Road trip doesn't end in win for Naperville North
PERRY, Ohio - Prior to the season, Naperville North football coach Sean Drendel called his team "a young group."
The young roster encountered a number of firsts in its trip to Ohio. There was the 13-hour drive. Another was a triple-option offense.
Naperville North held on as long as it could, but Perry's offense was just too much for the Huskies in a 35-13 loss on Friday night.
Matthew Maschmeier was the only member of the roster that traveled to downstate Edwardsville three years ago. So the experience of packing for a daylong trip was new to the young Huskies.
Maschmeier's experience helped him on the field. While the rest of the team was trying to find its footing, the veteran receiver caught 8 passes for 139 yards and both of Naperville North's touchdowns.
Defensively, the Huskies (0-3) hadn't played a team that runs the triple option. The Panthers (3-0) ran the ball 52 times for 461 yards. They only attempted one pass.
Junior running back Josh Lemon ran the ball 18 times for 248 yards and 2 touchdowns, including a 77-yard score in the first quarter. Sophomore fullback Dion Cameron carried it 18 times for 131 yards and a score.
The Huskies only trailed 21-13 at halftime, but Perry's drives became longer as the game went on. The Panthers possessed the ball for the final 8:23 of the game.
"It's hard for us to simulate in practice, it's hard for us to get great reps in practice with what they do," Drendel said. "When you get behind the chains, they just grind away at you."
Naperville North's defense mad its share of plays in the first half. The Huskies forced four fumbles and recovered two. For the game the Huskies forced six fumbles and recovered three.
However, Perry got its share of turnovers as well. The Panthers intercepted three passes and converted them into 21 points.
"We had a few miscommunications with me, our wide receivers and coach. And mistakes like that can't really happen as you can see," Naperville North quarterback Anthony Gabrione said.
The senior quarterback and the offense still made plays despite the turnovers. Gabrione threw for 203 yards on 17-of-35 passing.
"It's a tough trip. It's a grind of a trip," Drendel said. "We got up at 5 this morning and were suited up for 13 hours. It's tough for our kids to keep focus. If we started better than we would have been in a little bit better spot."
The trip wasn't completely negative. The Huskies got a chance to see some sites along the way.
"We just didn't know what to do. We haven't had this kind of experience before," Gabrione said. "It was awesome going to see all these fun things like the (Pro Football) Hall of Fame and Toledo's field and stuff like that. But we just had to be ready to go from the get-go and it wasn't like that."