Lake Park (1-2, 1-1 DuPage Valley) @ Naperville North (0-3, 0-2 DuPage Valley), 7:30PM
Last week: Lake Park lost to South Elgin, 10-7; Naperville North lost to Wheaton North, 20-7
Storyline: The calendar may read Sept. 18 on Friday but don’t tell that to both Lake Park and Naperville North.
With both teams under .500 entering Week 4, every game is a must-win with playoff positioning a week-to-week thing inside the rugged DuPage Valley Conference.
Luke Cegles became the third quarterback in as many weeks to play for the Huskies during their 20-7 loss to Wheaton North last week following Vic Slopecki and Dylan Fadden.
Collectively, the Huskies ran for 189 yards on the ground – with Cam Hardy’s 94-yard TD run tying the game with the Falcons at 7-7 early in the second quarter.
Naperville North is averaging 268 yards on the ground through three games but its 189 yards against Wheaton North was a season-low.
But Wheaton North kept Naperville North off the scoreboard the rest of the evening as they used touchdown runs from Steele Graham and quarterback Luke Anthony to claim its first win on the year.
Meanwhile, Lake Park comes off a 10-7 loss to South Elgin but owns a 17-14 victory over Wheaton Warrenville South from Week 2 that shows what it’s capable of.
The Lancers’ lone score against the Storm came on a Melvin Smiley touchdown run.
Smiley ran for 85 yards and quarterback Jaron Fields threw for 149 yards but was picked off twice. On the year, Fields has one touchdown pass and one touchdown run.
Lake Park has only scored 30 points through three games but its defense has picked up following a 27-6 loss at Waubonsie Valley in Week 1.
Nate Farruzzi returned a fumble for a TD in the Lancers’ 17-13 victory over the Tigers in Week 2 and the Lancers kept the Storm scoreless through the first three quarters last week.
Naperville North coach Sean Drendel on Lake Park: “They lost to South Elgin this week, so they’re 1-2. They need to win. They’re a really physical football team and they run pretty well. It’ll be a good test for us. We got some kids back that have got their feet wet now, so we feel like we’re getting better and we’re making strides.”
“The kids who played the positions in Week 2 are still at the same positions in Week 3. … Their running backs are pretty good. Their wide receivers are outstanding. Their quarterback is the same kid we faced last year, so I got to think they’re pretty healthy. At this time of year, everybody’s a little banged up. But they look like they’re a very solid football team.”
