Hersey keeps piling up points, wins
While playing shortstop on his sophomore baseball team last spring, Hersey football coach Joe Pardun really got to know then-freshman Ben Clawson.
On Friday night in Northbrook, Glenbrook North fans got to know Clawson, too - as a pretty talented wide receiver.
Clawson caught 3 touchdown passes which helped Hersey overcome a 14-0 deficit and then go on to a 42-24 triumph over the Spartans in the nonconference game.
Huskies senior quarterback Jordan Hansen didn't miss a beat from his golden start this season, running for 42, 67 and 18-yard TDs and throwing TD strikes of 43, 19 and 37 yards, all to Clawson.
The third TD toss to the sophomore put the Huskies in command 28-17 with 8:33 left in the third quarter.
"Ben is a great kid," said Pardun, whose team is 4-0. "I got to see what kind of competitor he was in baseball last spring and what an athlete he was. I got to know him and I think that's helped a lot."
Clawson, who now has 7 TDs, played running back on the freshman team a year ago.
"I played a receiver in the 'Seven-on-Seven' passing league this past summer and a spot opened up for me," Clawson said. "I kind of like wide receiver more because I get to work with more space. I can get myself open and Jordan gets me the ball."
A 62-yard TD run by Mike Ciss and a 20-yard pass from Dylan Buckner to Ciss gave the Spartans a 14-0 lead less than six minutes into the game.
"I told the kids this week that we haven't seen too much adversity this season and we got a got a little bit tonight," Pardun said. "I was proud of the way the kids and the coaching staff responded. That's what it is all about. I had fun tonight."
It was the first loss for Glenbrook North.
"That's a darn good football team we just played," Pardun said. "They weren't 3-0 for no reason. That offense was clicking for the them. They had us on our heels but our offense always seems to respond. When we got the first one, I think everyone felt 'ok, it's not 14-0 anymore', and we just went from there."
Hansen, working behind his line of Tommy Cortese, Austin Korba, Trevor Schutz, Campbell Breiler, Matthew Mysza and Ryan Gudaitis, rushed for 274 yards and threw for another 154, including 4 receptions by Clawson for 115 yards.
"We just had all new schemes based off their defense and we just had to execute them, Clawson said. "Our RPOs (run/pass options) really gets us open,"
"It's all about getting the right guys the touches and Ben uses them well," Pardun said. "He helps Jordan and the rest of the offense. Putting him at receiver just seemed like a good fit."
Just like Hansen has been the perfect fit at QB after playing running back last year on Pardun's varsity.
"By far, one of the best we've seen," said Spartans coach Matt Purdy of Hansen, who has thrown or passed for 21 TDs this season. "He's talented. He's a dual quarterback and at the high school level, if you can get a quarterback who can run and pass in the fashion he can, it's difficult to contain. You have to have 11 guys doing everything right all the time to keep him in the pocket."
The Huskies' defense got interceptions from Hansen, Alex Kaburov and Sam Mayo.
"It was good to see us get the ball like that because we haven't done that so far," Pardun said. "And they came at good times."