Hersey junior Ben Clawson owned the end zones on Saturday in Rolling Meadows.
The Mustangs couldn’t do anything to keep the junior running back/defensive back out of the end zone on offense, he scored five touchdowns. And Clawson was a ball hawk defensively, swatting down possible huge pass plays, including one in the fourth quarter where he literally knocked what looked like a certain touchdown out of Rolling Meadows’ hands.
“[Rolling Meadows senior Daniel Sobkowicz] is a great wide receiver, I train with him,” Clawson said. “I know he can make those plays. I knew they were going to go to him, he’s their playmaker. So I had to make a play on him.”
Clawson’s heroics helped lead the Huskies to a 40-23 win against the Mustangs. Rolling Meadows had won 18 consecutive regular season games. It’s the 250th win in Hersey history.
“There’s a lot of emotions in me,” Huskies coach Joe Pardun said. “I could barely talk to our kids after. Just the pride. I’ve been here my whole career and when you put your heart into something and the kids do too it is special.”
Clawson had 10 carries for 193 yards and three touchdowns, which included scoring runs of 45 and 98 yards. He caught 11 passes for 131 yards and two touchdowns.
“He was with us last year and he’s one of our leaders,” Pardun said. “Not just because of his skill but because of his attitude and work ethic. I’m really impressed with him and with the way our seniors came out today.”
Clawson clearly had a solid connection with Hersey quarterback Jimmy Makuh, who was excellent in his first start. The junior was 20-for-30 with three touchdowns and no interceptions.
“That’s what we’ve seen from him in practice,” Pardun said. “We were a little jumpy in the first half. We expected everybody would be. But once we settled into our game in the second half there it started to feel more like us. So that was pretty cool.”
Hersey takes a 7-6 lead on Rolling Meadows early in the 2Q on this 19-yard TD pass from Jimmy Makuh to Ben Clawson. pic.twitter.com/u1VKsJHkwI
— Michael O'Brien (@michaelsobrien) March 20, 2021
Hersey (1-0, 1-0 Mid-Suburban League East) led 26-16 after a one-yard TD run by Clawson with 9:30 left in the third quarter.
The Mustangs (0-1, 0-1) weren’t done yet though. Senior Austin Schmidt blocked a punt into the end zone and Collin Fennelly fell on it for a touchdown that pulled Rolling Meadows within 26-22 with 4:24 left in the third quarter.
Makuh found Clawson for a 23-yard touchdown pass four minutes later and then Clawson ripped off his 98-yard touchdown run, which initially looked like it could have been a safety, to seal the win in the fourth quarter.
Noah Wilson had 47 yards rushing for the Mustangs and Charlie Schmidt had 41. Sobkowicz finished with seven receptions for 176 yards and two touchdowns. He caught a 71 and a 54-yard touchdown from senior quarterback Michael Radon, who was 13-for-24 for 262 yards.
“It’s the first week and they know some of our guys and we know them but you don’t know all the weapons,” Pardun said. “[Sobkowicz] was fantastic in the first half and really what we expected him to be. He’s hard to shut down. And [Radon], we knew he was an athlete but he got out and made some really impressive plays. We knew coming here wasn’t going to be easy with so many factors and emotions.”
