Hersey handles Wheeling
Hersey coach Joe Pardun felt Wheeling had all the momentum in Friday night's Mid-Suburban East contest as Huskies kicker Will Trossen lined up for a 41-yard field goal attempt on fourth-and-7 with under a minute to go in the first half.
At the time, Hersey led 14-7. Wheeling called a timeout, though, and Pardun changed his mind. After the timeout, Pardun sent his offense back onto the field, which picked up a first down when quarterback Eric Portenlanger connected with Trossen for a 10-yard gain. Two plays later, Portenlanger found Cole Monckton in the end zone from 14 yards out to give Hersey a 21-7 lead at the half.
The Huskies tacked on two more scores in the second half to win 35-14, and set up a chance to earn a share of the MSL East title next week against Rolling Meadows.
"I was thinking about it, and a I just changed my mind," Pardun said. "I told my kids going into the half I felt like they picked me up. Getting the momentum back for us was a big deal."
Portenlanger paced the Hersey (5-3, 3-1) offense by completing 10-of-14 passes for 182 yards and 3 touchdowns. He also ran for 34 yards and a touchdown.
"I have to give a shout out to the offensive line today," Portenlanger said. "Three people stepped up big, and we were running all over them."
Portenlanger singled out Sean Johlie, Clayton Smith and Anthony Ryan as the offensive lineman who stepped up for the Huskies. Also paving the way for the 152 team rushing yards the Huskies complied were Spencer Kruger, Austin Kane and Mitch Carlisle.
Portenlanger's favorite target on the evening was Monckton, who had 6 catches for 141 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Defensively, the Huskies forced two turnovers, one of which was a fumble recovered by Vlad Pavlenko on Wheeling's first drive of the second half that helped continue the game rolling in Hersey's favor.
"I picked up the fumble. I didn't really do anything. It was a linebacker blitz that knocked it out. I just picked it up," Pavlenko said. "Our focus out of the half was to win the turnover battle, and we started off the second half one up. It was good that we stopped them, but it was better that we got the turnover. It was icing on the cake."
Running back Isaac Branch led the way for the Wheeling (3-5, 1-3) offense with 145 rushing yards on 16 carries. Quarterback Amani Dennis completed 15-of-23 passes for 137 yards and threw 2 touchdowns to receiver Max Chung. Dennis also rushed for 75 yards on 17 carries.
"You hope they want to come back and win each game," Wheeling coach Brent Pearlman said of next week's game for Wheeling. "It doesn't matter if it's the last game or the first game. You hope they want to come back and win because they have pride and they put a ton of work in. You think they want to win regardless of circumstance because of the pride they have in themselves and their teammates."