Despite losing 22 seniors from last season to graduation, this year’s Oak Park and River Forest High School flag football team has remained competitive, as an 18-7 upset victory over state-ranked Maine South on Sept. 15 attests.
Thursday night on Senior Night at Oak Park Stadium versus Downers Grove North in a West Suburban Conference Silver Division contest, the Huskies paid tribute to their 14 seniors by notching a 25-6 victory.
“We’re really rolling,” said OPRF coach James Geovanes. “Our coaching staff knows we have room for improvement, but as we head toward the playoffs, we are firing on all cylinders.”
OPRF (9-4, 4-0 WSC Silver) drew first blood as Anna Dore connected with Alessandra Gerut for a 3-yard touchdown at the 4:22 mark of the opening quarter. With 1:50 left in the half, the Huskies’ other quarterback, Ionna Griffin, scored on a 28-yard keeper for a 12-0 halftime lead.
In the third quarter, Griffin, a transfer from Downers Grove South, broke loose for a 55-yard run down to the DGN 1. She threw a touchdown pass on the next play to Evelyn Hansen to give OPRF an 18-0 lead with 5:23 left in the third quarter.
The Huskies tacked on their final score with the quarterbacks teaming up as Dore found Griffin for a 2-yard touchdown. Reese Hardy followed with a one-point conversion run.
“Anna’s only a sophomore, her growth has been through the roof,” Geovanes said. “We are so grateful for Ionna to be a part of our program, she’s the total package.”
Geovanes made it a point to salute his 14 seniors for providing leadership which has kept OPRF competitive this season: Griffin, Amira Anderson, Lucy Avrut, Selah Backeberg, Amor Brown, Haliyat Fadipe, Izabella Giraldo-So, Athena Hassler, Isabella Lee, Ja’lani Mendez, Josephine Novak, Mimi Spencer, Jenna Waisvisz, and Isabel Sho-Wen Yu.
“Last year’s group was a special group. This group is nothing less than spectacular,” Geovanes said. “They’ve carried the baton from a standpoint of character and leadership, discipline and accountability. They’ve set the path for the juniors, who have big shoes to fill.”
With two games remaining before the start of the IHSA state playoffs – home versus Lyons Township on Sept. 24 and home versus Naperville Central on Sept. 26, OPRF, which is the second seed in its own sectional, is looking to keep building momentum and be playing its best. While the Huskies are unranked currently, that’s fine with Geovanes as he realizes that the playoffs matter more.
“I believe we should be ranked,” he said, “but we don’t care about a number in the regular season, we care about a number at the end of the season. We’ve got to clean some things up; our routes are still not as precise as we want them. Our defense has got to be more of a ball hawk, there are a lot of quarterbacks we can pick off. Other than that, just continue to do the small things right, and we’ll be fine.”