on Friday. Per usual, the game will be held at North Central College and will start at 7:30.

Neuqua Valley at Naperville North statistics (courtesy of NN Athletics)