Between senior wide receiver Quinn Morris (85) securing three unbelievable touchdowns and their defense making three interceptions the Naperville North varsity football team won against Lincoln-Way West.
The Huskies (4-2) beat the Warriors (3-3) by a score of 38-32.
The Huskies began the game with a bang. Around only one minute into the game, senior defensive back Zach Mally (20) secured the first interception. The interception aided Morris in scoring the first touchdown with 9:33 left in the first quarter, making the score 7-0. The Huskies then fell into a rut, with Warriors junior Jahan Abubakar (2) repeatedly finding holes in the defense and making huge runs. Through this, the Warriors secured a touchdown and field goal, leading to a score of 10-7 to end the first quarter. Using Abubakar, the Warriors managed to get another touchdown at the beginning of the second quarter, making the score 17-7. However, the Huskies came back fighting; whether it was juking, spinning or running through players, the Huskies battled to get first downs. Then, the defense made multiple tackles, which eventually led to the second interception of the game, done by senior defensive back Edward Mumford (33). The Warriors attempted to block the Huskies’ field goal, but couldn’t manage to, leading to a successful field goal for the Huskies, making the score 17-10. Later in the game, the Huskies were at the 31 yard line on third down when senior quarterback Jacob Bell (2) made a far pass to Morris, who sprinted to the endzone. Morris skillfully turned to look for the pass, dove and caught the ball with one hand, securing his second touchdown for the Huskies. This led to a tied game of 17-17 with 2:05 left in the second quarter. Abubakar and the Warrior offense snuck in a last-second field goal before the clock ran out, making the score 20-17 to end the half. Bell details how well the team played complementary football and how they look to improve.
“We’re trying to get on the same page with our defense, some games they show up and we don’t and vice versa. We haven’t even scratched the surface of what we can be as a full team,” Bell said.
The third quarter started out with multiple flags, making the Huskies fourth down at the 2 yard line. The Huskies went for a touchdown with a pass from Bell to sprinting senior wide receiver Brock Pettaway (11); Pettaway caught it with 6:55 left in the third quarter, making the score 20-24. Unfortunately, the Huskies’ new rhythm was lost when the Warriors received the kick and ran it all the way to the endzone to secure another touchdown. However, the Huskies blocked the extra point, making the score tight at 26-24. After the defense forced multiple incompletions and made successful tackles, the Huskies regained possession at the 39 yard line. Pettaway secured the first down, helping lead Morris into his third touchdown of the night. When completing the touchdown, Morris dove and caught the ball midair to secure the points for the Huskies with 2:25 left in the third quarter. The Huskies got the extra point, making the score 26-31. The defense continued to complement the offense with an impressive sack from senior Aiden Pabarja (21) to end the third quarter. The Huskies started the fourth quarter with multiple forced incompletes and tackles until junior Griffin Jurjovec (38) performed a pick to get the Huskie offense at the 11 yard line. Unfortunately, the offense fumbled the play, leading to a turnover. The Warriors ran in the ball for a touchdown, making the score 38-32. However, the Huskies continued to fight to get first downs, eventually ending the game victorious. Jurjovec describes how the team was able to play as a cohesive group and through that, win the game.
“Being a team and being at practice and knowing everyone has your back, everyone makes plays, everyone respects each other and everyone has each other’s backs so when the defense makes a pick and the offense comes out it’s really big morale for the team and gets the team going,” Jurjovec said.
Head Coach Drendel attributes the success to multiple different football players in the game.
“Our offensive line helped to get those first downs that we needed, Brock Pettaway had a huge game as well, and even though he gets a lot of accolades we don’t say enough about Jacob Bell, he’s a really good football player,” Drendel said.
Next week, the Huskies face Neuqua Valley High School at home. Morris details what the offense needs to do to secure a victory against Neuqua.
“We need to do better. We had a lot of mistakes today but overall if we clean those up we’ll kill Neuqua,” Morris said.
The Huskies will play Neuqua Valley High School at home on Oct.11. Kickoff will be at 7 p.m.
