Checchin, Meadows are in playoffs
Artie Checchin knew the importance of Rolling Meadows 13-0 win over visiting Hersey.
Cheechin stopped two key Huskies' drives with interceptions in the second and fourth quarters to help preserve the Mid-Suburban East win.
“We knew we had to win tonight,” said Cheechin. “Had we lost I don't know if we would have had enough playoff points to get in. We came out and played our hearts out for the coaches, parents, fans and each other.”
The Mustangs (6-3, 3-2) had to survive their own offensive woes which saw them turn the ball over five times for the game.
Four turnovers occured in the second quarter with two miscues in the red zone and a missed field goal.
The Huskies (4-5, 2-3) were not able to capitalize on any of the turnovers.
“While our defense played a tremendous game,” said Huskie coach Dragan Teonic, “our offense did not do much with the ball and I'm surprised by that. Meadows defense played a lot better than what we saw on film.”
Rolling Meadows marched 70 yards in 10 plays to finish its drive on the first possession of the game.
Garrett Peterson scored from 5 yards for a 7-0 lead following sophomore Alex Niecikwski's kick. Ryan Gundersen had a 13-yard run on the play before the score to keep the drive going.
The Mustangs lost a chance to score early in the second and fourth quarters when touchdowns were nullified by offensive pass interference calls.
Quarterback Jack Milas threw all 3 of his interceptions in the second quarter.
“I didn't make very good reads,” said Milas who was still 21-of-29 passes for 323 yards. “I just need to go back to the basics. But, Artie motivated us with his speech before the game.”
“I was saving it for the playoffs,” said Checchin. “But, I told the players that we are all one family. No age differences or anything like that. We just had to come out and execute.”
The Mustangs did that on their opening drive in the third quarter with Milas hitting Checchin with a 45 yards pass on first down to Hersey's 21. A 15 yard pass to Derek Heer put the ball on the 3 before Peterson scored on the next play for a 13-0 lead.
Checchin's interception with 4:04 left in the game snuffed out any Huskie hope for a comeback. The Mustangs then ran out the clock.
“This was a very tense game,” said Mustangs coach Matt Mishler. “Hersey really played us hard tonight. But, I am proud of our players efforts after last week's loss.
“Our defense really played well. They played with passion and that's what we wanted them to do.”
Gundersen caught 6 passes for 166 yards and Peterson led the rushing attack with 54 yards on 16 attempts.
Hersey finished with 186 yards of offense and could only get as close as the Mustangs 31 in the second quarter.