Henry Duda no doubt put a scare into everyone wearing green and white when he went down holding his knee in the third quarter after one of his 31 carries Friday night.
But York‘s senior running back would later return to cap off his special night and lead the visiting Dukes to a 28-18 win over Hinsdale Central.
[ Photo store: York at Hinsdale Central football ]
Duda accounted for 314 yards of total offense – 216 rushing and 98 receiving – to go along with a trio of touchdowns for York (5-1, 3-0), which won its fifth game in a row while tying Glenbard West atop the West Suburban Silver conference.
“I’m all good,” said Duda, when asked about his health. “It starts with our guys up front. I’ve known them my whole life. They are the biggest part of my success. Without those guys I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing. When you are facing a team like that, you have to be able to rely on your line.
“Everything starts with the chemistry we’ve built as a group. A lot of us have played together for so long and we also have a lot of juniors stepping up. It’s also about the culture that our coaches have created here. We pride ourselves on working hard and dedicating ourselves in the offseason. That’s the key to our success.”
Quarterback Dominic Alfano tossed a pair of TD passes, one that went for 75 yards to Duda on a screen and the other a 38-yarder to Hunter Stepinach on a fourth-down flea-flicker with the Dukes clinging to a 21-18 lead with 9:13 left.
On that play, Duda took the handoff and gave the ball to wide receiver Colby Baird on the reverse, who then pitched the ball back to Alfano, who found Stepinach streaking down the right sideline.
“I have to be honest, I was as surprised as you to see that (play) signal come in on fourth down,” said Alfano, who finished 14 of 22 through the air for 273 yards. “But there is no better time to pull it out and I’m so glad it worked out for us.
“Our game plan coming in was to lean on our guys up front, our five on their five, and then we had Duda running behind them. And the coaches also put me in the right spot to make a few plays. Amazing preparation and then amazing execution led us to the victory. This game we were fighting for the playoffs, one message coming in was we hadn’t earned anything yet. This was a prove-it game and we went out and proved it against a really solid team.”
York’s defense stepped up in the second half, holding the Red Devils (4-2, 1-2) off the scoreboard over the final two quarters while limiting them to 86 total yards during that span. Matt Young had an interception.
“Our kids have been through so much,” York coach Don Gelsomino said. “They are learning and getting better. (Hinsdale Central QB Riley) Contreras is a heck of a football player. His first start was against us four years ago and he’s been tough to go against ever since.
“Not everything is going to go your way in a football game, and I thought we responded well to the adversity. Our defense really stepped up to the challenge in the second half.”
Contreras finished with 251 yards passing, connecting with James Skokna on an 80-yard score that made the score 14-10 in the second quarter. He later found Jack Lesniewicz for a 12-yard touchdown and the ensuing two-point conversion to bring Hinsdale Central within 21-18 at half.
Skokna caught five passes for 143 yards and Lesniewicz had six receptions for 64 yards. Patrick Connors had a pair on interceptions on defense and Owen Sunderson recovered a fumble.
“It’s about execution,” Hinsdale Central coach Brian Griffin said. “They executed at a higher level, they are confident, give kudos to them. We have to get it fixed and that’s my job.
“I thought our defense came out and played a gritty second half. I thought our offense played gritty in the first half. We have stretches at a high level but it is about finding ways to do it consistently. That’s a good program over there that does it consistently.”