High school football: Huntley comeback falls short against Naperville North

NAPERVILLE – It wasn’t the way the play was scripted, but Huntley quarterback Chris Raffin found receiver Connor Fitzgerald uncovered in the end zone with 1:33 to go in the fourth quarter, moving the Red Raiders within two points of Naperville North.

After a timeout to talk over the two-point conversion, Raffin tried to connect with Fitzgerald one more time, but defensive back Nico Cegles made a play on the the ball on the edge of the end zone, ending any chance of a Huntley comeback.

Bo Richter recovered the ensuing onside kick for the Huskies, who ran out the clock on the Raiders in a 22-20 nonconference win Friday.

Huntley (5-3) punted six times on nine possessions and committed eight penalties for 55 yards. Raffin thought the offense let too many scoring opportunities slip away.

“Our boys on defense did really well all game, and we should have scored more,” said Raffin, who was 18-of-27 passing for 215 yards and two scores. “We didn’t capitalize enough times out there. The scoreboard reads lower than what I thought it was going to read, and I don’t think we performed how we should have today."

Naperville took a 22-14 lead on a 7-yard touchdown throw from Cliff Vickers to Matthew Heinz with 4:48 remaining. Vickers found Heinz in the back of the end zone and Heinz was able to get his feet down before going out of bounds.

A bad snap on the extra-point try led to a two-point conversion for the Huskies (3-5). Vickers, holding on the extra-point, was able to find placekicker Matt Maschmeier as he scrambled to the end zone.

Raffin and the Raiders responded with a 12-play, 68-yard scoring drive of their own. Davis Pasco (3 catches, 61 yards) came down with a huge, 37-yard reception to Naperville's 9-yard line.

Two plays later, on third-and goal from the North 5, Raffin threw to Fitzgerald for the score.

Raffin said he was supposed to run the ball himself on the play but two Huskies defenders were chasing him down. On the two-point try, Huntley coach Matt Zimolzak thought there was contact by the defense.

"I thought he was open," Zimolzak said of Fitzgerald. "I thought he got hit from behind before the ball got there, but obviously, the referee didn't see it that way. We knew how big they were, and we knew how athletic they were. We had to come out and play a really good game to beat them, and we didn't do the little things right."

Huntley's Michael Boland had a game-high nine catches for 129 yards, including a 25-yard touchdown in the first quarter. Ryder Havens ran the ball 18 times for 50 yards. Huntley ended the game with 332 yards; Naperville finished with 350.

Defensive lineman Brad Walker said Huntley is not taking next week's opponent, Dundee-Crown, lightly.

"Naperville North put up a really good fight," Walker said. "We came out fighting, but they fought a little harder. We're gonna practice hard and keep getting better."

STAR OF THE GAME

Chris Raffin

Huntley, sr., QB

Raffin was 18-of-27 passing with 215 yards, two scores and no interceptions. He also was the Red Raiders' leading rusher with 77 yards on 14 carries.

Naperville North 22, Huntley 20

Huntley 0 7 7 6 – 20

Naperville North 0 7 7 8 - 22

Second quarter

H-Boland 25 pass from Raffin (Baldacci kick), 11:54

N-Heinz 16 pass from Vickers (Maschmeier kick), 9:38

Third quarter

H-Havens 2 run (Baldacci kick), 6:23

N-Jordan 41 run (Maschmeier kick), 1:07

Fourth quarter

N-Heinz 7 pass from Vickers (Maschmeier pass from Vickers), 4:48

H-Fitzgerald 5 pass from Raffin (pass failed), 1:33

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING–Huntley: Raffin 14-77, Havens 18-50, Fitzgerald 1-minus 1, Team 1-minus 9. Total: 34-117. Naperville North: Jordan 21-102, Vickers 6-69, Team 3-minus 11. Total: 30-160.

PASSING–Huntley: Raffin 18-27-0-215. Naperville North: Vickers 15-22-0-190.

RECEIVING–Huntley: Boland 9-129, Pasco 3-61, Fitzgerald 3-12, Havens 2-8, Cauldren 1-5. Naperville North: Heinz 7-122, Suggs 2-23, Richter 1-35, Maschmeier 4-9, Fleurima 1-1.

TOTAL YARDS: Huntley 332, Naperville North 350.