Fenwick football blanks OPRF

Hosting East Avenue rival Fenwick for the first time since 1989, the Oak Park and River Forest High School football team wanted to make it memorable for its fans. Instead, the visiting Friars made themselves at home in their first appearance at Oak Park Stadium since 2005 — the last season they played their home games there — with a 30-0 shutout of the Huskies, Aug. 31.

“It was great,” said Fenwick junior quarterback Jamen Williams, who started the game and had about an equal number of snaps with senior Frankie Hosty. “It went very well. We competed and got the job done.”

Each team had promising drives snuffed out by a turnover in the first quarter. On OPRF’s second drive from the Fenwick 29, Johnny Nelson completed a short pass to Matt Winkelhake. But Winkelhake was stripped of the ball and Fenwick’s Nate Marshall recovered. The Friars quickly marched deep into Huskies’ territory, but a Hosty pass was picked off by OPRF DB Isaiah Gibson.

With 4:26 left in the first half, Fenwick broke the deadlock on a 52-yard touchdown pass from Hosty (9-of-13, 114 yards) to senior WR Treston Smith. Then in the final minute, the Friars shocked the Huskies with a quick scoring drive that went 92 yards on just six plays. Williams kickstarted things with a 44-yard completion to Marshall. Sophomore RB Jalen Morgan capped off the march with a five-yard touchdown run that made the score 14-0 Fenwick at halftime.

In the third quarter, OPRF seemed poised to get back into the game when junior DB Logan Gathman picked off Hosty at the Fenwick 26. But the Huskies didn’t gain a yard and turned the ball over on downs. 

“We had a few times where our defense made some really big plays, then we didn’t take advantage offensively,” said OPRF coach John Hoerster.

Fenwick made OPRF pay dearly when on the first play after regaining possession, Williams hit senior Andrew Bjorson in stride at midfield. Bjorson broke a tackle and did the rest, sprinting in for a 74-yard dagger.

“Receivers like Andrew make it way easier on us,” said Williams, who threw for 162 yards and eight completions on 13 passes.

Fenwick coach Matt Battaglia felt both Hosty and Williams played well. Hosty added that the competition between the two is making each other better.

“When Jamen goes out there, I’m learning,” Hosty said. “When I go out there, he’s learning.”

After Bjorson’s score, the Huskies fumbled the kickoff and the ball was recovered by the Friars at the OPRF 15. Four plays later, Morgan notched his second five-yard TD run to give Fenwick a commanding 28-0 lead at the 4:21 mark of the third quarter.

The Friars’ defense put on the final touches with 4:13 left in the game, causing OPRF sophomore RB Liam Smith (22 carries, 55 yards) to slip and fall in his own end zone, resulting in a safety.

“It feels good [to get a shutout], but there’s a lot to clean up on,” Battaglia said. “We’ve got to clean up our tackling and we can’t leave points on the field.”

The OPRF offense struggled to move the ball consistently against Fenwick’s defense all day. The Huskies managed only 165 yards of total offense, with the longest play from scrimmage a 20-yard reverse by Winkelhake. But Hoerster thought the effort from Smith, making his varsity debut, was a positive.

“I thought he was outstanding,” he said. “He’s a warrior and is going to be a real good football player. He never quit, and the future looks bright for Smitty.”

Both schools face major tests on Sept. 6. Fenwick hosts rival St. Ignatius at Triton College, while OPRF welcomes Chicago Public League power Morgan Park.

“That’s another emotional game. We love it,” Battaglia said. “[St. Ignatius] would love nothing more than to beat us, and we want teams to give us their best shot.”

“We’ll learn a lot after we watch this film,” Hoerster said. “The silver lining I told our kids was that we didn’t get beat up; at the end of the day [Fenwick] made explosive plays and we didn’t.”