Sports
Excitement Builds for North Shore's Home Football Playoff Game
The Raiders ended the season with a loss, but Saturday's first-round playoff game has much of the school community excited.
Brian Jessen remembers the last time hosted a home game in the IHSA football playoffs.* That’s because Jessen – a 2002 North Shore graduate – was the quarterback that season.
But when Jessen goes to watch the Raiders take on Flanagan-Cornell/Woodland in the first round of the playoffs, he knows it won’t be the same kind of game he played.
“I reached out to [coach Jim Deuble] to throw some encouraging words his way,” Jessen said. “I guess he has an offense now where the quarterback gets to throw whereas when I was there I was told ‘hand the ball off.’”
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North Shore’s offense is certainly not of the “three yards and a pile of dust” variety that relies heavily on a running attack. QB Steve Smith’s passing abilities helped lead North Shore’s offense to an average of 37.8 points per game, good for the best scoring mark in the Northeast Athletic Conference.
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The Raiders’ 8-1 regular season mark gave them a No. 6 seed in Class 1A. Because North Shore’s field doesn’t have lights, the matchup was slated for Saturday afternoon. But even though the game isn’t being played in primetime, that hasn’t meant a lack of work and preparation for the administration. Athletic Director Pat McHugh put out order forms for North Shore playoff gear and is preparing for a frenzy.
“Now if we start winning these playoff games it’s going to be crazy,” McHugh said of his workload.
Football success hasn’t come often to North Shore in the last decade, but a number of factors have contributed to this year’s success. With 41 kids out for football, Deuble said it was the largest group he’s had during his coaching tenure at North Shore and the added depth has given the Raiders much-needed insurance in case of injuries.
The Raiders put together eight straight victories to start the regular season before losing out on a chance for a conference championship with a 17-7 loss to Mooseheart in the regular-season finale.
But now their attention turns to the second season. And in a year that has already seen North Shore’s boys golf team win the school’s first team state title, many will be on hand in hopes of seeing more history made on Saturday, and more weekends to follow.
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“They have some spectacular athletes from what I’ve heard,” Jessen said. “But I’m excited to see them this coming Saturday.”
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*Oct. 28 Correction: The team hosted the game, but did not win it.
