‘It’s Their Legacy’: Niles North football gets to 7 wins for just second time in 30 years

A special kind of pride is coursing through Niles North High School right now as its football team continues its playoff run — pride among the students, teachers, administration and even security that Vikings head coach Gary Butler said he hasn’t seen in years. 

Perhaps Niles North football team’s standout season (7-3), which includes a Central Suburban North Division championship, are to explain, or the fact that the Vikings are playoff competitors for the first time in over a decade.

Either way, Niles North will have to bring a similar energy as they did on Saturday, Oct. 26, in their high-scoring, 48-41 win against Rich Township in the opening round of the IHSA Class 6A tournament if the Vikings want to topple Richards (7-3) and advance further.

Quarterback and senior Adonis Williams told The Record he’s feeling great, that he and the team spent the summer preparing for this moment and they trust their coaches. 

“It’s like an opportunity that this school doesn’t really get much, so we want to prove everybody wrong and just make sure that we know who we are and ourselves and our team, and have the confidence that we need to go into this game, come out with a win, and just keep going,” Williams said. 

Butler attributed the team’s success this season to the commitment of his coaches and players, in particular the team’s 20 seniors, to accept both their victories and losses, two of which happened near the end of the regular season, as growing opportunities. 

“We’ve collectively elevated the standard going into the season,” Butler said. “As our coaches continue to raise the bar, our players have taken ownership and feel like it doesn’t have to be coach led; it can be player led. It’s them between the lines and it’s their legacy, it’s their memories and they’re making the most of it.”

Niles North will take that spirit on the road on Halloween, playing Richards at 1 p.m. Oct. 31 at Richards High School, 10601 South Central Ave, Oak Lawn. 

Rushing against Rich

One of Niles North’s greatest strengths this season has been its offensive line; players have stayed healthy throughout the year, Butler said, which has allowed them to become a more “in-sync” unit and “build layers” to stay a step ahead of the opponent’s defense. 

That line has given Niles North’s running game an advantage, especially as elements of wind and rain enter the season in the fall and make it difficult to throw the ball, the coach said.  

A number of Vikings running backs and receivers can take a handoff and “capitalize on the overcompensation or lack of discipline” from the opposing side, Butler said.

Two senior players may exemplify the team’s offensive movement best. Between them, Williams and running back-receiver hybrid Isaac Stan have rushed for more than 2,000 yards this season. 

In North’s opening-round win, Williams and Stan rushed for 192 yards each, according to stats kept at MaxPreps.com. Williams ran in six touchdowns and Stan two. Wide receiver Sami Fadayal rushed for 51 yards, and Williams added 110 yards passing.

The Vikings ultimately used their ground game, some film knowledge and a turnover after the opening kickoff to secure the win against Rich Township; though Butler said the team’s defense is still “coming on” and he didn’t anticipate giving up 40 points. 

The coach would prefer to get ahead and keep the clock running to secure a victory, but it was a “nailbiter all the way there to the end” and “as the playoffs go, it’s survive and advance.”

11 Years in the Making

Niles North’s football team making it to the postseason is exciting as fall sports can set the tone for the year, said Athletic Director Brett Bildstein, but it’s also a big moment for a program that has historically garnered less interest than other sports at the high school. 

With more than 75 languages reportedly spoken in Skokie, Bildstein said the Niles North community has favored a more international sport: soccer. The soccer program can attract 150 student-athletes, he said, and both the boys and girls Niles North soccer teams made it to regional finals last season.

Prior to this season, Niles North’s football program bore an overall win percentage of 29%, Bildstein said. The team has only reached 8 wins twice in its history — in 1982 and 1996 under head coach Paul Giambeluca, IHSA records show.

This season marks the program’s second time reaching seven wins and first time winning its conference since 1992. Niles North last made the playoffs in 2015 under coach Mark Egoske. 

Like Butler, Bildstein attributed the program’s success this year in part to the leadership of its 20 seniors. The athletic director added he believes the football program has one of “the best overall coaching staffs” he has seen in his 11 years at Niles North. 

While Butler said the team’s two losses in a row in October (28-7 vs. Evanston on Oct. 2; 40-35 against Highland Park on Oct. 9) could have sent the team on a negative path, his players are “hungry to do something that hasn’t been done before.” 

He said that the Vikings have established confidence and learned to persevere and are getting to practice earlier, wearing their jerseys in school and seeing their families more involved.

Williams also noted the team has persevered through challenges this season, like players returning to the field after serious injuries and the loss of loved ones. But without their “brotherhood” and the trust they’ve built, the players would not be where they are now, he said.

Maybe it has to do with the success of the Chicago Bears as well, but Butler said he already has new students expressing interest in joining the team next year. And since many on the varsity team had no football experience before joining the Vikings, the coach said he wants to help establish a feeder program to establish a “longstanding football culture in the community.”

“With our soccer team, our volleyball team, our basketball team having success in the past, and the flipside with our football program, kids are a little reluctant to jump on board to a program that was maybe viewed as kind of the lower echelon of the (Central Suburban League),” Butler said.

Maybe that’s changing.

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