Herald-News Week 3 Football Notebook: Plainfield North happy to get first win after rough start

Plainfield North’s program is used to success.

The Tigers have reached the playoffs in eight of the past nine full seasons, not counting the shortened 2021 spring season in which they went 4-2.

Last year, they went 4-5 in the regular season but were able to garner a playoff spot because of the number of playoff points they had. That indicated a tough nonconference schedule, as the number of their opponents’ wins was high.

Plainfield North entered Friday night’s game against 2-0 Plainfield South with an 0-2 record, having dropped games to perennial Class 8A playoff qualifiers Lockport and York, which are a combined 5-1.

Playing those teams allowed the Tigers to figure out what they were doing well and what they needed to fix for their two weeks of Southwest Prairie Conference crossover games before starting SPC West play for weeks 5-9.

Friday night, they put it together and got into the win column with a 31-12 victory over one of their district rivals. Junior running back Malik Jassim took center stage with 82 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries.

“It feels great to not have a zero in the win column,” Jassim said. “Playing those really good non-conference teams helped us get ready for the conference season. It showed us what mistakes we were making that we needed to fix.”

North coach Anthony Imbordino also noted that the competition in the first two weeks was beneficial to his club.

“We played some good teams the first two weeks, and it showed us what we needed to work on,” Imbordino said. “Playing those teams last year helped us because even with four wins, we had enough points to get into the playoffs. We hope we can get to five wins so we don’t have to worry about that this year.

“I am happy with the way we have improved. We came in here and beat a good Plainfield South team. It’s always an emotional game against another Plainfield school and, with their defense, they are going to be very tough on the other side of the conference. It’s nice to get that first win under out belts.”

COAL CITY SOPHOMORE QB STEPS IN

Coal City lost its starting quarterback, Zander Meents, to an injury in the season-opening 31-12 loss to Morris. Since then, the Coalers have been using sophomore Connor Henline as the quarterback, and he has produced. In the past two weeks, Henline is 15 of 23 through the air for 267 yards and five touchdowns. That has provided a strong complement to the dynamic running back duo of Landin Benson and Logan Natyshok and produced two wins in which the Coalers outscored their opponents 109-12.

GOOD VIBES ONLY FOR JOLIET WEST

This season hasn’t been going as smoothly for Joliet West as 2023 did. Last year, the Tigers dropped just one regular-season matchup, against Morris. Their quest for vengeance in Week 2 didn’t go as planned, with West falling to Morris again 31-17. Although the defense made some big plays in Week 3 against Yorkville, the offense never got going as the Tigers lost 31-8.

As such, Joliet West sits at 1-2 in the early going of 2024 with an imposing task this week against Plainfield North on the road. Things aren’t looking great on paper, but that’s not stopping Joliet West from keeping a glass-half-full approach. Coach Dan Tito is trying to instill a positive attitude as opposed to focusing on what’s not gone well so far.

“Football is a game of momentum,” Tito said after the Yorkville game. “A lot of times when one side of the ball does something well, it’ll spread to the other side of the ball. Once we get rolling, that’s what we’ll see. We’ll get cracking on all cylinders, and that’s what we’re looking for against Plainfield North.”

MINOOKA STAYS UNDEFEATED

Three games, three wins so far for the Minooka Indians. The most recent triumph came against Joliet Central by a score of 70-12. Quarterback Zane Caves threw four touchdown passes in the first half to get Minooka rolling.

While a lopsided win against the Steelmen won’t turn a ton of heads, the fact remains that Minooka has yet to be beaten a third of the way through the regular season. The Indians also have a close 16-14 win over Neuqua Valley and a lopsided victory over Rock Island to start the season. True, all three of their opponents have yet to win a game, but keep an eye on the Indians moving forward after a hot start.

WEEK 3 AREA SCORES

Bolingbrook 48, Romeoville 19

Carmel 27, Providence Catholic 24

Coal City 56, Streator 6

Dwight 46, Aurora Central Catholic 0

Joliet Catholic 14, Fenwick 13

Lemont 27, Tinley Park 14

Lincoln-Way East 49, Stagg 3

Lincoln-Way West 40, Metea Valley 7

Lockport 41, Neuqua Valley 14

Minooka 70, Joliet Central 12

Naperville North 21, Lincoln-Way Central 20

Oswego 49, Plainfield Central 6

Oswego East 42, Plainfield East 0

Peoria 58, Morris 52

Peotone 42, Reed-Custer 7

Plainfield North 31, Plainfield South 12

Seneca 48, Ottawa Marquette 13

Wilmington 56, Lisle 6

Yorkville 31, Joliet West 8