Hersey moves to 2-0 with win over Palatine
Welcomed back to its home field with packed stands at Roland Goins Stadium on Friday night, Hersey's football team led start to finish in a 31-24 triumph over Palatine.
Running back Ben Clawson had the Huskies' fans cheering all evening as he raced for 146 yards and scored all 4 of his team's touchdowns.
The other points came off the foot of Carson Koclanis, who booted a 28-yard field goal in the third quarter.
The path to victory wasn't complete until Sam Nudo secured an onside kick with 1:37 remaining.
Hersey quarterback Jimmy Makuh then ran three kneel-down plays to ring up the Huskies' second win of the fall football season.
"I told the kids this is a darn good 2-0," said Hersey coach Joe Pardun. "We've had two tough games. I'm honestly impressed with their maturity and their competitiveness."
Makuh tossed TD passes of 31 and 17 yards to Clawson for Hersey's first two scores and a 14-0 lead.
Clawson, who had a pair of 5 touchdown games last spring, then had TD runs of 16 yards (second quarter) and 3 yards (early in the fourth). Teammate Josh Bontje rushed for 78 yards.
"Those guys (Bontje, Clawson and Makuh) just do a good job at keeping their composure and competing," Pardun added.
They were doing their work behind linemen Ryan Dempsey, Miki Jokanovic, Tyler Pflomm, Alex Jelaca and Zach Ott.
"The line did a good job," Pardun said. "I'm so proud to have coaches Rup (Joe Rupslauk) and (Chris) Riley working with our offensive line. They've done a heck of a job bringing these guys along."
"We knew Palatine (0-2) was a good team and had some talented players," Clawson said. "I owe everything to my offensive line."
Sophomore Dom Ball, who was limited to action in the final quarter due to cramping late in the game, raced 41 yards for the Pirates' first TD in the second quarter. He also scored on a 3-yard run late in the third quarter.
Quarterback Grant Dersnah threw a 21-yard TD strike to Iowa recruit Jake Bostick to get Palatine to within 31-21 with 6: 55 left.
A 33-yard field grove by Bobby Widlowski made it 31-24 with 1:39 left when Hersey then recovered the onside kick.
"We'll give credit to Hersey," said Palatine coach Corey Olson. "That's a good football team. There is no question about it. They are very well coached on both sides of the ball. The biggest thing encouraging me about my team is that these kids fought their tails off. We talked about wanting to be in the game with an opportunity to win in the fourth quarter and we had a chance to tie with an onside kick."
"Jake Bostick stepped up and I thought Grant played better this week. Our defense played really hard and I was pleased that we didn't give up anything big over the top. We're excited to look at what we did, where we can improve and get ready to play at Evanston next week."