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Tandem helps Hersey past Prospect

A top priority for Hersey's football team going into Friday night's game at George Gattas Stadium was to run the football.

But a little game of catch between Eric Portenlanger and Cole Monckton sure helped to provide balance, and a win for the Huskies.

The senior quarterback-receiver combination hooked up eight times as Hersey came out on top in the Mid-Suburban East opener with a 19-15 victory over host Prospect before a large homecoming crowd.

Monckton's 8 catches from Portenlanger for 182 yards included the 42-yard TD reception that gave Hersey a 19-15 lead with 9:41 left in the game.

The Knights made it entertaining to the end before their possession stalled on fourth down and 15 from their own 27-yard line with 10.3 seconds left.

A 1-yard QB sneak by Greg Suarez with 23.7 seconds left in the third quarter and a 19-yard field goal by sophomore Jack Pruban got the hosts to within 19-15 with 7:09 left in the game.

But the Huskies defense, which did not allow a TD the week before against Conant, made sure to keep the Knights from getting the go-ahead points late in the game.

"Our defense has been great all season," said Portenlanger. "Now it was time for us to help out on offense. But the defense still played great."

Prospect (0-5) scored first when Pruban booted a 25-yard field goal with 8:09 left in the first quarter.

The Huskies (3-2) answered late in the quarter on Jordan Edwards' 4-yard TD run that capped an 80-yard drive.

All but 10 of the yards came on the ground, including a back-to-back 16-yard run by Joe Caputo and a 19-yard scamper by Edwards (15 carries for 56 yards).

The Huskies did their running behind linemen Stephen Psaradellis, Austin Kane, Spencer Krueger, Mitch Carlisle and Danny Somary.

"We've been focusing on improving our running game," said Hersey coach Joe Pardun. "I thought we did."

"We worked all week on running the ball," Monckton said. "That was our No. 1 goal. We wanted to run the ball and take shots down the field when the defense was beating."

Portenlanger made the most of those 'shots' successful, completing 10 of 11 passes for 193 yards.

The only misfire was on his first throw of the night when Prospect's De'Angelo Roberson picked it off and raced 68 yards to the Hersey 8-yard line, setting up Pruban's field goal.

"It was a rough start," said Portenlanger who proceeded to complete 10 in a row. "He's (Monckton) my guy. We worked together all off-season."

"My quarterback and I work every day after practice on routes," said Monckton, who also made the interception which set up his own touchdown pass. "We have good chemistry. It was a whole-team effort. Offense and defense are both fun. We build off them both."

"Cole prepares with the best of them," Pardun said "He is a heck of a competitor and that's why he is one of our leaders."

A safety by Prospect late in the first quarter got the Knights to within 6-5.

But after a defensive stop, the Huskies came back with a 76-yard drive capped by Caputo's 1-yard TD run for a 12-5 cushion.

"We knew this would be a fight," Pardun said. "They are a well-coached team that fights."

Suarez completed 11-of-14 passes for 156 yards.

Mike Ott caught 3 for 69 yards along with other big gainers by Tito De Los Santos (2-36), Andy Shafis (1-33) and Brady Eckert, who made a leaping 33-yard reception at the Hersey 6-yard line setting up the Knights' TD.

"Our receivers did a great job making clutch plays," said Prospect coach Mike Sebestyen. "Even Andy (Shafis, playing QB) threw a great ball (to Ott) when Greg got hurt (muscle spasms) late in the game. And Greg was a gamer, fighting it out to play."

Among those providing the line protection were James Ford, Vinny DiFatta, Luke Wrede, Matt Schultz and Bill Matzek.

"All night we had big plays," Sebestyen said. "Our kids are playing their tails off. They are doing some great things.

"We'll just push forward to next week and try to get that one extra play that can put us on the right side of the win-loss column."

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