There isn’t much the North Shore Country Day football team can hang its hat on after suffering a 35-14 defeat to downstate Ottawa’s Marquette Academy in Winnetka on Saturday.
“It’s a slap in the head,” said North Shore head coach Jim Deuble, whose squad fell to 2-1. “This was definitely a wake-up call.”
The Raiders couldn’t get anything going offensively against Marquette in the first half, and trailed 21-0 heading into the third quarter.
“(Marquette) controlled the line of scrimmage the entire game,” Deuble said.
There were a few bright spots for North Shore in the second half. Kyle Okesanya caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Elias Butler to cut the Crusaders’ lead to 21-7 halfway through the third quarter.
After another Crusaders score, Butler scrambled 30 yards for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter. But another Marquette TD ended any hopes of a Raiders comeback.
“We’re early in the season,” Deuble said. “There’s six games to go, but we have to get better in some areas moving forward. It’s a disappointing loss, but it’s not like we lost a conference championship.”
North Shore Country Day will host Luther North on Saturday.
