There's history between Naperville and Morton
By Paul LaTour
Some losses stick around longer than others--like the one Morton suffered in the iYRA Tier 1 semifinals last season.
The Mustangs led Naperville throughout, only to see the game slip away when the Warriors' Kevin Kanzler fell on his own kick in Morton’s end zone in the closing minutes for a 13-8 victory. The Mustangs came back with a win in the third-place match, but that didn’t take away the sting.
“That was a heartbreaking loss,” Mustangs coach Aaron Sweeney said. “You feel like you got kicked in the stomach. You have a sour feeling thinking about ‘what if.’ I try to bury that memory.”
The Mustangs will look to turn the tables when they face Naperville in this year’s semifinals. The teams meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Morton West High School in Berwyn. But as tempting as it is, Sweeney isn’t using that loss to motivate his team this time.
“It’s kind of irrelevant,” Sweeney said. “There are obviously some holdovers on both sides, but it’s a new year.”
The teams already had a rematch. It happened April 16 when the Mustangs took a 10-0 victory on their way to a 4-1-1 record and the Tier 1 West division title.
Now they are eyeing a chance for their first state championship at the highest competitive level. Morton won the Tier 2 crown in 2007.
“This is the best team we’ve had since the ’07 team,” said Sweeney, whose squad advanced in the playoffs with a 31-10 victory over New Trier. “I like our momentum going into the semifinals. It’s a veteran team. We don’t have a lot of seniors, but we’ve got a lot of juniors who have been around for two or three years.”
The veteran leadership starts at the top with four-year players Manny Aranda and Mike Waszkowski. The pair will be part of the U-19 team playing a series of games in Europe this summer.
But first they’ll be looking to take care of their Tier 1 business against Naperville, and hopefully Brother Rice, the defending state champions, who advanced to the final with a 39-19 victory over St. Charles Monday.
Naperville will also be looking for another shot at Brother Rice, having lost to the Crusaders in the title match last season. Naperville (4-2) also lost to Rice earlier in the regular season. By winning their next two games the Warriors, who draw players from Naperville Central, Naperville North and Benet, would avenge both of their losses this season.
But one thing at a time said Naperville coach Elliot Hershik, who isn’t looking beyond the match against the Mustangs.
“We’ve played some close games against them,” Hershik said. “Morton has a very good program, so (Tuesday’s) game should be fun to watch. We’ve been able to work on our weaknesses, so I think we have a chance at winning.”
In order to do that, the Warriors will need to find the offense that was missing against the Mustangs earlier this season. They haven’t scored more than 16 points in their past four Tier 1 matches, which includes a 16-12 victory over Lincoln-Way in the quarterfinals.
“Hopefully we’ve put some things in place that will enable us to score a bit more than last time,” Hershik said dryly, referring to the 10-0 loss to Morton.
Naperville also relies on experience, especially from fourth-year player John Brusha, and third-year player Jimmy O’Connor. The Warriors also get seasoned play from Tony Michael (fourth season) and Benny Murphy (third season).
But Hershik knows they will need everyone to contribute in order to beat Morton in the semifinals again.
“One standout athlete isn’t going to win the game for you,” Hershik said. “You have to have 15 guys working hard and working together to get this done.”
The winner advances to the Tier 1 championship at 4 p.m. Monday at the Blaze facility in Lemont.
