Senior running back Jaylen Lockhart could sense it, as could the man who’s charged with handing off to him, quarterback Luke Cegles.
Despite a 0-7 start to the season, the strides Naperville North had been making throughout the season could be seen and it was a matter a time until it would be able to break through.
“I don’t think I’ve thrown the ball well at all this season and I think we did better than normal,” Cegles said after connecting with five receivers during the Huskies’ 41-10 loss to Naperville Central. “That’s how we could do it every week.”
A week after throwing for a season-high 159 yards in that loss to the Redhawks, Cegles led the Huskies to that breakthrough with an 25-24 overtime victory over Waubonsie Valley.
Cegles completed nine of 19 passes for 129 yards against the Warriors while also throwing his first three touchdowns of the year as Naperville North snapped its 14-game losing streak dating back to 2014.
Asked what he thought his junior quarterback learned against the Redhawks, Naperville North coach Sean Drendel pointed to Cegles’ ability to be a quick study.
“In an adverse situation, I think he handled doing some different things and he showed that he can learn things quickly and be able to help us move the football,” Drendel said. “So I think he did some good things throwing the football, as well as with his feet giving himself some extra time.”
Two of the three TD passes Cegles threw went to Mitch Lewis, including the 14-yard pass in overtime that immediately preceded Cegles’ two-point conversion pass to Grant Ericksen.
Lewis broke his ankle prior to the start of the year and all seven of his receptions have come in the last two weeks as he’s provided a little spark to the Naperville North passing game.
In the last two weeks, Lewis has seven catches for 80 yards and the two touchdowns, which came on his only two receptions against the Warriors.
Cegles went the whole way at quarterback for Naperville North against Waubonsie Valley as all three quarterbacks – Cegles, Dylan Fadden and Vic Slopecki – all saw time in the three games prior.
But it seems the 187-pound Cegles has taken control of the most important position on the field for a young Huskies’ team that hopes to conclude the season with a second straight victory Friday at Wheaton Warrenville South.
“I think they’ve done a tremendous job,” Lockhart said of the team’s three quarterbacks. “They’ve stepped up in so many different ways in so many different games. Each quarterback has seen the field, so if a quarterback sees the field – you know that there’s something there and that the coaches and teammates believe they can get it done.
“Fad and his reads are just unbelievable. That guy just knows his plays and he just knows when to pull the ball, when to give it. Cegles, he’s just a big body. He’s a big body and he has a great arm and great field vision. I’ll give that to him. He’s very good.
“Vic, of course, he has great pocket awareness and he can scramble with his feet and make a zero-yard play go for 100. So they just all have their own special, unique talents and abilities that they bring to our wing offense.”
