Daudelin twins do their part in Addison Trail win at York
After the Addison Trail football team's 14-7 victory at York Friday, did Nick or Vince Daudelin deserve bigger bragging rights?
The junior twins played prominent roles on opposites sides of the ball. For Nick, the starting quarterback, the answer was pretty easy.
"I don't know. We both played good," Nick said. "I'd give it to the defense. The whole defense played really good. They bailed us out."
The Blazers' defense stopped the Dukes' impressive drive to begin the game as free safety Vince Daudelin made probably a touchdown-saving tackle at the 2-yard line on fourth-and-goal. He later had a fumble recovery at the Blazers' 21 on the next series and broke up a halfback option pass into the end zone early in the fourth quarter.
Nick Daudelin threw a 67-yard touchdown pass to senior Christian Cici 15 seconds before halftime. The Blazers (2-0) then opened the second half with a 73-yard TD drive. Senior Nick D'Ambrose turned Daudelin's screen pass into a 29-yard scoring play and 14-0 advantage.
"That (goal-line stand) was huge. That (first TD) was a momentum swing we needed," Addison Trail coach Paul Parpet Jr. said.
"First and foremost, it was a hard-fought victory. I thought our defense played exceptional. We stopped them on the first drive, we can't get anything going on offense, we make something happen right before the first half and we came out in the second half and just moved the ball right down the field."
York (0-2) scored its first TD of the season on a 1-yard keeper by quarterback David Leonard with 2:47 left. With 1:35 left the Blazers faced fourth-and-inches at their 41, but they went for it and Nick Daudelin's 43-yard keeper secured their running out the clock.
The Dukes hampered themselves with seven enforced penalties, beginning with an illegal formation on their opening drive after KeVon Robinson scored from the 1 on fourth down. A later long run by Grant Melion was nullified by one of four accepted holding penalties.
"Overall we played really well from New Trier (a 31-0 loss). It was kind of the same note. We can't dig ourselves out of holes when we have a lot of penalties," York coach Matt Monken said. "I love their effort, though. It's hard to get down of them when they're playing so hard and they make a mistake."
The Daudelins were busy with their respective units to enjoy each others' successes. Last year they were both on offense with Vince playing wide receiver.
"I'm fine with just playing defense. Whatever is better for the team," Vince Daudelin said. "I think both games were good for me. The whole defense played great, giving up one touchdown in two weeks, that's great, pretty impressive."
The Blazers' Jack Domek followed Vince Daudelin's pass breakup with a sack at the 22 with a declined holding penalty. Angelo Pahapos ended the previous drive with an interception at the 11.
Nick Daudelin's first TD pass came after he converted a gutsy fourth-and-1 draw at the 39 but then was sacked on the following play.
"I just got up right after that," Nick Daudelin said. "(Cici) was wide open down the middle of the field. I just saw him open, a great route. The line blocked perfectly good on that. That was a huge momentum swing."