The Naperville North High School varsity football team beat New Trier High School on Friday, Aug. 30.
The Huskies (1-0) beat the Trevians (0-1) by a score of 42-14.
The Huskies started their season off on defense. Even though the Huskie defenders made good plays, especially senior defensive end Qooly Somoza (68), who had a great tackle behind the line of scrimmage, the Trevians would score the first touchdown with 7:55 left in the first quarter. These would be the only points the Trevians would score in the first half. The Huskies would soon respond with a long touchdown to senior wide receiver Brock Pettaway (11), but they would miss the extra point, bringing the score to 7-6, New Trier, with 5:46 left. The Huskies would then turn on the gas on both sides of the field. Senior DE Jackson Williams (8) would recover a forced fumble by defensive tackle, Daniel Manning (34), while Somoza continued to put pressure on New Trier’s quarterback. Senior defensive back Edward Mumford (33) secured an interception, adding to the Huskies’ energy. The Huskie offense, led by senior QB Jacob Bell (2), would score three more touchdowns in the second quarter. The first was a keeper by Bell, and the next two were caught by senior WR Quinn Morris (85), a newly acquired transfer student. By the end of the half, the Huskies led by 28-7. Morris admitted that he came into the game with nerves.
“Playing in front of new people, meeting new people, there’s some nerves, but when you get on the field they all really kind of go away,” Morris said.
Coming into the 2nd Half, the Huskies had all of the momentum. However, a slow 3rd Quarter from both offenses evened the playing field. In fact, the Trevians were the first to score, taking in their second touchdown of the night with 10:46 left in the game. The game would quickly become out of control, however, as the Huskies piled on two more touchdowns in the remaining ten minutes of the game: the first from junior running back Will Eloe (31), and the second from senior WR Chico Thomas (82). Jacob Bell ended the game with five touchdowns on Friday. Bell explained why the Huskie offense was so lethal against New Trier.
“[We’ve had] a lot of practice with timing and rhythm. The receiver and I are on the same page… our offensive line played great… All of the pieces are falling into place, Coach Drendel called a great game, so all aspects fell into place tonight,’ Bell said.
Being the first game of the season, one of the most important things about this win was setting the tone for games to come. Somoza came into the game knowing this, and he and the rest of the defensive line came into the game with a mentality reflecting that.
“We felt strong, we felt confident, we were just ready to hit somebody,” Somoza said.
The Huskies were incredibly competent on all sides of the ball today, setting an example for how the team should look in the future. Head Coach Sean Drendel praised the offense but believes that the defensive front is what won the game for the Huskies on Friday.
“Defense made a lot of plays, they got us some turnovers and they kept us in it when it was 7-6 and we were struggling a little bit offensively and then we went. We’ve got some explosive players that made some explosive plays,” Drendel said.
The team hopes to continue this energy and momentum into future games, especially next week against crosstown rival Naperville Central. Drendel is looking forward to taking on the team’s biggest opponent.
“Obviously you don’t need anything added to go play Naperville Central, we’re excited to go play them and it was great to get things going,” Drendel said.
The team will play Naperville Central on Friday, Sep. 6th in the annual Crosstown Classic game. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
