Just how young was Naperville North this year?
Wrapping up his sixth year at the helm at his alma mater, Sean Drendel estimated at one time or another 24 or 25 juniors saw meaningful action.
With inexperience comes a tendency to make mistakes, but despite finishing 2-7 for a second straight season, Naperville North certainly hopes the dues paid in 2015 will pay off further come 2016.
“I’m obviously encouraged,” Drendel said prior to his team’s Week 9 trip to Wheaton Warrenville South. “You see it week in and week out that we’re starting to get kids to make plays. They’re starting to understand our system better and when you have that, that’s when confidence brews and you can win big games. We were able to find a way to finish a game because our kids made plays and were confident enough to make them.”
The Huskies’ 7-6 victory over the Tigers sent them into the offseason on a two-game winning streak after dropping 14 straight games dating back to their 0-7 finish to 2015.
Relegated to the postseason sidelines for consecutive years for the first time since 1984 and 1985, Naperville North goes into next fall with two quarterbacks, four of its top six rushers and three top receivers all back.
The decision to return to the double wing that has served the program so well in the past proved fruitful as the Huskies, at times, were able to run the ball much better than they did in 2014.
Junior quarterback Luke Cegles showed some growth over the last three weeks of the season as the Huskies went 2-1 with victories over Waubonsie Valley and Wheaton Warrenville South.
Cegles, who threw for 525 yards and three touchdowns, recorded back-to-back 100-yard passing games against Naperville Central and Waubonsie Valley.
Against the Warriors during the Huskies’ 25-24 overtime victory, Cegles threw all three of his touchdown passes – including two to Mitch Lewis and one to Grant Ericksen, who both return next year.
“He’s getting better week-to-week and he’s only played in six games so far,” Drendel said of Cegles. “So still got some work to do, but he’s learning how to be a varsity quarterback.”
Out for the first six weeks with a broken ankle, Lewis sure made his presence known during the last three weeks.
Lewis caught eight passes for 85 yards and two TDs, including a season-high five receptions for 51 yards against Naperville Central, to give Cegles a primary target to throw to.
The impact on Lewis’ presence didn’t go unnoticed by Drendel.
“Obviously, being healthy is a big deal,” Drendel said. “We’ve had a fair amount of kids out. Not having someone like Mitch Lewis hurt us for six or seven games. You know that’s part of the game, but you got to be healthy and you got to find ways to keep your health.”
Linebacker Jake Jegglie’s 58 tackles were second on the team to middle linebacker Jack Hamman’s 65 and he’ll be asked to take a bigger load next year with Hamman and Tom Rizzi both departing to graduation.
Ericksen’s 31 tackles and three interceptions out of the secondary will be vital as T.J. Agyake’s 18 tackles and three picks will be gone because of graduation.
Another junior, Cam Hardy, figures to help Ericksen in the defensive backfield after finishing third on the team in tackles with 34.
The four wins combined over the course of the last two years are the program’s fewest in a two-year span since 1981 and 1982, when the program combined for five.
With the transformation of the DuPage Valley Conference into an absolute gauntlet with eight conference games, Drendel knows where things are going.
As he takes a peek into what year No. 7 as the Huskies’ head coach will bring next fall, he hopes the last two weeks of the 2015 season will offer a blueprint for his young charges.
“This conference is evolving that you know you’re going to play good teams each week,” Drendel said. “You got to find ways to beat those teams throughout the year. So that’s what you take as a coach. As a player, you take that if you keep battling and keep fighting and keep sticking to your guns that eventually things are going to start working in your favor.
“For our young guys, I think they’re realizing that they need to get stronger and bigger in the weight room and I’m guessing that we’re the only team that played roughly about 24, 25 juniors this season in meaningful minutes. So that’s a pretty good thing for us building forward.”
