In the second game of the season, the Hersey Huskies fell to the Fremd Vikings in a close battle, 14-7.
“I thought we fought hard,” head coach Dragan Teonic said. “With the amount of talent that they have, a 14 to 7 win doesn’t mean much; I’ll take what we had, our guys scramble, our guys fought hard.”
The Huskies (1-1) were coming off a , got off to a slow start on offense Friday night, punting the ball away on a couple of possessions and throwing an interception.
The Vikings (1-?) took advantage of the four and out possessions, with sophomore Darius Burchett scoring on a 20-yard run, putting the first points of the game on the scoreboard.
As the second quarter begun, the Huskies were still sluggish in their offensive attack but did string together a few completed passes. The Vikings would use their run game to march down the field, which led to a short pass for a Vikings touchdown, taking a two score lead over the Huskies.
The Huskies, however, had a run game of their own, with senior Quinn Orlandi leading the charge with tough runs leading to first downs and a touchdown pass to number 10. The score came late in the second quarter and the Huskies would not score again.
“I thought we made some mental mistakes; two drop passes in the first half,” said Teonic. “They got us on trick formation on the first touchdown, did a nice job on a slant route for the second touchdown.”
Coach Teonic used the momentum built from the touchdown pass and decided to go for an onside kick, which was successful but did not lead to any points for the Vikings.
In the second half, both teams went back and forth, playing tough defense and not allowing each other score.
At the start of the fourth quarter, the Vikings tried for a field goal but it was no good, giving another chance for the Huskies to tie the game. “Super” Mario Thomas gave the huskies new life, gaining two first downs but a holding call and a sack, slowed their comeback efforts.
Tough-nose defense did keep the Huskies chances alive, as they pushed the Vikings back, causing them to punt on a third and long possession. With only a couple of minutes left in regulation, the Huskies could not advance the ball.
Teonic said his team has some work to do but proud of how the team battled Friday night.
“We have to get some toughness going on offense and defensively, we have to be sound and making sure we understand the balance and unbalance of formations,” he said.
Next week, the (2-0) at home Friday night at 7 p.m.
