Injuries make Huskies' loss more painful

CAROL STREAM – Naperville North was trailing by three touchdowns when the Glenbard North section started chanting on Friday night in Carol Stream.

It went from "This is payback!" to "Overrated!" And at the end of a 21-0 victory, the Panthers raised their hands and urged the crowd to get even louder. The Huskies, who came into the game ranked No. 7 by the Chicago Sun-Times, staggered home after this DuPage Valley Conference loss.

Naperville North (2-1) needed three quarterbacks to get through this game. Matt LaCosse went 2-of-10 for 19 yards before hurting his ankle midway through the third quarter on a rollout while throwing his third interception of the night.

While LaCosse is expected to be fine, the news got worse for the Huskies. Blex Vixama was carried off the field after North's second defensive play. North coach Larry McKeon is not optimistic that the senior defensive lineman will be able to return this season from what's believed to be a leg injury.

Dan Easley, the team's most experienced offensive lineman, is expected to miss at least a few more weeks with a leg injury. Running back Jon Ryan is out with a broken wrist, and whenever he returns, it will be on defense, because he'll essentially be wearing a club.

"I'm not gonna cry about that. We're out some kids, but I'm sure everybody is," McKeon said afterward. "I think we still have some kids that can play. (It's) a little disheartening, but I feel bad for our kids. It seems like it's one kid after the next and it's just that kind of year. We've never had it quite like this before."

That's taking nothing away from Glenbard North (3-0), which looks like it will contend for the DVC crown.

From the beginning, it did not look good for the Huskies. LaCosse threw an interception on the game's second play from scrimmage. North went three-and-out on three of its next four possessions. It managed only three first downs and 57 total yards in the first half (103 for the game).

"We (just) prepared all week for them. We watched nonstop film on them. It was just our straight defense. We just did what we do," Glenbard North linebacker Chris Wahrman said. "We were switching it up from our cover-3 and our cover-4. (Our) rover would come up as another linebacker. We'd shift (going back and forth between) a 4-4 and a 4-3. It was just confusing them."

Evin Natick has emerged as a No. 1, feature-type back – witness the 40 carries and 256 rushing yards he racked up in Week 1 against Oak Park-River Forest.

The 5-foot-10-inch, 175-pound junior running back showed his speed burst on Friday night, accounting for both touchdowns in the first half. Natick took a pitch right, turned the corner and raced for a 35-yard touchdown less than five minutes into the game.

Natick later caught a screen pass and sprinted 74 yards for another touchdown and a 14-0 lead with 10-plus minutes left in the half. He finished with 124 yards rushing.

"We do enjoy running the football. We do grind it," Glenbard North coach Ryan Wilkens said. "(When Natick) gets to spring one, boy, it takes the momentum out of you."

North had lost only one regular-season game during the previous two years, and that came in three overtimes against a Wheaton Warrenville South team that advanced to the Class 7A title game. The Huskies, of course, went on to beat Glenbard North in the 2007 Class 8A championship game. They will need to regroup.

"I thought actually our defense played pretty well," McKeon said. "We just can't, as an offense, let our defense be on the field as often as they were. I don't care who you are – they're bound to find some cracks (when) your defense is on the field the whole time."