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Rolling Meadows competes East run

Asher O'Hara helped run Rolling Meadows to Mid-Suburban East title and a playoff bid Friday in Rolling Meadows.

Asher, a junior quarterback, rushed for a career-high 118 yards and a touchdown and threw for two others as the Mustangs held off Hersey 26-21.

"It just happened, I ran," O'Hara said. "I watched a lot of film this week and I saw how the ends came up. And I just read it. It was real simple."

With the victory, Rolling Meadows (6-3,4-1) won the MSL East for then fourth consecutive year. They also clinched a playoff for the fifth consecutive year and the 12th in the last 13 years.

"Our kids really battled," Rolling Meadows coach Matt Mishler said. "This is what the kids wanted. A conference title and the playoffs. And we made that."

With the victory, Meadows ended the season for not just Hersey (4-5, 3-2), but Wheeling as well. Even though Wheeling gets a share of the MSL East title with their 4-1 conference record, Wheeling does not get a state playoff bid because the Wildcats lose the IHSA tiebreaker because Meadows beat Wheeling earlier this season.

Meadows must have had that on their mid in the first half when the Mustangs were able to dominate play.

With O'Hara running the read option to perfection and the Meadows offense line of Thomas Larson, David Murphy, Andrew Neville, Grant Palmer and Jake Maloney opening holes, the Mustangs piled up 160 rushing yards in the first half.

And thanks to an O'Hara touchdown run of 7 yards and another scoring run of 16 yards by Nick Delporte, Meadows led 12-0 late in the first quarter.

But Hersey came right back to close to 12-7 on a wheel route by Daniel Blair, who caught a 64-yard touchdown pass from Tommy Jackson.

"I felt real good about the first half," Mishler said. "But I thought we left some things out there too. And in the second half, their defense really clamped down."

But before Hersey's defense could clamp completely down, O'Hara and Luka Pavlakis did some damage. They connected on a 14-yard touchdown pass early in the third quarter and then on a sweet 69-yards rushing where Pavlakis outdueled 3 Hersey defenders to catch the ball and then out ran off of them to make it 26-7 with 2:42 left in the third quarter.

"I talked to O'Hara before the play," Pavlakis said. "I told him that when he scrambles, they lay off of me. Then on the next play, he scrambled. I caught the ball and began to run even though I felt my leg hurt. But I made it."

But Hersey refused to go away.

Hersey went 70 yards in 8 plays and closed to 26-14 with 11:48 to play on a 2-yard run by Jackson.

And after a defensive stop, Hersey then moved the ball the Mustangs' one-yard line. But Rolling Meadows defense, led by Maciej Pogorzelski, Jack Lincoln, Teddy Golaris, Palmer and Ryan Golbeck, stuffed the Huskies on the next 3 plays.

But Hersey still did not go away. They scored after a short punt on a 14-yard pass from Jackson (11-of-24, 201 yards) to Daniel Sklaerzewski to make it 26-21 with 4:19 to play.

Meadows tried to run out the clock and twice O'Hara converted on third down to keep the ball for his team and the clock running. But on fourth down at the Hersey 40, Meadows failed to convert and turned the ball over with 39 seconds left.

Hersey tried to move the ball downfield,with no timeouts remaining. But the clock ran out of them at the Meadows' 36.

"I knew these kids would never quit," Hersey coach Joe Pardun said. "I knew they would keep fighting. It was hard to look them in the eye right now because they were so upset. They invested in something and we are all proud of that."

Images: Rolling Meadows over Hersey,26-21 in Football

  Hersey's Daniel Blair takes on Rolling Meadows' Ryan Golbeck at midfield while struggling for yardage in the first half at Rolling Meadows. Mark Welsh/mwelsh@dailyherald.com
  Rolling Meadows' Luka Pavlakis pulls in a one-handed reception from quarterback O'Hara in the second quarter to set up a Mustangs touchdown against Hersey. Mark Welsh/mwelsh@dailyherald.com
  Rolling Meadows quarterback L Asher O'Hara passes under pressure from Hersey's Spencer Krueger in the second quarter at Rolling Meadows. Mark Welsh/mwelsh@dailyherald.com
  Rolling Meadows' Michael Dellorto battles Hersey's Sebastian Jackowski for a pass in the second quarter; the pass was broken up by Hersey. Mark Welsh/mwelsh@dailyherald.com
  Rolling Meadows' Nicholas Delporte sheds Hersey defenders, including Jordan Edwards, for a second-quarter touchdown run. Mark Welsh/mwelsh@dailyherald.com
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