Want to know why Neuqua Valley’s running game has been productive during its 2-1 start through three weeks?
Senior Nick Osikowicz has a good answer to that question.
“When they start making big plays,” Osikowicz said of the Wildcats’ junior receiver combo of Isaiah Robertson and Owen Piche, “it really helps us to open up the game because then they got to honor Isaiah out on the wide side of the field and all that.”
With Jon Rhattigan out for the year, Osikowicz has been asked to carry heavy lifting at both linebacker and running back for Neuqua Valley and has responded accordingly.
Osikowicz has 37 carries and 207 yards and six touchdowns through three games and has recorded a TD run in all three games – including three at Metea Valley and two against Waubonsie Valley.
Piche’s versatility was on full display during the Wildcats’ first drive to start the second half against Waubonsie Valley.
Operating out of the Wildcat formation, Piche had 48 rushing yards during a scoring drive that went 75 yards and ended with Osikowicz’s first touchdown of the game in Neuqua Valley’s 28-7 win.
All told, Piche had 52 rushing yards against the Warriors while Robertson had a TD reception on a fourth down and an interception return for a touchdown.
“I felt like we needed a little spark at that time,” Neuqua Valley coach Bill Ellinghaus said of Piche running the Wildcat. “We had stalled out a couple times and we had practiced it all week and we said if we needed a spark, we were going to go to it. I said I wanted to go to it twice and that’s what we did.”
Huskies finding right fit: Despite a 0-3 start to the season, Naperville North coach Sean Drendel knows his team is “not that far away.”
But he also acknowledges what needs to change.
Three quarterbacks – Vic Slopecki, Dylan Fadden and Luke Cegles – have all seen time in the first three weeks.
Against Wheaton North while making his varsity debut, Cegles completed eight of his 23 passes for 82 yards while running nine times for 21 yards.
“Obviously – in the first half – he struggled a little bit,” Drendel said of Cegles. “But that’s to be expected with his first time playing in a varsity game where everyone else has had two under their belts. So I think, in the second half, he righted the ship and he did a lot of great things.”
The 189 yards Naperville North rushed for against the Falcons were the lowest it has accumulated on the ground in three weeks – as it has averaged 268 rushing yards a game.
Aside from Cam Hardy’s 94-yard touchdown run, the Huskies struggled to be much offensive traction elsewhere against the Falcons.
But the work they put in on offense against Sandburg and Metea Valley in a pair of close losses has the Huskies hopeful as they prepare to host Lake Park on Friday.
“There’s always positives,” Drendel said. “We’re a very young team. We understand that. We understand that there’s going to be mistakes made. We’ve got to obviously shore up our penalties (after committing 30 through three games) and we got to settle in on a lineup that we think fits. We’ve had a lot of moving parts in the first three weeks. So anytime you start three quarterbacks in three weeks, it’s not good for your team.”
