Hersey Football Comes Together For 42-0 Win Over Glenbrook North

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL — Hersey football needed a pick-me-up.

After losing its starting running back Ben Clawson to an ankle injury that he had surgery on this past week, the Huskies came together at practice, working to regroup.

Hersey regrouped just fine in its first game without Clawson, scoring six rushing touchdowns to take down Glenbrook North 42-0 at home on Friday.

“That was a team effort for us,” Hersey coach Joe Pardun said. “We went through a hard week. Ben Clawson going down, such a great kid, just to rally around him and rally around each other was good to see tonight.”

Back-up running back Josh Bontje stepped into Clawson’s shoes with ease at times behind a strong offensive line, rushing for 72 yards and five touchdowns.

He started his day with a 9-yard run on his first carry of the day and capped Hersey’s 96-yard drive with a 13-yard touchdown with 5:28 left in the first quarter, a lead it would never give up.

“He’s hard working, humble, just a team player,” Pardun said of Bontje. “It’s really what he is. He works hard.”

Bontje wasn’t the lone star of the show. Hersey quarterback Jimmy Makuh jump started his team’s first scoring drive with a 57-yard pass to Breyden Smith to move the ball down the field.

The quarterback finished with 202 passing yards, completing 13-of-22 passes.

Hersey scored quickly on its next drive after a 50-yard punt return by Dylan Carlquist gave the Huskies the ball on Glenbrook North’s 6-yard line. After two three-yard runs from Bontje, his team ran out to a 14-0 lead with 1:12 left in the first quarter.

Bontje scored his third touchdown with 1:12 left in the first quarter on a three-yard run and added two more before not playing for most of the fourth quarter with his team holding a 42-0 lead.

While the offense controlled the game’s momentum, Hersey’s defense never allowed Glenbrook North’s offense to gain any. The Spartans finished with 49 total yards of offense after the first half and 72 in the game.

The Spartans sit at 2-2 after the loss and will have a tough test to start its conference slate on Friday: Maine South. A 42-0 loss isn’t exactly how a coach wants to prepare to play a team like Maine South, but the physicality should prepare Glenbrook North players for what they should expect.

“We’re making a lot of mental mistakes right now that we have to clean up quickly,” Glenbrook North coach Matt Purdy said. “We need to carry over what we’re doing on the practice field to the game field. You’re starting to see some of that stuff hurting us. You can’t do that kind of stuff when you play one of the best teams in 7A.”

The win moved Hersey to 4-0 as it will start it’s conference slate hosting Elk Grove on Friday, Sept. 24. Clawson’s future is still uncertain even though Pardun said his running back will miss the next four to five weeks.

In the meantime, Hersey has the talent to pick up the pieces in the meantime, something its head coach wants others to notice.

“I think people, I hope people recognize how well they’re playing,” Pardun said. “They’re playing darn good football right now.”