Sports
For OPRF Football, Practice Makes Perfect
'Hungry' Huskies have high hopes for season in taking on Glenbard North.
"Stay hungry."
It's a slogan pressed on T-shirts promoting team unity and planted in the minds of every player and coach following a day of rigorous practice.
More than just a battle cry, it is a way of life for an Oak Park-River Forest Huskies team looking to finish what it started last season. Or at least make some headway in the tough West Suburban Conference Silver Division.
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"After the [final] ballgame last year, we felt that we started something and we'd like to stay hungry, working toward a goal," said head coach Jim Nudera after the team's practice Monday.
The goal Nudera has in mind for his team is of winning a conference, he said, then establishing itself as a legitimate playoff contender before thinking championship.
The Huskies' season was cut short in the first round of the playoffs last October by a surging Maine South team that went on to capture the state championship with a spotless 14-0 record.
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Oak Park-River Forest, on the other hand, finished 5-5 — good enough for third place in the conference, but not quite good enough for Nudera, who thinks his team still stands to improve on every side of the ball.
"Obviously, we want to be a little bit more polished when it comes to our execution on offense and defense," Nudera said. "We did a nice job last year and we'd like to take another step. We'd like to take another step in every facet of the game, from kicking to defense to offense."
The team practiced improving its tempo Monday, working out for two and a half hours as players prepared for their Friday game at Glenbard North, which finished an impressive 11-2 in 2009-10.
The defensive practice took a look at several different formations as the varsity squad did its best to get a feel for the week's opponent from Carol Stream.
The Huskies may have a tough road ahead of them, with in-conference rivals Glenbard West (13-1) and Hinsdale (7-3) coming off a strong 2009-10 season, but improvement, Nudera acknowledged, must start with the players.
"I'm always looking for effort," the coach said. "I think the most important thing is that they have a tremendous fight to get to the ball on defense, that they execute the play as hard as they can."
In other words: Stay hungry, Huskies.
