Hersey's all-around effort leads to 44-0 win

Consistent and sometimes spectacular play on both sides of the ball led Hersey to a big win on Friday night at Elk Grove.

The Huskies scored 24 first-half points and cruised to a 44-0 Mid-Suburban East victory.

Five different Huskies found the end zone in the win, and the Hersey defense twice held Elk Grove without a score inside the 10-yard line with a couple of impressive goal line stands.

"Feels great," said Hersey's Scott Tangney, when asked how it felt to be 4-1, including 1-0 in the East. "Shows that all the hard work we put in during the summer has really paid off."

Hersey spent some time moving backward in the first half, thanks to 12 penalties in the initial 24 minutes.

But the Huskies moved forward a great deal as well, and they excelled on third down to keep drives alive on all four first-half scores.

First, a 17-yard catch by Kacper Rutkiewicz on third down led to a 30-yard field goal from Tangney on the Huskies' opening drive.

Then a 9-yard run on a key third down by Luke Cecala paced the Huskies on another drive, finished off by a 1-yard TD run by Owen Goldsberry.

Next Hersey had the ball at third and 15 from its own 15 when Goldsberry found Rutkiewicz with a 20-yard strike. Cecala finished off the march with a 29-yard sweep for a TD.

Luke Picchiotti closed out the first half with a 41-yard touchdown run, after Cecala had kept the drive alive with a tough 5-yard third-down run.

"We were looking for momentum in the first half," said Hersey coach Joe Pardun, "But a lot of penalties hurt us. To our guys' credit, they really picked each other up."

Elk Grove played well in the first half and had its best chance to score in the opening quarter when a 62-yard run by Genio Hyppolite brought the ball to the Hersey 3-yard line.

But the Huskies defense, led by Colton Kamysz, pushed Elk Grove back and then blocked a Grens' field goal attempt.

Hersey put the game away with 2 touchdowns in the third quarter.

First Cecala scored on an 11-yard run, then Sean Watters caught a 58-yard touchdown bomb from Goldsberry.

Vince Carso had the final TD for Hersey, a 46-yard scamper in the fourth quarter while Grens quarterback Charlie Janczak drove Elk Grove to the Hersey 9 on the next possession.

But the drive stalled again as Janczak was sacked for a 5-yard loss on fourth down to preserve the shutout.

Hyppolite finished with 128 yards on the ground for Elk Grove (0-5, 0-1).

Hersey was led in rushing by Cecala, who had 12 carries for 111 yards, while teammate Rutkiewicz caught 5 passes for 73 yards.

Watters also had 5 catches good for 100 yards.

"Our coaches put in a good game plan," Pardun said. "We knew coming in we had a tough opponent. Elk Grove has played a tough schedule, and they're very well-coached."

"I give our kids a lot of credit. They came out and executed tonight and played consistent the entire way. We feel like we've got a complete football team and we've just got to continue to pick each other up."