(Photo by Frank Wojciechowski) caption: DOUBLE DUTY: Hun School football senior David Dudeck heads up the field in a game earlier this fall. Last Friday in a 34-18 win over visiting Lawrenceville, Dudeck made two touchdown receptions at wide receiver in the first half and then took over at quarterback due to injury and rushed for two more scores. Hun, now 4-0 overall and 2-0 in Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL) play, hosts Blair Academy (4-0 overall, 1-0 MAPL) on October 15.

Senior Star Dudeck Performs Double Duty As Hun Football Tops Lawrenceville 34-18

Bill Alden

After starting at quarterback last season for the Hun School football team, Dave Dudeck moved to wide receiver this fall for his final campaign with the program.

Clicking with post-graduate quarterback John Loughery, the 6’0, 190-pound Dudeck put on a clinic in his outside spot last Friday in the first half against visiting Lawrenceville. Showing speed and hands, Dudeck made dazzling touchdown receptions of 19 and 60 yards as Hun built a 21-12 halftime lead over the Big Red.

But with Loughery taking a hard hit late in the second quarter and getting sidelined for the rest of the day as a precautionary measure, Dudeck performed relief duty at his former position.

Not missing a beat, Dudeck triggered the Hun offense with aplomb, scoring on touchdown runs of 29 and 17 yards as Hun pulled away to a 34-18 win and improved to 4-0.

While Dudeck hadn’t taken any snaps this season other than getting a few in Hun’s Wildcat formation, he wasn’t fazed by taking over at quarterback.

“John goes down and I get the call; I am ready and I am fully confident that I can lead this team to a win,” said Dudeck.

“I think the biggest thing is playing each and every play with confidence. If you do that, it will be a lot better for you.”

Although Hun went to a one-dimensional style with Dudeck at the controls, staying with the run, that predictability didn’t hurt the Raiders.

“It was the second half and we had a little bit of a lead there,” said Dudeck. “We were trying to milk the clock a little bit and the run was working so why escape the run.”

With Lawrenceville narrowing the gap to 21-18 in the third quarter. the versatile Dudeck showed his escapability, sprinting 29 yards for a touchdown on a fourth and 10 play as Hun built its lead to 28-18 and never looked back from there.

“I got a good block on the edge and all the fakes went well so I ended up getting into the end zone,” said Dudeck. “I have to give it up to my line and receivers for blocking well on that play.”

In Dudeck’s view, the team’s togetherness was a key to the victory. “We have been getting closer and closer each and every day; we are growing as a family which is awesome to see,” said Dudeck.

“We come out here and work hard. We knew that Lawrenceville was going to be a very good and talented team so this is a big week for us.”

Dudeck’s father, Hun head coach Dave Dudeck, praised his team’s resilience in reflecting on the triumph.

“We have been using that word ‘obstacle’ all season,” said coach Dudeck.

“We had the hurdle of the hurricane and we had to overcome the field. We had penalties; we have had injuries and each time what we try to do is to overcome whichever obstacle that is thrown our way. Today, we unfortunately lost our quarterback at half. The team kind of tightened it up inside and said let’s go get this done for John. They picked it up; we are real proud of the team, They keep ploughing ahead.”

Dudeck was especially proud of how his son handled adversity and stepped up when needed at quarterback.

“I said ‘Dave, OK now you remember everything from being QB last year and he said Dad I got it all, let’s go,’” said a grinning Dudeck.

“He hadn’t taken a snap. This week we will work some different things. Hopefully, John will be back. If not, we will do some things so we will be able to be more multi-dimensional next week.”

The Hun ground game certainly gave the team some good things in the win over Lawrenceville as juniors Kylan Baker, Chris Cardinali, and Abdul-Malik Majeed all ran well.

“I am real proud of Kylan, Chris, and Abdul-Malik and all that blocking that we got in there,” asserted Dudeck.

“Those guys did a heckuva job. Kylan has been fighting through injuries all year. He came out strong today and had a strong game. We are real proud of him for putting it up a notch and getting it done. He plays hard every week, hurt or not. He keeps on coming.”

With a strong Blair (4-0) team coming to visit on October 15, Dudeck knows that his players have to take things up another notch.

“We really do think it could be a special team,” said Dudeck, whose team is 2-0 in Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL) play with Blair at 1-0 in league action. “With the parity in our league and you talk about turnovers, penalties, and injuries. You don’t have a lot of kids; you have to take it week by week. So right now, we are going to enjoy this for a few hours and start looking at the Blair film on Sunday morning.”

The younger Dudeck, for his part, believes the Raiders could ultimately enjoy a MAPL title if they keep that weekly focus.

“Last year left a tough taste in our mouth so everybody has been working hard all offseason and getting ready for this,” said Dudeck.

“For a lot of us, our four years have gone by so fast; it is time to get this. It is Blair week; it is homecoming and it is a big day and that’s where our focus is. Winning the MAPL, of course, has been the team goal but we are setting out one week at a time.”

Return to Previous Sports Story | Return to Top | Go to Calendar