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Naperville North sees positives despite loss

A tough first half put Naperville North in a hole Friday night in its season opener against visiting Chicago Simeon. But despite losing 30-20, the Huskies saw some positives that they can take into Week 2.

"Teams make the most progress from Week 1 to Week 2. We will face a couple of good teams over the next couple of weeks. I was impressed with how we battled back tonight. I was impressed with our defense," said Naperville North coach Sean Drendel.

The Huskies travel to defending Class 7A champion Batavia next Friday.

The Naperville North defense kept the Wolverines, the defending Chicago Prep Bowl champions, out of the end zone in the second half after Simeon scored 30 points during the first two quarters.

And just as importantly, after racking up just 41 yards of offense, the Huskies got going in the second half in that aspect of their game. The team headed to the air after the ground game stalled. Quarterback Clifford Vickers for the evening went 13 of 19 for 216 yards and two touchdown passes.

"We had to pass. We thought we could run the football but couldn't," Drendel said. "Clifford meshed well with some guys. I saw our kids battle.

Naperville North got the ball back late in the third quarter and Vickers hit Matthew Heinz on consecutive plays with passes of 17 and then 44 yards. Heinz was knocked out just at the Wolverines 1-yard line where Elijah Jordan took it in on the next play.

Simeon fumbled on the fourth play of its subsequent drive and the Huskies' Dylan Wojtyla recovered it. Naperville North took over on its own 23-yard line. On the 13th play of the drive, Vickers connected to Heinz for a 3-yard pass. Vickers made good on the conversion pass to Bo Richter.

The Wolverines coughed up the ball again on their next drive and Vickers aired it out and Richter made good on a 61-yard pass play with just 1:12 left in the game for Naperville North's final points of the night.

"We knew what we had to do. We just had to execute," Heinz said of the second half. "There are tons of positives to build on."

In the first half Simeon scored on its first four possessions and also on a punt return.

The highlights for the Huskies in the first half were defensive in nature. Grant Pass intercepted a Simeon throw on the second play of the game. Griffin Sturtz sacked Simeon quarterback Brown Alante for a 5-yard loss. Sean Doyle sacked Alante for a 4-yard loss in the second half.

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