Hersey lights up the scoreboard but can’t slow St. Rita in quarterfinal defeat

No. 16-seeded host Hersey put up a good fight against No. 25 St. Rita Saturday afternoon in the IHSA Class 7A state football quarterfinals.

But in the end, the Huskies just could not contain the Mustangs' high-powered offense as St. Rita posted a 56-42 victory in a real shootout of a game in Arlington Heights.

The Mustangs (8-4) will host No. 13 Batavia in the semifinals next Saturday while Hersey closes out its season with a 9-3 record.

Leading 35-28 after a wild first half of play, the Mustangs (8-4) got a 2-yard TD run from quarterback Steven Armbruster (8-for-9, 261 yards passing) before the extra point by Saul Ruiz boosted the lead to 42-28.

There was no more scoring until Armbruster hit Langston Smith with a 50-yard TD pass to boost the lead to 49-28 with 8:14 to play.

Hersey quarterback Jake Nawrot (20-for-27, 319 yards, 4 touchdown passes) had his pass intercepted by James Franklin on the ensuing possession. And moments later St. Rita's Damon Sutton (90 yards on 8 carries) broke off a 26-yard TD run to give his squad a commanding 56-28 lead with 6:59 to play.

The Mustangs ground game also got 128 yards on 21 carries from Brandon Johnson while Hersey senior Brandon Jenkins had a big game with 149 yards on 24 rushes and 4 touchdowns.

"They're a great team, give them the credit, and we struggled to stop the run," said Hersey coach Tom Nelson, whose team had won nine games in a row. "If you would have told me we scored 42 points and lost by two touchdowns I would have said that's a pipe dream."

Hersey tried to make a late comeback as Nawrot threw 9-yard TD passes to Jenkins with 3:06 to play and Jackson Wilder with 30 seconds to play to account for the final score.

The first half was a back-and-forth affair as Johnson scored on a 5-yard run to open the scoring. Luke Casey caught a 35-yard play-action TD pass from Nawrot before Jack Mau's extra point tied the score at 7-7.

St. Rita never trailed as Smith scored on a 10-yard run before Jenkins' 11-yard TD run tied the score at 14-14. Then Walter Jones caught a 62-yard TD pass before Jenkins answered with a 1-yard TD score to tie the game at 21-21.

St. Rita's big-play offense struck again when Jones' 79-yard TD catch made the score 28-21 only to see Jenkins with a 60-yard catch and run tying the game at 28-28. Armbruster scored on a back-breaking, 1-yard keeper just 1.2 seconds before halftime for a 35-28 lead.

"They (Hersey) have a very dynamic offense and they got us disorganized in the first half," said St. Rita coach Martin Hopkins. "The kids did a good job after halftime with our communication on defense. Our run game has been doing a great job the last couple of weeks. It was great to see the guys being ready when their number was called, and our quarterback has been playing well."

Nawrot ran for 45 yards on 6 attempts while Smith had 28 yards on 4 carries. This was the Huskies' sixth trip to the quarterfinals, and their first since 1998. Hersey captured the Class 6A state football championship in 1987.