Thornton comes out flat, suffers loss
September 2, 2012 1:48PM
Updated: September 2, 2012 1:48PM
A lackluster week of workouts proved to be foreshadowing for Thornton on Saturday.
The Wildcats gave up an 18-play, 80-yard scoring drive after the opening kickoff and trailed the rest of the way in a 34-20 loss to visiting Naperville North.
The Huskies (1-1) threw just one pass all day, and it was nullified by a penalty. Otherwise, Naperville North ran 69 times for 377 yards.
“We came out flat today,” Thornton running back Jamal Towns said. “We didn’t practice hard this whole week. We just came out like it was going to be a walk-through.
“We didn’t take them serious like we’re supposed to and you see what happened.”
Thornton coach Bill Mosel saw what happened to the Huskies in a 43-20 Week 1 loss to Neuqua Valley and had a feeling of deja vu Saturday.
“Their offensive line handled us, there’s no other way to put it,” Mosel said. “As big as they were, Neuqua was much bigger than them. It was a similar game. They got pounded last week and this week they pounded us. It’s just one of those things.”
It didn’t help the Wildcats (1-1) that their best defensive lineman — 6-foot-2, 290-pound senior Jerome Jenkins — left the game early with an injury and did not return.
That allowed the Huskies’ big linemen, led by 6-4, 275-pound Iowa recruit Colin Goebel, to keep paving the way for DeSean Brown (12 carries, 119 yards, 3 TDs), Johnny Brown (18 carries, 116 yards, 2 TDs) and the rest of the Naperville North runners.
Johnny Brown scored on runs of two and five yards in the first quarter, the second score set up by Danny Schertz’s interception of Thornton quarterback JoWahn Brown (16-of-26, 156 yards, 2 interceptions).
JoWahn Brown’s 18-yard TD pass to Jauan Wesley got Thornton to within 13-6 with 7:55 left in the second quarter, but DeSean Brown’s 10-yard scoring run at 3:14 made it 20-6 at the half.
Naperville North pulled away in the third quarter. James Doyle’s interception and Sharad Crosby’s 39-yard punt return set up TD runs of one and seven yards by DeSean Brown, making it 34-6 with 6:25 to play in the third.
Thornton made the final closer by getting two late scores on Tifonte Hunt’s 76-yard punt return with 2:35 to play and Michael Hoover’s 66-yard pass to D’Andre Fuller with 36.8 seconds remaining.
Mosel wasn’t surprised by the Huskies’ run-heavy game plan.
“They were trying to keep the ball away from us and keep our skill (players) off the field,” he said. “The weather didn’t help us ... but they played in it, (so) we’ve got to play in it, too.”
