Conveniently, Hersey handles Prospect
Hersey's No. 7 and 11 hardly made things convenient for Prospect defenders on Saturday night.
Senior Matt Abfall, who wears No. 7, caught 7 passes for 155 yards (2 for touchdowns) from quarterback Owen Goldsberry (No. 11) to help visiting Hersey to a 36-16 victory on homecoming night at George Gattas Memorial Stadium in Mt. Prospect.
Abfall's first TD came on an 80-yard bomb, just one play from scrimmage after Prospect had tied the game at 7-7 on Brandon Onori's 2-yard TD run with 6:41 left in the second quarter.
After Jack Pruban's kickoff resulted in a touchback, Goldsberry threw a long pass to Abfall who caught the ball in stride near the Prospect 36-yard-line and went on to the end zone untouched giving Hersey (3-4, 2-1) the lead for good in the Mid-Suburban East game.
Goldsberry and Abfall also hooked up on a 10-yard TD pass that sealed the verdict with 5:44 left for the game's final points.
"Those two just connect well," said Hersey coach Joe Pardun. "They did it all summer. One's a junior (Goldsberry) and the other a senior, but they're close friends."
Goldsberry finished with 275 passing yards and rushed for 108.
"We just have a connection," said Goldsberry, a Thomas Middle School (Arlington Heights) graduate talking about his receiver Abfall, who attended River Trails Middle School in Mt. Prospect. "We've been working together since the end of last season. Her runs great routes and he is s smart football player. He makes it easy for me."
And Goldsberry didn't forgot what also makes it easy.
"The o-line (Luke Schmiederer, Brendan Watson, Daniel Reszkowski, Will Ebert, Bobby Szymanski) gives us the time," he said "Without them, we can't do that."
After a big third down defensive play by Mantas Konstantino forced a Prospect punt, Hersey took over at its own 40 with under six minutes left in the first quarter.
Goldsberry started the 60-yard scoring drive (14 plays) with an 18-yard scramble and capped it with his own 1-yard TD run with 7.2 second left in the period for a 7-0 lead.
Pruban's 33-yard field goal got Prospect (3-4, 1-2) to within 14-10 at half but Hersey surged ahead 28-10 with 2 touchdowns to start the third quarter.
Goldsberry's interception gave the Huskies the ball at Prospect's 32-yard line and led to the first TD.
Hersey needed just one trick play, a 32-yard reverse by Zach Blevins which made it 21-10 after Scott Tangney's kick.
Four plays later, it was Abfall's turn to show his defensive prowess, picking off a pass that led to another TD (Luke Cecala also had an interception for Hersey).
Starting at its own 40 after Abfall's interception, the Huskies' scoring drive included two 9-yard receptions by Blevins and ended with Nick Wiley's 1-yard TD run for the 28-10 cushion.
Prospect went 72 yards for its second TD, a 31-yard, tackle-evading run up the middle by Michael Shafis, The sophomore had defenders draped all over him as he reached the end zone with 38.3 seconds left in the third quarter.
"We've got to be more consistent on offense," said Prospect coach Mike Sebestyen. "That didn't help our defense, putting it in some tough positions."
Senior Chase Cummings helped the Knights' offense, grabbing 6 catches from junior QB Nick Ergastolo for 75 yards.
"I thought he (Cummings) did a nice job making simple plays which is all you can ask," Sebestyen said. "It was nice to see Nick and Chase connecting."
And Hersey had its connection of Goldsberry and Abfall.
"It's really our first year playing together," Abfall said. "And we are just trying to make the best of it."