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Hun Football Breaks Out of Skid By Rolling Past Peddie 41-25
By Bill Alden
With his Hun School football team having dropped two straight after a 3-0 start, head coach Dave Dudeck decided to lighten things up a bit as he prepared his charges for their clash at Peddie last Saturday.
"The loss to Lawrenceville was emotional, I think that carried over into the Blair game," explained Dudeck. "We decided to keep it fun in practice last week and loosen things up. We had been real intense on them since preseason and we wanted to give them the chance to smell the roses."
Utilizing a refreshed outlook, the Raiders were rolling almost from the moment they got off the bus as they raced out to a 21-0 lead. Things got a little dicey as the Falcons narrowed the gap to 34-25 but an 85-yard touchdown run by Junior Jabbie in the waning moments closed the deal as Hun went home with a sweet 41-25 triumph.
"We showed up emotionally ready to play," said Dudeck, who acknowledged that his team was motivated by the memory of last year's 23-22 loss to Peddie which saw Hun stopped on the goal line on the last play in a loss which prevented the Raiders from winning the Mid-Atlantic Prep League title. "On Saturday, we created our opportunities. Offense, defense, and special teams all made plays."
In Dudeck's view, the defense provided the foundation for Saturday's victory which improved the Raiders to 4-2. "We had a really good defensive effort." said Dudeck.
"It may not look like it since we gave up 25 points but we played a bend-not-break style. Taylor Dodd played real well in the middle. Jabbie had a great game, he went coast-to-coast with an interception and made some big plays in the fourth quarter."
Jabbie also provided a major spark on the offensive side of the ball as he ran for 180 yards on 13 carries. "He really stepped up his game," said Dudeck, who also got an 85-yard rushing performance from Emir Davis.
"He had a great week of practice. He's had some nagging bumps and bruises which seem to have cleared up. We really ran the ball well, I've got to credit the offensive line, Danny Hudacko and Bryan Severance had huge games for us."
While loosening the reins may have helped his squad, Dudeck believes the win was the product of the team's serious desire to excel. "We have a bunch of kids who really, really care and they didn't want to see the season slip away," said Dudeck, who hadn't posted a win over Peddie prior to Saturday. "This was a real team win. You could see that when Rich Weidel had a big special teams hit that caused a fumble which Tom Monfiletto recovered."
With Hun facing a stiff challenge as it travels to Caldwell High on October 25, Dudeck believes his team can carry over the energy it showed on Saturday.
"They throw a lot at you, we'll be prepared," asserted Dudeck as he looked ahead to Saturday's matchup. "We're looking to win out in our last three games, the kids will be excited."
