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Backup QB leads York past Oak Park
Updated: September 16, 2011 11:21PM
Starting quarterback Joe Lucca went down with an injury in the second quarter, but York didn’t miss a beat behind backup quarterback Andrew Iwaszkiewicz.
Iwaszkiewicz threw for 109 yards and two touchdowns in the first half as a substitute for Lucca, who was taken off the field by a gurney with 10:35 to go before halftime after getting sacked for a 5-yard loss by Nile Sykes. The Dukes have been platooning quarterbacks during the season so Iwaszkiewicz came in with plenty of experience. The game was delayed 10 minutes until paramedics from a nearby ambulance wheeled Lucca off the field.
York won its West Suburban Silver opener with a 35-7 victory over Oak Park-River Forest Friday night in Elmhurst.
“(Lucca) is doing fine,” Lech said. “He got a stinger in the neck and a headache.”
Iwaszkiewicz (9-of-20, 161 yards) was intercepted twice in the second half, but OPRF never threatened.
“It was a surprise, but you have to adapt to the situation (with Lucca injured),” Iwaszkiewicz said. “You have to deal with what comes up. It was a great feeling to win our homecoming game. There’s nothing like it.”
Iwaszkiewicz and Lucca combined to throw for 272 yards to five different receivers, led by David Byerley (eight catches, 160 yards).
Junior Dain Mrozek, making his second career start for the Huskies (2-2, 1-1) did not complete any of his five pass attempts in the first half and the Huskies did not reach York (3-1, 1-0) territory until Jakari Cammon’s 44-yard run with less than five minutes remaining in the second quarter. Mrozek scored OPRF’s only points in the first half on a 21-yard run with 3:20 to go in the second quarter.
Mrozek last week replaced starter John Phelin, who injured his left foot in Week 2 and is out for the season. In the second half, OPRF coach John Hoerster sent in sophomore Jacob Lintvelt.
“Dain wasn’t at his (best). That happens to all of us,” said Hoerster, a 1994 York graduate. “He was sick and was trying to overcome a cold during the week.”
York led 28-0 on Iwaszkiewicz’s 22-yard TD pass to Jordan Preuss with 5:16 remaining in the first half. Pruess scored the game’s first TD when he capped York’s opening drive with an 11-yard TD catch. The Dukes used an effective no-huddle spread to score on four of its first five possessions in the game.
OPRF came out in a Wildcat formation without Mrozek, using direct center snaps to leading rusher Jakari Cammon (25 carries, season-high 178 yards). But the Huskies ran only five plays in the formation. Mrozek came in for OPRF’s second possession, but threw an interception downfield to Drew Mueller on the drive’s first play.
“The Wildcat was just to try something different,” Hoerster said. “They adjusted to it. They are a good football team.”
Byerley scored York’s second and third TDs of the game on scoring receptions of 35 and 5 yards.
The Huskies host conference favorite Glenbard West at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Lintvelt completed the Huskies’ only pass in the game for 3 yards. Mrozek and Lintvelt attempted a combined 13 passes while Khali Hartzog had the only reception.
“These guys worked hard. Jakari Cammon fought. The kids clawed and scratched and when they put something together, something knocked us back,” Hoerster said.
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