Hersey junior Ben Clawson’s five touchdowns help snap Rolling Meadows’ 18-game regular-season winning streak

Hersey junior Ben Clawson owned the end zones Saturday in Rolling Meadows.

The Mustangs couldn’t do anything to keep the junior running back/defensive back from scoring on offense: He had five touchdowns. And Clawson was a ballhawk defensively, swatting down potentially huge pass plays, including one in the fourth quarter in which he knocked 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 victory. Rolling Meadows had won 18 consecutive regular-season games. It was 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 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 (1-0, 1-0 Mid-Suburban League East) led 26-16 after a one-yard touchdown 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 to 26-22 with 4:24 left in the third quarter.

Makuh found Clawson for a 23-yard touchdown pass four minutes later, then Clawson ripped off his 98-yard run, which initially looked like it could have been a safety, to seal the win in the fourth quarter.

Noah Wilson had 47 rushing yards for the Mustangs, and Charlie Schmidt had 41. Sobkowicz finished with seven receptions for 176 yards. He caught 71- and 54-yard touchdown passes 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.”