Northwestern recruit Johnny O’Brien does his thing, throws 4 TDs to send Fremd past Andrew

PALATINE – OK, OB, do your thing.

Fremd junior quarterback Johnny O’Brien did just that on Friday night, passing for four touchdowns – three to junior wide receiver Marquan Brewster – in a 42-20 defeat of visiting Andrew in a Class 8A first-round playoff game in chilly Palatine.

“Right there, every time,” Brewster said of O’Brien’s strikes covering 32, 17 and 24 yards. “Johnny ... Johnny O’Brien.

“That’s our quarterback.”

A Northwestern commit, O’Brien completed 17 of 21 passes (1 INT) for 320 yards in Fremd’s first football playoff game since 2019. His other TD toss, a 10-yarder, went to senior wideout Aiden Patel in the fourth quarter, stretching the Vikings’ lead to 34-14 ahead of sophomore Shea Sloan’s extra point.

If three TD receptions to Brewster sounds familiar, it should – he snared that many in the season opener vs. Lake Zurich.

Brewster finished with seven catches for 137 yards. Vikings senior Brennan Saxe came down with seven receptions for 116 yards, upping his career total in receptions to 237, which now ranks third all-time in IHSA history.

Fremd (9-1), seeded 10th, will face seventh-seeded Naperville Central in the second round next weekend.

NC blanked visiting Schaumburg 48-0 Friday night.

Andrew (6-4) answered Fremd’s first TD – a 1-yard burst from Vikings sophomore running back Jayden Faulkner (15 rushes, 122 yards, 2 TDs) – with a TD and extra point at 3:21 of the first quarter and took a 14-7 lead midway through the second quarter.

The 23-seeded Thunderbolts wouldn’t score again until the final second of the game.

Lefty O’Brien rolled to his right and fired a 32-yard TD pass to Brewster at 4:23 of the second quarter before finding the same target some 4 minutes later, this time with Brewster executing some fancy footwork to stay in bounds in a corner of the end zone for a 17-yard connection.

“We all trust each other,” said O’Brien, who praised the Vikes’ scout team for preparing Fremd’s defense, which was led by junior defensive back Jason Hardy, who secured a turnover on downs by dropping a receiver near the line of scrimmage in the second half.

O’Brien fattened his TD-pass total to 35.

Andrew running back Brady Tanquilut rushed 21 times for 130 yards, and Thunderbolts QB Drew Silvia finished 9-of-16 passing for 182 yards.

“Teams want to keep our offense off the field,” Fremd coach Lou Sponsel said, alluding to Andrew’s non-hurry-up offense being a significant factor in Fremd’s modest 21-14 lead at the half.

Fremd, 3-6 last year like Andrew, entered the game having outscored its previous two opponents by a combined 100-12.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20241101/prep-football/obrien-brewster-connection-helps-fremd-get-past-andrew/