DOWNERS NORTH 7 7 7 0 21
OPRF 0 0 6 6 12
Oak Park and River Forest running back Levell Coppage didn’t mince words when summing up his team’s disappointing 21-12 loss to Downers Grove North on Saturday.
“It’s painful,” said the senior, who played sparingly in the loss and re-aggravated a severely sprained ankle. “We weren’t expecting this.”
Although the Huskies (4-4, 2-3) allowed Downers North its first West Suburban (Silver) Conference victory of the season and also ended any hopes of reaching the playoffs for the third-straight year, they did have some big plays in Saturday’s Homecoming game.
OPRF kicked things off with a trick-play of sorts where Clarke Cuthbert tossed a dead-on pass to Evan Scott for a 54-yard gain to start the game. The play began as a reverse, with Coppage as the main decoy. The ball was eventually shuffled back to Cuthbert who found Scott racing down the sideline. The play ignited the crowd and it looked as though the Huskies would be off to a favorable start, but nothing materialized. OPRF’s offense continued to stall until the second half. Coppage remained on the bench until the second half.
Despite sacking Downers quarterback Joe Honn eight times, the Huskies weren’t able to keep the Trojans out of the end zone. Ryan Gresko returned a punt 33 yards for a touchdown to put Downers on the board with 1:38 left in the first quarter. Markus Castrogiovanni’s extra-point made it 7-0.
Near the conclusion of the first half, Marco Diaz intercepted a Cuthbert pass that led to a 17-yard touchdown toss from Honn to Douglas Henry, and Downers took a comfortable 14-0 lead into the break.
Several miscues in the second half hurt the Huskies’ chances of a comeback. OPRF fumbled on their first possession of the second half, which eventually led to 72-yard touchdown run by Downers running back James Gaston (21 carries, 137 yards, TD).
The Huskies opened the final stanza with an 87-yard touchdown reception by Zach Howard from Cuthbert. The 2-point conversion failed.
OPRF blew an opportunity midway through the fourth. Dan Green stripped the ball from Honn, setting up the Huskies on their own 45-yard line with six minutes to go in the game. A Trojans holding call and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty pushed OPRF up to Downers’ 30, but the offense failed to capitalize on the good fortune.
Along with Green, William Lamar, Jonathon Bibbie, and Troy Aldridge also recorded sacks for OPRF.
“I think we didn’t go into this game feeling Downers North was a threat,” said a solemn Coppage, who played a few downs in the second half before limping off the field. “We didn’t keep our heads up after they scored.”
Cuthbert finished 16-for-24 for 286 yards and a touchdown for OPRF. Howard, who left the game late in the second half with a back injury, finished with five catches for 115 yards and a touchdown.
The Huskies will try and regroup when they travel to Elmhurst Friday (7:30 p.m.) to take on York, who currently sits atop the Silver Division with Hinsdale Central and Lyons Township. The Dukes (6-2, 4-1), who are vying for their third-straight conference championship, boast senior running back Mike McNulty and 6-foot-9-inch, 330-pound left tackle Neal Deiters, who is headed to Northwestern University next year.