Playoff win warms Huntley’s hearts
HUNTLEY — A night of tough weather conditions and a challenging foe did not stop Huntley from a Class 8A first round playoff win over Niles West.
The final seconds were ticking down as Huntley had a football victory formation. The celebration of the Red Raiders’ 26-14 Class 8A playoff win had begun, with a chant of “start the buses” on Oct. 28.
Led by three touchdowns and 146 yards rushing from Haiden Janke and a key punt block, Huntley overcame Niles West to gain an achievement that has been three years in the making. HHS’s previous playoff win was over Chicago Taft in 2020.
“The most important thing is this means we get seven more days,” Red Raiders coach Mike Naymola said. “It wasn’t perfect, but we did just enough to get the job done. All season long, we talked about that the goal of the season is success but also winning in the playoffs. Niles West was a tough team, had a good game plan and any team in the playoffs will be tough.”
The Red Raiders now travel to Chicago to face St. Ignatius College Prep at 7 p.m. Nov. 3 for their second round game.
Huntley’s heroes included the likely mainstays, the running of 1,000-yard rusher Janke for the three touchdowns; the running and passing of junior quarterback Braylon Bower and big plays from seniors Omare Segarra and Bryce Walker.
The biggest play of all was executed by a sophomore defensive end, 6-3, 190-pounds Travis Dudycha and senior Zach Garifo. HHS had snared a 20-14 lead, on a the last of Janke’s touchdowns, when the Wolves found themselves in a punt situation. The Red Raiders went for the block and the one-two punch Garifo executed. Garifo blocked the kick then Dudycha raced to the football in the end zone and slid to make the recovery.
“We noticed that their long snapper did not have much velocity on the snaps,” Garifo said.
“I could see it floating in the air,” Dudycha said.
Dudycha, is new to defensive end, but you would not notice that Friday. He is a former wide receiver.
“We showed we can be ready for anyone,” Garifo, said.
Dudycha had other moments that he excelled as he had one forced fumble, one sack and three total tackles.
Garifo, in addition to the punt block, contributed seven total tackles. Ben Wean and Charlie Condon both chalked up nine total tackles and one tackle for loss. Ryan Sweeney finished with seven total tackles and one tackle for loss.
The hard fought game meant some nervous moments of potential injuries for players from both sides, including Huntley’s Janke and Bower. Janke was thrilled for the win before the HHS faithful, after last season’s first round loss to Andrew.
“I’m very dinged up,” Janke said. “It’s great to get a first round win after last year. Especially here at home. My brother Alex was on the last team that got to the second round.”
Janke increased his season TD total to 22 on a 32-carry, 152-yards game (1,254 yards) and the offense executed two fourth down tries on Janke runs to keep the drive that put the winners ahead for good going. “We decided earlier in the week to go for it on fourth down,” Janke said.
“Janke is the backbone of our team,” Naymola said. “He gained some tough yards for us.”
The Red Raiders neared 300 total yards, 198 rushing. Bower completed over half of his passes for 90 yards. Walker delivered a key 30-yard run and Janke put the exclamation mark on the win with a 30-yard run.
Second round
Huntley and St. Ignatius will be seeking a spot in the Class 8A quarterfinals on Friday. The winner moves on to face the Loyola Academy (10-0) and Nequa Valley (7-3) winner.
St. Ignatius gained a first round upset of ninth seed Joliet West, 39-6. The Wolfpack, led by head coach Matt Miller, has won five straight games. The school is located at 1076 Roosevelt Road.
