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SPORTS
THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND
9/6 – 9/7/14
STYLE & SUBSTANCE
Rudman’s spin move one of many highlights in HP’s win over LFA
■ by bill mcclean
sports@northsoreweekend.com Tommy Rudman was part Mikhail Baryshnikov, part Barry Sanders on a football field last weekend. The Highland Park High School senior linebacker/slot receiver spun elegantly and effectively during his 20-yard interception return for a touchdown in HP’s 41-10 defeat of visiting Lake Forest Academy on Aug. 29. The “pick-6” was worth at least a “10” on a 1-10 scale for style. “That spin move … I’d call it Tommy Rudman-like,” Giants senior running back Cole Greenberg said. “The ‘B’ button on Madden NFL (video game] is what you push for a spin. It was like somebody pressed that button on that play. “Tommy,” he added, “is such a threat when he’s on a football field.” Rudman’s defensive score in the season opener came after a threat — a weather threat. Lightning in the area had halted play at the 8:00 mark of the third quarter, with HP leading 13-6 at Wolters Field. Rudman’s tally put the hosts up 33-7 at 1:37 of the third quarter, the third TD in HP’s emphatic 28-0 second-half run after an hour-long delay. “We knew we had not played as sharply as we knew we could play in the first half and part of the third quarter,” said the 5-foot-11, 190-pound Rudman, who also caught five passes for a team-high 111 yards, including a pair of grabs for a combined 60 yards on HP’s first possession of the second half. “I told the team after the delay, ‘We’re not losing.’ Every senior on this team is a leader. And every player stayed focused. Returning to the field, we looked at it as a fresh start, as a chance to play better and show everybody how we’re capable of playing.” One of Rudman’s favorite pastimes off the field is playing video games, especially “Call of Duty.” Each gamer is in control of an infantry soldier in combat. The game rewards those with good eye- hand coordination. Rudman uses that trait — and speed — to succeed under lights on Friday nights. “He’s got that,” Giants football coach Hal Chiodo said of Rudman’s 4.5 speed in the 40-yard dash. “Tommy had a whale of a second half.” Giants senior quarterback Sam Nevers (15-for-28, 234 yards) and senior wideout Hallvard Lundevall got that half rolling, connecting for 46 yards during a 62-yard scoring trip in the third quarter. Lundevall came down with three receptions on the drive, with his 38-yarder setting up his 1-yard TD reception. The other two HP scores in its 28-0 stretch: a two-yard TD run by Greenberg (17 rushes, 61 yards) and a one-yard TD run by sophomore running back DJ Penick (6-45). Sophomore kicker/punter Jacob Swartz made all four extra points in the game-turning surge. “I didn’t give a great motivational speech or anything like that,” Chiodo said of his role during the delay. “We talked X’s and O’s mainly. The guys settled down, got more determined. “There was no magic in anything I said.” Greenberg accounted for HP’s first points of the 2014 season, rushing for a 17-yard TD at 7:42 of the first quarter. Nevers kept a snap and ran for a 1-yard TD in the final minute of the second quarter. “Winning [on opening night] is a big deal, after an offseason of lifting and spending all that time preparing in the summer,” Chiodo said. “You lose that first game, guys will wonder, ‘Why did we do all that?’ “These kids … they worked so hard,” he added. HP (1-0) visits Mundelein (0-1) Sept. 5 at 7:30 p.m. Mundelein lost 34-20 to Wheeling on Aug. 29. Notable: LFA senior wideout/defensive back Dejon Brissett (6 receptions, 143 yards) gave the Caxys a lift twice in the opener, racing for a 73-yard, second-quarter TD on a spot-screen play and intercepting a third-quarter pass intended for Rudman in an end zone. “He’s a dude,”
Highland Park’s Tommy Rudman (No. 7) tries to fend off Lake Forest Academy’s Malcolm Chaka after making a catch. He finished with 111 receiving yards. photography by george pfoertner
Bowkett marveled. “And he made dudes miss.” … Junior quarterback Dom Haubner tossed the TD pass and finished with 102 passing yards. LFA senior Alec Mesrobian (10-of19, 90 yards) also saw time at QB. … Caxys senior defensive tackle Ayodeji Akere recovered a Giants fumble in the second quarter, setting up LFA’s lone TD in the opener. … LFA junior Jarrett Galigher kicked a 32-yard field goal at 1:36 of the fourth quarter … HP’s Swartz landed a punt on the Caxys’ four-yard line from LFA’s 41-yard line at the start of the second quarter. Three plays later,
HP’s defense forced LFA to punt from its two-yard line. … Lundevall and senior Jack McGuire each came down with an interception in the opener. … Giants senior Daniel Echt limited an LFA ball carrier to a one-yard gain on the first play from scrimmage. … Penick and senior Jason Shulruff each made a tackle for a six-yard loss. … Because of the late time at night after the hour-long lightning delay and the close proximity of houses to Wolters Field, Highland Park’s PA announcer announced before the resumption of play that he’d no longer … announce. ■