Devils still positive after suffering first loss

Ken Ryan, Sports Writer | Hinsdale Doings | Published September 21, 2006

Even though senior linebacker Matt Kajmowicz was forced to change his prediction, he refuses to let Hinsdale Central's first loss of the season get him too down.

"Whatever, it's over," Kajmowicz said after the Red Devils' 21-7 loss to visiting Oak Park Friday. 'I had all the confidence in the world that we could go 9-0. That may be impossible now, but we'll go 8-1. We're still confident, and we'll come out next game harder than ever and take care of (business)."

Hinsdale Central (3-1) never really got its offense on track in its West Suburban Conference Silver Division opener, while the defense showed some cracks after three dominating performances.

While the setback may have been disappointing, the Red Devils vow to remain focused on their ultimate goal for the season.

"It's not the end of the world," said fist-year Hinsdale Central coach Mike DiMatteo, who suffered his first loss with the Red Devils. "We'll be back and we'll make the playoffs. We only have one goal and that is to hopefully get to Week 14 (the state championship). This is not going to derail that."

Hinsdale Central got on the board first Friday thanks to a big turnover.

On second-and-10 from the Oak Park 38, Hinsdale Central senior linebacker Charlie Johnston exploded into the backfield and poked the ball out of Oak Park quarterback Justin Brown's hands. Jon Rogowski recovered the fumble all the way back at the Oak Park 9. Three plays later, Mike Imke, who had fumbled on the previous play, raced into the end zone from four yards out to put the Red Devils ahead 7-0 after Sean Lacy's conversion kick with 9 minutes, 56 seconds left in the second quarter.

Oak Park (3-1, 2-0 in Silver) evened the score at 7-7 with 1:24 left in the first half when tight end Erik Mikelsons caught a 22-yard TD pass from Brown. The Huskies went ahead for good on a 13-yard TD run by Jack Scotty late in the third quarter and added an insurance touchdown with 9:59 remaining in the game when junior tailback Levell Coppage burst around the left end for an 18-yard score.

"We were just outplayed on both sides of the ball and made too many mistakes," DiMatteo said. "Oak Park is outstanding this season and they proved it. They beat us flat out. That's just how it goes sometimes. What are you going to do? We'll go back to the drawing board and keep working. Our guys are fighters, they play hard and I'm real proud of them. But we have work to do."

The second- and third-quarter touchdowns by the Huskies were the first points given up in the first three quarters all season by the Red Devils, who had allowed just 14 total points in their three victories.
After Brown threw for 105 yards in the first half, the Huskies wore down the Red Devils with the run in the second half. Oak Park rushed for 119 yards in the final two quarters, led by Coppage, who compiled 78 of his 96 yards.

"I'm surprised they were able to score like that," said Kajmowicz, who led the defense with nine tackles and two sacks. "I can't believe they scored a rushing touchdown on us. This was definitely a wake-up call and it just shows everybody that you're only half as good as you think you are."

The Red Devils also received strong defensive contributions from Jack DiNardo (8 tackles, 2 for losses) and J.T. Sandstedt (5 tackles, sack).

Hinsdale Central had a chance to increase its lead in the second quarter, but one of its five fumbles halted a drive at the Oak Park 25 with 3:00 left in the quarter. On the first play after the turnover, Coppage caught a 54-yard pass from Brown to help set up Mikelsons' tying touchdown reception four plays later.
The Red Devils also drove to the Oak Park 7 before turning the ball over on downs with just under two minutes left in the game.

It was the second season in a row that the Huskies beat Hinsdale Central, picking up a 10-7 win last year.

"This is obviously a great win because we're coming on the road to play a tough Hinsdale team that is 3-0 and we played really well," Oak Park coach Jim Nudera said. "The biggest thing we told our kids was not to get caught up in any of the (atmosphere and hype) and just expect to do their best and forget about everything else. (Winning) was the expectation."

Copyright © 2006, The Doings