Huskies Pull Off Rare Win Versus Downers North

When a big victory for the football team felt like it might be slipping away in the fourth quarter, Brennan Van Spankeren grabbed it.

The senior linebacker intercepted a pass to ensure the night had a happy ending for the Huskies, who pulled off a 21-7 triumph over Downers Grove North in a West Suburban Conference Silver Division opener Friday in Oak Park.

OPRF (2-1, 1-0) had only one win against Downers Grove North (1-2, 0-1) in the previous 18 years, Van Spankeren said.

“They’re the big bullies and we’ve always been the (bullied),” he said. “We finally hit them in the mouth.”

Downers Grove North closed within 13-7 on quarterback Riley McGinnis’ five-yard touchdown run in the final minute of the third quarter. On their next possession, the Trojans picked up a couple of first downs while advancing to their own 40.

But Van Spankeren picked off a pass and rambled to Downers Grove North’s one-yard line.

“It was a blitz coming on the right side so I had to blitz,” he said. “I saw I wasn’t getting blocked and I saw the running back kind of tail out so I followed him. The ball just landed right in my hands and I chucked as far as I could, but I’m not that fast.”

“Brennan is just a super, super bright kid,” Huskies coach John Hoerster said. “He had that screen sniffed out. It would have been nice if he went one yard further and made everyone breathe a little bit easier, but that was just an intelligent football player making a good read.”

On the play following Van Spankeren’s interception, running back Jakari Cammon crashed into the end zone for a touchdown. Quarterback Dain Mrozek followed with a two-point conversion run to give OPRF its 21-7 lead with 7:26 left in the game – and that held as the final.

Not a bad way to start the conference season for a team that didn’t win a Silver game last year.

“We’re ecstatic,” Van Spankeren said.

The game was scoreless until OPRF struck late in the first half when Cammon turned a screen pass from Mrozek into 52-yard touchdown. Matt McCormack’s extra point made it 7-0 with 1:53 left in the half.

Hoerster thought the time was right for a screen.

“They’re extremely aggressive, so they were coming after it,” Hoerster said of the Trojans. “We thought we’d be able to sneak a screen in, and really the play worked because our linemen and our receivers did a tremendous job blocking down field.”

On the first possession of the second half, Downers Grove North botched a punt attempt in its own territory when the snap was mishandled. That gave the Huskies the ball on the Trojans’ 32 and they soon caught another break. On a fourth-and-one play from the 12, Mrozek ran for a first down, but fumbled. Receiver Khali Hartzog recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchdown, putting the home team up 13-0.

Downers Grove North closed to within 13-7 in the final minute of the third quarter thanks to a 12-play, 81-yard drive that was aided by a pair of OPRF personal fouls.

The Trojans connected on four consecutive passes on their next possession before Van Spankeren halted their momentum with his interception.

Cammon finished with 165 rushing yards on 34 carries.

The Huskies have already won as many games as they did last season. The theme under first-year coach Hoerster has been tabula rasa, a Latin term that means blank slate. 

“It’s not about a new coach,” Hoerster said. “It’s about these kids believing in themselves. We’re not thinking about last year. We have a clean slate. Last year means nothing. It’s all about the now. They’re really buying into that.”