The Naperville North High School varsity football team lost against Loyola Academy on Friday, Sep. 1st.
The Huskies (1-1) lost to the Ramblers (2-0) by a score of 27-6.
Entering the game, the Huskies knew Loyola Academy would be a tough opponent. The #3 ranked Ramblers presented a difficult challenge for the Huskies from the start. Throughout the game, the Huskies couldn’t stop Loyola’s strong rushing attack. The offense also couldn’t get much going, resulting in a scoreless first half for the Huskies. However, the Huskies’ defensive line put pressure on Loyola quarterback Ryan Fitzgerald up until his departure late in the second quarter. Sophomore defensive lineman Gabriel Hill explains the defensive line’s strategy going into the game.
“We just came in and we knocked them. They’re big and slow and that was the biggest thing to knock and we came out fast and strong,” Hill said.
The Huskies tried to battle back in the second half. They only allowed 10 points in the second half. However, the Rambler defense got stronger coming out of the break and clamped down on the Huskies. Senior running back Cole Arl comments on how he helped the Huskies gain some momentum throughout the game with his strong runs
“I just wanted to do what I could for our team, Just give energy to the team,” Arl said.
Loyola Academy coming into town brought all sorts of challenges for the Huskies. The Ramblers are the defending 8A state champions and have multiple players returning at all positions. This provided various challenges for the young Huskies with only a handful of veterans. Head Coach Sean Drendel went into how this impacted Friday’s game.
“There’s a reason that their front four is so highly regarded. A lot of them are returners from last year,” Drendel said.
Next Friday, the Huskies face another tough opponent: the Bolingbrook Raiders. While they aren’t anticipated as challenging opponents compared to Loyola, Drendel wants to make sure the team goes into next week with the same focus and intensity as they did going into Friday’s game.
“They got a great quarterback, and they got a great offense, and they play great defense. We got to go back to work and try to find ways to win games,” said Coach Drendel.
The team will play their next game on Friday, Sep 8th against Bolingbrook High School. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:00 P.M at Bolingbrook High School.
