Complete effort helps Hersey past Elk Grove
Hersey put it all together to keep its playoff and Mid-Suburban East football title hopes alive with a 42-7 homecoming victory over Elk Grove Friday at Roland Goins Stadium.
At 4-3 overall, 2-1 in the East, the Huskies will face Wheeling and Rolling Meadows ahead, but they still control their own destiny.
"We know it'll be tough," Hersey coach Joe Pardun said. "We'll try to build off of this game."
The Huskies scored on offense and defense. They scored with quick-strike effectiveness and put together time-consuming scoring drives. All in all, it was their highest point total of the season.
"I'm really proud of how our coaching staff got the kids prepared," Pardun said. "The team hadn't clicked. To watch them mesh was good."
Pardun saw his team jump out to a 21-0 halftime lead and stretch it to 28-0 before the Grens (0-7, 0-3) put their only points on the scoreboard.
Cole Monckton scored 3 of Hersey's first four touchdowns. On the opening play from scrimmage, he caught a halfback pass from Joe Caputo that resulted in a 51-yard touchdown. Caputo's 4-yard run made it 14-0, still in the first.
"The defensive back bit right away on the run," Monckton said. "I accelerated, and he put the ball where only I could catch it."
His only other reception resulted in a 47-yard touchdown from Eric Portenlanger in the third quarter, putting the Huskies ahead 28-0. A hand signal was all that Monckton needed to run a fade route against the man-to-man coverage, and Portenlanger put the ball right on Monckton's hands.
In the second quarter, Monckton intercepted his area-best fifth pass and returned it 99 yards for the touchdown.
"It took all 11 guys to score," Monckton said of the convoy of blockers that allowed him to weave his way the length of the field for the score."
"He's a leader," Pardun said. "Every time we need something, he comes through. It's expected, because he's earned it."
Twice, Elk Grove drove deep into Hersey territory only to be turned away. After Monckton's pick 6, the Huskies stopped the Grens after they had driven 70 yards and had first and goal from the 4. Twice Azeez Alabi (97 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries) was stacked up at the 1, and Sean Fege's fourth down pass in the end zone was incomplete.
"I think we're afraid of the end zone," Elk Grove coach Larry Calhoun said afterward. "We are where we are, and we've got to keep on working.
"The Hersey defense is for real," Calhoun said. "We felt like we could move the ball. My hat's off to them."
Alabi scored Elk Grove's touchdown on a 16-yard run that capped a 5-play 75-yard drive with 7:43 left in the third.
Portenlanger and backup QB Tom Jackson engineered Hersey's last scoring drives of 53 and 91 yards. Portenlanger scored on an 11-yard run and Jackson from 3 yards out to end the scoring.