Trojans determined to learn from loss

The good news for Downers Grove North: it has plenty of time to correct the things that went wrong. The bad news for the Trojans is they got the season started off on the wrong foot.

Prospect thrashed the host Trojans 48-14 on Aug. 29 at Carstens Field in the season opener.

Performing the postmortem on the game was simple.

"We have to step it up on the secondary," all-purpose Trojans standout Joe Claver said. "We were almost working as individuals instead of as a whole.

"Defensively, with our talent and everything, it's all there. We just need to put it together."

North coach John Wander offered similar thoughts:

"You can't play football without tackling. We just have to watch film and find out what we need to do."

Claver recorded five tackles at defensive back and even completed a 24-yard pass to teammate Marco Diaz. That trick play came on a faked punt attempt in the first half.

Claver was not too surprised it worked out successfully.

"Marco and I worked on it a good amount of time," he said. "We practiced it earlier, before the game."

That play proved to be Diaz's only reception of the night. Wander, however, found the offense's performance more to his liking than the Trojans' defense.

"I thought our offense played pretty well," he said. "The guys did better there than I had expected."

Dan Sheppard pleased Wander in his first game starting at quarterback. The senior (4-of-11, 50 yards passing) rushed for both Trojans' touchdowns.

Sheppard carried the ball 21 times for 81 yards.

Overall, Prospect gained 573 yards to Downers North's 283. That broke down to a 223 to 74 passing advantage for the Knights and 350 to 209 ratio on the ground.

That didn't impress Prospect coach Brent Pearlman.

"We were able to spring some big plays," he said. "Our ability to do that covered up some things we weren't doing offensively.

"We missed some reads on some passes, too. We're hoping to take what people give us."

The Knights took far more than the Trojans would have liked.

Prospect quarterback Miles Osei threw for 223 yards and four touchdowns. He ran for two more and gained an additional 170 on the ground.

The play that really killed the momentum came in the first quarter. After Downers North failed to score on its opening possession, Mike Przespolewski took an Osei handoff 85 yards for the game's first touchdown.

Sheppard's touchdown run and an extra point briefly tied it 7-7 but the Knights ended the first quarter leading 14-7 and never looked back from that point.

Now, the Trojans must cast aside all the negative vibes from their opener and emphasize progress.

"As a team, we need to come back and do it again tomorrow," Claver said. "Learn from it and push ourselves to get better and better."

The Broncos scored 20 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to win 34-31 at No. 3 Sacred Heart-Griffin (Class 6A) in Springfield on Aug. 30.

The State Journal-Register reported that Montini amassed 621 total yards with its spread offense against Sacred Heart-Griffin. Quarterback Tom DiCristina was 26-of-42 for 360 yards and two touchdowns.

DiCristina scored on a 1-yard run as time expired to give the Broncos the win. Running back Matt Sloan rushed for 127 yards on 18 attempts.

Next for Montini is a Saturday, 1 p.m. home game against Benet

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