Football fans who follow both the Evanston Township High School and Northwestern University programs probably experienced mixed emotions if they made the trip to Palatine Friday night.
But they can all be sure of one thing. If Johnny O’Brien gets that much time to throw when he gets to college, he might be on the short list to win a Heisman Trophy.
Cool, calm and collected and rarely forced out of the pocket, the Fremd senior quarterback completed 17-of-26 passing attempts for 283 yards and two touchdowns as the Vikings handled Evanston 34-7 and improved to 3-0 overall.
Find out what's happening in Evanstonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
O’Brien, a Northwestern recruit, sparked his school’s Homecoming victory by leading the Vikes to scores on their first four drives of the game. He also scored on a 24-yard run himself.
Evanston, now 1-2, didn’t turn the ball over at all --- a big step forward in that category after a nightmarish 7 turnovers in Week 2 --- but couldn’t put the heat on O’Brien and didn’t do much offensively, either, except for a 70-yard touchdown pass from Amare Jones to Justin Johnson in the second quarter.
Find out what's happening in Evanstonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
And while the Wildkits were able to clean up those physical mistakes they suffered in a Week 2 loss at Saint Laurence, the fact that they were penalized 12 times for 116 yards Friday created another area of concern for first-year head coach Miles Osei.
But Osei is keeping the faith. He still believes his squad can make enough progress to be considered for the state playoffs in the final six weeks of the season, starting when the Kits host Hoffman Estates in their final non-conference matchup next Friday at Lazier Field.
The coach kept things positive in the post-game huddle and in his critique of the defeat.
“You can compete with the best in the state. You proved that for most of the game tonight,” Osei told his players. “You put up a really good fight. We just have to keep any negativity from outside from seeping in, and we just have to continue to progress. We need to learn our lessons a little more quickly and just keep moving forward.
“I saw a little progress in our passing game tonight, especially from Amare (junior quarterback Jones, who completed 16-of-24 passes for 155 yards in his first varsity start),” the coach added. “But we need to develop a better mentality on offense, because we’re waiting around instead of making things happen. There’s a small window of opportunity, and we have to make the most of it as a team.
“O’Brien is a Big Ten quarterback for a reason. Even when he escaped the pocket, he kept his eyes downfield and made good throws against us. When you play against a special talent like that, you really have to be on your game.”
After Fremd settled for a pair of field goals from Sheamus Sloan (36 and 21 yards) to open the game, O’Brien marched the home team from his own 11 to paydirt in just five plays, scrambling 24 yards for a TD with 5:25 left in the first half.
Evanston responded when juniors Jones and Johnson hooked up for a 70-yard bomb down the left sideline. Jones got the throw off against a fierce Fremd blitz and targeted Johnson frequently all night, mostly on short tosses or wide receiver screens. Johnson finished with 14 catches for 143 yards, career highs in both areas, and also intercepted a pass just before halftime.
The hosts answered that ETHS score with a scoring drive that covered 65 yards and ended with O’Brien’s 29-yard touchdown pass to Marquan Brewster, who broke a tackle at the 5-yard line and cruised into the end zone. That score pushed the Vikes to a 20-7 halftime advantage.
Jason Hardy scored next for Fremd, on a 3-yard run, and Brewster’s diving grab of a 20-yard laser strike from southpaw O’Brien completed the scoring with 30 seconds left in the third quarter.
