Undefeated Hersey tunes up for Prospect showdown by blanking Rolling Meadows
The Hersey football team and University of Kentucky-bound quarterback Jake Nawrot were ready for action from the opening kickoff on senior night against Rolling Meadows on Friday night.
The No. 3-ranked Class 7A Huskies (8-0, 4-0) jumped all over the Mustangs for a 27-0 lead after one quarter before rolling to a 48-0 Mid-Suburban League East victory.
"We go at it hard every day. The kids are hungry to play when they get their chance, and this is their night so that's the standard," said Hersey coach Tom Nelson, whose team is ranked No. 1 in the Daily Herald Top 20.
"We've got a really good group of seniors so obviously the best way to show them respect is to play really hard with no regrets and I think we did that tonight."
Nawrot (15-for-21, 198 yards passing) threw touchdown passes of one yard to Josh Riggs, 16 yards to Jackson Travis, and four yards to Jaxson Saint Paul to put Rolling Meadows (2-6, 1-3) in a very quick 19-0 deficit.
Then Nawrot hit Saint Paul with a 16-yard TD pass before a one-yard TD run by Travis (121 yards rushing on nine carries) staked Hersey to a commanding 34-0 halftime lead.
"It's a great football team over there, hats off to them, they did a good job of competing and catching us in some of the wrong spots," said Rolling Meadows coach Devonte Amos.
"Our kids have fight. That is what we preach to them day in and day out that the scoreboard doesn't matter. Your character on the field, how you act and how you respond are all of the messages that these kids are getting and they are going to compete until the end of the game."
Travis added a TD run of 11 yards as the game was played with a running clock from 8:52 of the third quarter on. A TD pass from Levi McEwen to Josh McEwen closed out the scoring with seven minutes to play.
Nawrot and the Huskies have a big showdown at Prospect next week before they start to prepare for the IHSA playoffs. Eventual state runner-up St. Rita eliminated Hersey from the playoffs in the quarterfinals last year in Arlington Heights.
Rolling Meadows quarterback Gavin Prickett was 6-for-10 for 53 yards passing, but he did not return to the game after getting injured in the second quarter. Senior Luke Harvey led the Mustangs with 44 yards on 12 rushes.
"Our preparation showed tonight. It's a great group of guys, and our offensive line did an amazing job," said Nawrot, whose team hit their season-average of 48 points in the contest. "We want to keep practicing hard, give it all we've got, and I've got a good feeling about what we can do."