After enduring consecutive 1-8 seasons, the Oak Park and River Forest High School varsity football team is ready to turn things around.
“It’s a really good group of kids who’ve been really grinding,” said OPRF head coach John Hoerster, entering his 15th season. “It’s always fun to see how the chemistry of a new group of kids comes together, see how the leadership emerges, see how kids step up.”
OPRF junior running back Liam Smith, one of eight returning starters, feels the commitment the team made to itself after last season is paying dividends.
“This offseason was all about getting the guys together in the weight room,” said Smith, who made last year’s West Suburban Silver All-Conference Team. “I think we did a better job this year, our attendance numbers were way up.”
OPRF’s other returning starters are junior defensive lineman Ben Lambe; senior defensive lineman Caleb Collins; senior receiver/defensive back Chris Crape; senior receiver/defensive back Logan Gathman; senior defensive back Isaiah Gibson; senior offensive lineman/linebacker John Matz; and senior two-way lineman Pierre Nelson. Some of the Huskies’ top newcomers are junior running back Norlan Davis; junior defensive back Richie Truelove; and junior receiver/defensive back Niko Vielehr.
For the last two years, the IHSA has allowed high school football programs to conduct scrimmages against other schools the week before the season-opening games. OPRF took part in its first scrimmage at Taft, Aug. 22, and Hoerster thought it was a valuable opportunity for his team to grow.
“We’ve never done this before,” he said. “We’ve scrimmaged teams before in the summer, but nothing like this. It was nice to see the guys compete and how they respond, go through the [game] routine and get the cobwebs out before they play their Week 1 game.”
There was no official score kept, but among the highlights for the Huskies was a 45-yard touchdown run by junior Andre Steward Jr.
OPRF used the scrimmage to provide an equal number of reps for three players in competition for the starting quarterback position: juniors Liam Brown and AJ Porter and senior Darren Law.
“We’re going to evaluate and see who’s going to put us in the best position for Week One,” Hoerster said. “We’ll continue to evaluate as the season goes. It’s not like, “Hey, this is our starter for the rest of the year.” We’re going to be competing all year, and hopefully they’ll rise to the challenge. They’re all great kids who work really hard and I enjoy working with them.”
Smith also thought the scrimmage at Taft served as good preseason preparation.
“Tonight was a good thing for us to build on,” he said. “We have a lot to work on, but I think overall we did pretty good.”
As usual, OPRF plays a challenging schedule, a byproduct of playing in the WSC Silver, one of the Chicago area’s toughest conferences. Four of the Huskies’ first five games are on the road, including the East Avenue Showdown with Fenwick at Triton College, Sept. 5, at 6 p.m.
As far as the WSC Silver goes, Hoerster sees Downers Grove North as the favorite.
“They’re experienced, and talented quarterback (Owen Lansu, University of Minnesota commit), who is surrounded by weapons, makes their offense really dangerous,” he said, “and their defense is always just made up of tough, high-motor dudes. That being said, the rest of the conference, up and down, will have a lot to say about that.”
Hoerster takes a holistic view of the season’s main objective. He wants his team to celebrate its accomplishments one day at a time while building on victories and learning from losses.
“Enjoy the ride and be grateful for the opportunity to play the greatest game on Earth,” Hoerster said.
Smith added that while he would like to repeat his appearance on the All-Conference Team, he’s more focused on the team.
“We want to make the playoffs. And we want to beat Fenwick, that’s always a big game for us,” Smith said. “I’m ready to go.”
OPRF kicks off the season at Rich Township, Aug. 29, at 7 p.m.
OPRF Schedule (Home games in CAPS)
8/29 at Rich Township, 7
9/5 at Fenwick (Triton College), 6
9/12 GLENBARD WEST, 7:30
9/19 at Proviso West, 7:30
9/26 at York, 7:30
10/3 DOWNERS GROVE NORTH, 7:30
10/10 LYONS TOWNSHIP, 7:30 (Homecoming)
10/17 ADDISON TRAIL, 7:30
10/24 at Hinsdale Central, 7:30