The final score didn’t really matter much to Naperville North.
Sure, perennial state power East St. Louis came away with a 35-8 win in the regular-season finale in Naperville on Friday.
But all that matters at the moment is the health of Huskies senior quarterback Dante Colasante, who took a hit to the head as he scrambled for a first down late in the first quarter. The team leader was taken off the field on a stretcher but did raise an arm to the fans on the way out.
“That is probably the toughest football team I have faced in my 31 years,” Naperville North coach Sean Drendel said. “They have great players all over the field. But our guys fought and battled. We’re feeling pretty good. If we come out of this OK health-wise, we’ll be fine. But we’ve got some things to pray about first.”
The Flyers (8-1) easily claimed the win after taking a 27-0 halftime lead but were outscored 8-7 in the second half by the Huskies (7-2), whose defense forced a couple of punts, one of which was blocked and another that resulted in a safety after a high snap.
Naperville North junior linebacker Jake Brooks had a sack and multiple tackles for loss, and junior defensive lineman Ezekiel Adefila recorded sacks of East St. Louis quarterback Reece Shanklin on back-to-back plays.
“In the first half, we put ourselves in a couple tough situations, and they got some plays from some great players,” Brooks said. “We came out in the second half, and we were (ticked) off. The defense played well, and we made them punt a couple times, which is something they haven’t done very often.”
After East St. Louis punter Austin Wilkinson kicked a high snap out of the end zone for a safety to make the score 27-2, the Huskies scored on a 10-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Declan Reagan to senior wide receiver Hudson Glass.
The Flyers added a late score on a nifty 53-yard run by Ronnie Gomiller, but Naperville North showed plenty of moxie against a program that has finished first or second in Class 6A in the past six postseasons.
It didn’t take the Flyers long to flex their muscles in the first half, taking the opening drive 80 yards, capped by Shanklin’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Jahmori Ware in the left corner of the end zone less than five minutes into the game.
After a three-and-out by the Huskies, the lead grew to 14-0 after a 2-yard touchdown run by Chris Jackson, who added a 7-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
Shanklin, who has committed to Southeast Missouri State, completed his first 12 pass attempts, and after his first incompletion, he connected with Laron Baker Jr. on a 24-yard touchdown in the final minute of the half.
Baker Jr. finished with 10 catches for 108 yards.
“We’re moving up from 6A, so we had to come out and prove that we’re ready for the 7A playoffs,” Baker Jr. said. “Me and my quarterback, we just took what we had, whether it was short passes or long passes.”
Stan Goff is a freelance reporter.
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