Fenwick makes memorable return to Oak Park Stadium, routs Oak Park-River Forest

OAK PARK – The Fenwick High School football team made its return to Oak Park Stadium for the first time since 2005 - the last year the Friars played their home schedule there - a memorable one with a 30-0 shutout of Oak Park-River Forest Saturday.

”It was great. We worked for this all summer,” Fenwick senior quarterback Frankie Hosty said. “It feels good to put things together and win.”

After each team had promising drives snuffed out by a turnover in the first quarter, Fenwick finally broke through in the second with a 52-yard touchdown pass from Hosty (9-of-13, 114 yards) to senior WR Treston Smith.

Smith is part of a deep receiving corps that’s a main strength of the Friars.

“We’ve got a lot of receivers who are fighting hard and competing with selflessness,” Fenwick coach Matt Battaglia said.

Then in the final minute of the first half, the Friars shocked the Huskies with a quick scoring drive that went 92 yards on just six plays. Junior Jamen Williams, who started the game and shared about an equal amount of reps with Hosty, kickstarted things with a 44-yard completion to senior DE/TE Nate Marshall. Sophomore RB Jalen Morgan capped off the drive with a five-yard touchdown run that made the score 14-0 Fenwick at halftime.

In the third quarter, OPRF seemed poised to get back into the game when junior DB Logan Gathman picked off Hosty at the Fenwick 26. But the Huskies couldn’t take advantage and subsequently turned the ball over on downs.

“It came down to big plays. (Fenwick) made several big plays and we weren’t able to make any,” OPRF coach John Hoerster said. “We had a few times where our defense made some really big plays, then we didn’t take advantage offensively.”

On the very next play, Williams hit senior Andrew Bjorson in stride at midfield. Bjorson broke a tackle and did the rest, sprinting in for a 74-yard dagger.

“Receivers like Andrew make it way easier on us,” said Williams, who threw for 162 yards and eight completions on 13 passes.

“I think (Hosty and Williams) did a great job,” Battaglia said. “We’re going to evaluate film and keep rolling.”

Things got worse for the Huskies when the ensuing kickoff was fumbled and recovered by the Friars at the OPRF 15. Four plays later, Morgan scored again from five yards out to give Fenwick a commanding 28-0 lead with 4:21 left in the third quarter.

With 4:13 left in the game, OPRF sophomore RB Liam Smith (22 carries, 55 yards) slipped and fell in his own end zone, resulting in a safety for the Friars and concluding the day’s scoring.

“It feels good (to get a shutout), but there’s a lot to clean up on,” Battaglia said. “We’ve got to clean up our tackling and we can’t leave points on the field.”

The OPRF offense found it a struggle moving the ball consistently against Fenwick’s defense all day. The Huskies managed only 165 yards of total offense, with the longest play from scrimmage being a 20-yard reverse by senior WR Matt Winkelhake. But Hoerster thought the effort from Smith, making his varsity debut, was a positive.

“I thought he was outstanding,” he said. “He’s a warrior and is going to be a real good football player. He never quit, and the future looks bright for Smitty.”

With the Battle of East Avenue in the rear-view mirror, both schools face major tests next week. Fenwick hosts rival St. Ignatius at Triton College, while OPRF welcomes Chicago Public League power Morgan Park.

“That’s another emotional game. We love it,” Battaglia said. “(St. Ignatius) would love nothing more than to beat us, and we want teams to give us their best shot.”

“Morgan Park has some really talented kids, and their coach (Chris James) is really great,” Hoerster said. “He’s done some good things there, and they’ll be ready to go.”