Naperville North has no trouble with Glenbard East

Updated: October 1, 2011 12:28AM

Naperville North should just play every game as if it’s homecoming night.

For the second week in a row, the Huskies dominated their opposition in a homecoming game, this time beating host Glenbard East 51-13 Friday in Lombard. Last week, homecoming host Naperville North (4-2, 3-1 DuPage Valley Conference) dismantled West Chicago 45-7.

“I don’t think it’s more like (us) thinking it’s their homecoming, we’ve got to get pumped up for it,” Huskies senior running back Dan Puknaitis said. “I think it’s more like we know they’re going to be coming out ready to go. It’s their homecoming. They want to win, they need to win. It’s just the point of view of saying, ‘We know they’re going to come out strong. We need to come out stronger.’”

Puknaitis and Co. did just that, topping the 14 first-quarter points they scored a week ago with 21 in the opening stanza against the Rams (1-5, 0-4). The Huskies also scored 41 first-half points to best the 28 they scored last week.

Naperville North scored on its first five possessions and built a 41-7 halftime lead. Puknaitis did his part with three first-half touchdowns. He finished the game with 95 yards on eight carries.

“Traditionally, we’ve struggled when we’ve played here and we talked all week that we’ve got to get going right away,” Naperville North coach Sean Drendel said. “Our kids were ready to play when we got off the bus, and we kind of kept it at them a little bit.”

Huskies quarterback Tyler Gehr ran for 93 yards on seven carries as Naperville North racked up 428 yards on the ground.

“They’re fast,” Glenbard East coach John Walters said. “We couldn’t match their speed. They’re probably the fastest team position by position that we’ve seen this year.”

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