Most high school football teams would be thrilled with a 3-0 start to the season. But while Fenwick is happy to have that mark following a 38-14 victory over DePaul Prep in its home opener at Triton College, Sept. 4, the Friars weren’t satisfied with how they played.
“There’s a lot of growing up to do still,” said Fenwick coach Matt Battaglia. “Effort’s not an issue with this squad, but we’ve got a lot of learning to still do. We’ve got to reset our mindset to 0-0 and keep finding ways to get better because the schedule doesn’t get easier.”
A disconcerting issue is penalties. Against DePaul, Fenwick committed 13 for 105 yards.
“Penalties are something we can’t afford, especially that many,” said Fenwick senior co-captain Jake Thies. “It’s definitely something we’ve got to clean up in practice this week.”
Penalties aside, there were plenty of bright moments for the Friars, particularly in the run game. Thies tallied 177 yards and three touchdowns on just 11 rushes, while Rocco Nero added 93 yards on 14 carries and quarterback Myles Hill 52 yards and a touchdown on eight carries. In all, Fenwick amassed 357 yards on the ground.
“We’ve got a lot of young guys up front who are improving,” Battaglia said of the offensive line. “There’s a lot of potential with this group; it’s scary how good they can be.”
Hill completed 11 of 22 passes for 172 yards. Jimmy Watts had five catches for 73 yards and freshman Noah Marshall also had five catches, for 90 yards. Defensively, Corey Griffin had an interception, and Cormac Monahan had 9.5 tackles.
As Fenwick opens Chicago Catholic League Orange Division play at St. Ignatius on Friday at 7 p.m., Thies knows how important it is for the Friars to elevate their game.
“We’re definitely not satisfied,” he said. “3-0’s great, but we want to win more games and keep this momentum going.”
Glenbard West 39, OPRF 21
For the second straight week, OPRF led a highly regarded opponent at halftime and late into the third quarter. But like the previous week against Fenwick, the Huskies couldn’t hold on and lost 39-21 at Glenbard West in the West Suburban Conference Silver Division opener, Sept. 5.
“We were right there against a good team,” said OPRF coach John Hoerster. “Glenbard West is a well-coached team and has some tough dudes over there. We hung right with them and I’m really proud of our kids. They fought really hard.”
After Glenbard West (2-1, 1-0 in WSC Silver) went ahead 7-0 late in the first quarter, OPRF (1-2, 0-1) put together an impressive drive that ate up just over 8 minutes, capped by a 2-yard touchdown run by Liam Smith (22 carries, 83 yards) with 6:23 left in the second quarter.
Harris got his second touchdown on the Hilltoppers’ ensuing drive, but the Huskies again responded on a 31-yard reception by Cameron Minish-Murray (four catches, 65 yards) from Liam Brown (12-of-22, 107 yards), which set up Smith for his second score, again from 2 yards out. Max Smith booted the PAT to give OPRF a 14-13 halftime lead.
After Glenbard West’s Brady Johnson scored on a 2-yard run early in the third quarter, OPRF marched downfield and scored on Smith’s third score, from 6 yards out. But the Hilltoppers took the lead for good as time expired in the quarter on a 9-yard pass from A.J. Rayford to Johnson.
Then Glenbard West took command on OPRF’s next drive as a punt by Alphonse Bamujje was blocked and recovered by Griffin Glascott with 10:32 remaining.
“The blocked punt was huge,” Hoerster said. “A punt’s the biggest play in football; it swings the game more than any other play. That was a huge momentum shift and at that point against a good team when you get behind two scores, it’s really tough.”
The Hilltoppers sealed the game when with 7:42 left, former OPRF track star Keyonte Johnson scored on a 53-yard jet sweep to the left.
However, Hoerster believes the Huskies are getting better each week, and he wants his players to focus on the positives they’ve shown so far.
“It’s really easy to get caught up in the emotions of losing a game,” he said, “but we can’t get down by the final score. (Instead) can we look ourselves in the mirror and say we fought really hard, and did we get a little bit better? After playing a team like Glenbard West, I thought we did get better.”
OPRF returns home to face Proviso West, Sept. 11, at 5 p.m.