LOGAN’S RUN: Hun School quarterback Logan Clouse takes off for a run in recent action. Junior transfer Clouse has helped Hun get off to a 1-1 start. The Raiders play at the Haverford School (Pa.) on September 29. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Seeking to test itself against tough competition this fall, the Hun School football team achieved that goal with its first two games.

Hosting Cheshire Academy (Conn.) in its season opener on September 8, Hun rallied from a 14-0 halftime deficit to pull out a 16-14 win. A week later, the Raiders headed to the midwest to face Steubenville High (Ohio), battling hard before succumbing 27-14.

Hun head coach Todd Smith acknowledged that his squad got pushed hard by the two formidable foes.

“The first two weeks were a lot more physical than what we are used to,” said Smith, who is his fifth season guiding the Raiders.

“Since I have been here, those are the two most physical games we have had. We got baptized by fire there early this season.”

Smith liked the fire displayed by his players in the opener against Cheshire as it pulled out a thriller. “We never even had a scrimmage this year; we just went from practice to our first game,” said Smith.

“It took the kids a couple of quarters to figure it out a little bit, the speed, the tempo and to get their feet underneath them. In the second half, I thought we responded really well.”

Senior star running back and North Carolina commit Josh Henderson led the spirited response, scoring one touchdown on a 25-yard run and adding a second score on a 53-yard pass play from junior quarterback Logan Clouse.

“We are breaking in a new offensive line and we have a new quarterback so we have put the brunt of it on Josh’s shoulders,” said Smith.

“He is doing a good job. He had a much better second half against Cheshire than his first half. We were just super excited to see him pick up where he left off last year.”

Clouse’s progress at QB has been exciting to Smith. “Logan is doing a good job managing the game for us, getting us in and out of the huddle, and getting us on the right play call,” said Smith. “We expect him to get better with each week that goes by.”

In the win over Cheshire, senior middle linebacker Ryan Parris helped keep Hun in the game.

“Ryan really solidified things and made some big plays early on for us that prevented the score from getting out of reach,” said Smith.

The big trip to Ohio helped Hun solidify team bonds. “It was a great experience for our kids; we took a bus the night before, stayed in a hotel, woke up the next day and went to play the game,” said Smith.

“There were roughly 7,000 people at the game watching, which was great. Our kids got to see what public school football looks like in Ohio. It is a different world for them with cheerleaders, a marching band, a big stadium, and a jumbotron.”

While the Raiders had a rough first half, falling behind 21-7 by intermission, they kept fighting to the final gun.

“Steubenville had a great game plan; they wore us down and our kids were tired but in the fourth quarter, we had a chance,” said Smith.

“We were down 13 in the fourth quarter and ended up having the ball inside the 30 three separate times and came away with 0 points. We watched the film and we saw that we left some points on the field. We have to do a better job of executing.”

Going forward, Smith is focusing on getting his team to execute the basics.

“I don’t think we have ever had this many new faces, so as coaches we have to learn when to dial it back and just concentrate on what we need,” said Smith.

“We might not be able to get everything we want in a game so we need to make sure that we are really good at what we need to do.”

Smith knows his team will be in another really good battle this Saturday as the Raiders play at the Haverford School (Pa.). “We are going to take this week to work on the things we need to work on and at the same time get our bodies ready and healthy,” said Smith, whose team had a bye week with no game scheduled for September 22.

“We know that historically they are a good program. We are looking forward to getting ready for them and preparing for a good football game.”