40.6 F
Naperville
Tuesday, October 15, 2024

Week 2 Football Capsule: Naperville North (0-1) @ Metea Valley (0-1, 0-1)

-

NN_MeteaNaperville North (0-1) @ Metea Valley (0-1, 0-1 DuPage Valley), 7:30PM.

Last week: Naperville North lost to Sandburg, 28-21; Metea Valley lost to Neuqua Valley, 38-14

Storyline: With its focus on snapping an eight-game losing streak dating back to last year, Naperville North begins its eight-game DuPage Valley Conference slate with its first-ever meeting with Metea Valley.

Despite losing by seven points to the Eagles, the Huskies’ offense did some good things on the way to piling up 234 yards on the ground.

Senior Jalen Lockhart ran for 136 yards and a TD on 14 carries while Vic Slopecki and Dylan Fadden split time at quarterback.

Fadden completed four of his nine passes for 47 yards, highlighted by a 23-yard TD pass to E.J. Vaughn.

The Mustangs, meanwhile, got rushing TDs from both Maurice Burkley and Alonzo Taylor-Jones to account for both scores in a 38-14 loss to Neuqua Valley.

But a bad exchange between quarterback Conner Lovely and Burkley and a Lovely interception on two straight series in the third quarter turned a 17-7 game into a 38-7 game before Taylor-Jones’ touchdown.

Metea Valley’s offense racked up 252 yards of total offense as Lovely threw for 161 yards and completed passes to six different receivers.

With the nine-team DVC providing no weeks off, Friday amounts to a must-win for both teams as neither wants to get into a 0-2 hole.

Naperville North coach Sean Drendel on Metea Valley: “Extremely talented team. They had some things go – to start the second half, some things went wrong. Some things to start the first half went wrong and they never were quite able to … they recovered from the first-half issues to stay in the game – 14-7, they’re right there. Then in the second half, turning the ball over on consecutive plays is never good for any offense. And doing it in your own zone isn’t good. So I respect what they’re doing. They’ve got some talented kids that can really play the game. So they’re a dangerous team.”

“Any chance you get someone in the DVC you’re looking forward to. It’s not so much Metea; it’s a team, a neighborhood team that you’re going to get to play for the first time. It’s exciting for our kids. We’re excited to get back on the field after last Friday.

“Their defense runs around. They get after it pretty good. Their D-line’s pretty solid. They’re really active. They’ve got guys in the back – Amiri Finner is a heck of a player. So they got a lot of good pieces. There’s no doubt about it.

“(Lovely’s) going to be tough. It’s his first start, so – obviously – that was tough on him. I’d expect him to be even better this week.”

Metea Valley coach Ben Kleinhans on Naperville North: “I just think their overall size and just how physical they play on both sides of the ball. They’re big and physical on defense and kind of play that old school 4-3 – just big, physical defensive linemen and linebackers and a Cover 2 defense. They’re really going to make you earn everything you get.

“On offense, they’re back to running the double-wing, which you don’t see very much anymore. So from a preparation standpoint, for our defense – this is a huge week this week. Just being assignment sound and not letting them get any of those big plays that they can get in that offense. If you fall asleep on a play and don’t do your assignment, they’ll break a big one on you.

“(The offense) is a lot different. They were more of a spread, power pistol team last year. So it’s a completely different offense. They’re back to the old Naperville North offense that they ran how ever many years ago when McKeon was there and stuff. So it’s a challenge just because you don’t see it that much anymore. So it’s different for our kids. You got to put in the game plan and be assignment sound and you could have that one play that you get out of your gap on defense when it’s just the crease they need when they run their counter or an option or whatever it might be.

“So it really forces the defense to be focused every single snap. They’ll use the whole play clock. They’re going to run, run, run. Three, four yards and all of a sudden, they execute a misdirection and it goes for a big play. So we really got to be on our toes and focused each rep.”

- Advertisement -
Blake Baumgartner
Blake Baumgartner
Raised in Naperville, Blake Baumgartner is a 2001 Naperville Central alumnus and a 2005 graduate of Michigan State's School of Journalism. Since March 2010, he has covered football, boys' basketball and baseball for both The Naperville Sun and Positively Naperville. Follow him on Twitter @BFBaumgartner.
spot_img

LATEST NEWS