Conant 34, Hersey 9

A switch turned on for host Conant once it got into the end zone on Friday night.

The Cougars took advantage of some turnovers, recovered from some penalties and scored on four straight possessions in a 34-9 Mid-Suburban League crossover win against Hersey.

"We'll take it," said Conant coach Bill Modelski, whose team is now 1-3. "We got better. That's what we talk about every week. We want to keep doing that -- that's all we've got to do."

The combination of fullback Scott Zari and quarterback Tom Houle proved very effective for the hosts.

Early in the second quarter, Houle ran 59 yards to set up up Zari's 10-yard touchdown.

The Cougars (1-3) scored on their next three possessions, including 2 touchdown runs by Houle before the half.

"It was a real good team effort," said Houle, who collected 141 yards on 21 carries. "Our line played real great tonight. We put in some new things from the shotgun and that seemed to work for us. We had a really good night up front. It feels good."

Now running, the Cougars didn't lose any momentum after the break. The Huskies (1-3) fumbled the opening kickoff and Conant recovered. On the first play, Zari (16 carries, 109 yards) ran in 38 yards for another TD.

In fact, turnovers plagued the Huskies in the third quarter where they lost 3 fumbles -- two of which resulted in points for the Cougars. The second was an 11-yard toss from Houle to Zari.

"We executed -- but it wasn't always pretty," added Modelski, whose team lost 95 yards on 12 penalties. "I wasn't happy about the penalties -- that stalled us a few times. But our goal was to get better and we did that."

Hersey got on the board with 2:11 left before the half on a steady drive that ended with a 38-yard TD run by Caleb Muir.

In the third, Hersey scored a safety when Brad Carmody tackled Conant's Kendall Lane in the end zone.

The Huskies were effective moving the ball through the air. Quarterback Scott Kinsel was 10-of-14 passing for 140 yards. Bobby Vanderpoel collected 59 yards on 4 catches.

"We can't turn it over like we did," said Hersey coach Mark Gunther, "We started off (and) had some chances. We have to take care of the ball better.

"We'll see how we stick together. It's a good group of kids. Being good and nice -- having good character -- doesn't win games. It doesn't make this feel any better but we'll respond better."