Coming into the season, Hersey High School football coach Mike Mullaney wasn’t ready to admit that his Huskies were on the cusp of a breakout year.
Sure, Mullaney had a talented nucleus returning. But after winning one game in each of his first two seasons as head coach, Mullaney was filled more with apprehension than optimism.
“Coming off two 1-8 seasons, you start to wonder about all sorts of things,” he said. “We knew we had the talent to put it together; it was just a matter of putting it together.”
Mullaney’s Huskies have put it together, all right. After four games this season, Hersey has already collected more wins than it had in its previous two seasons combined. At 3-1 the Huskies have taken virtually everybody by surprise, most notably perennial Mid-Suburban League power Schaumburg and their classmates at school.
“After winning only two games in two years, it’s kind of hard for people in school to believe in us,” said senior quarterback Nick Lussow, a major reason why Hersey is averaging more than 300 yards of offense per game. “It took a little longer, but I think beating Schaumburg [two weeks ago] kind of made people realize we’re not a fluke.”
The Huskies will begin their Mid-Suburban League East schedule Friday when they host Wheeling (0-4) at 7:30 p.m. A victory will not only move Hersey a step closer to earning its first playoff berth since 1998, but also will keep the Huskies in the hunt for the championship in the extremely tight MSL East.
Coming into league play, Buffalo Grove (4-0), Prospect (4-0), Elk Grove (3-1) and Hersey all have legitimate shots at capturing the East title. Buffalo Grove hosts Elk Grove on Saturday, and Prospect hosts Rolling Meadows (0-4) on Friday.
“Any one of the four teams can win it,” Mullaney said.
Team character
The Huskies narrowly missed entering league play undefeated, losing to No. 15 Fremd 41-27 in an exciting MSL crossover game Friday. As it has done all season, Hersey made an impressive comeback against Fremd, erasing a 20-point halftime deficit after Lussow rushed for two touchdowns and passed for another on three consecutive possessions to take a 27-26 lead in the fourth quarter.
But Fremd (4-0) answered with a 93-yard touchdown pass from Steve LaFalce to Jeffrey Mandel with 6:53 remaining, and Mandel iced the game when he returned an interception 20 yards for a TD with 33 seconds left.
“It shows the character of this team,” Mullaney said of Hersey’s comeback. “But at this point we already knew the character of this team. They never feel like they’re out of a game. [Fremd] made the plays at the end; the last two weeks we were the ones making the plays.”
Two weeks ago the Huskies eked out a 40-32 victory over Schaumburg in a contest that featured more twists and turns than a Six Flags thrill ride. Trailing 32-28, Hersey drove to the 1-yard line before Schaumburg stymied a fourth-and-goal play with less than five minutes remaining.
“After not scoring the touchdown, I was just hoping we wouldn’t go down into the dumps,” Mullaney said.
On Schaumburg’s ensuing play, linebacker Ryan Baysinger tackled a Saxons runner in the end zone for a safety. Hersey then drove 70 yards to Schaumburg’s 1-yard line again before Steve Kuehn kicked an 18-yard field goal to give the Huskies a 33-32 lead with 1:33 left. Seth Pietrini sealed the victory with two interceptions, including one he returned 26 yards for a touchdown.
“Our confidence took a giant step forward after that game,” Mullaney said. “I think just the way we won was a confidence builder.”
New attitude
Three weeks ago Hersey edged Palatine 29-28 after scoring 10 points in the final two minutes, capped by Kuehn’s 33-yard field goal with 59 seconds left.
“Perseverance … we know we can come from behind now,” said senior wide receiver Greg Keadle. “We don’t hang our heads. It’s a different mentality from the last couple of years. There’s a whole different attitude, a whole different work ethic. There’s better team chemistry and unity.”
The team’s new mind-set isn’t the only thing that has improved. Mullaney credited the growth of the offensive line, led by seniors Dan Sheehan, Ben Rode and Andy Sheridan, which has given Lussow more time to engineer the Huskies’ pass-oriented offense. Against Schaumburg, Lussow completed 22-of-33 passes for 304 yards and two touchdowns.
“One of the biggest differences from last year is the offensive line,” said Lussow, who has passed for six TDs and rushed for five scores. “The offensive line has improved a ton from last year.”
It also helps that Lussow has a strong receiving corps, including Keadle, Brad Robertson and Mike Chernick.
“It’s a nice feeling to see what I expected to come to fruition,” Mullaney said. “I’m real proud of these kids the way they’ve come around as a team because they really are a team.”
