A team can go one of two ways after a major injury.
Homewood-Flossmoor’s junior tight end Martez Harding had an apparent lower body injury Friday and was taken off the field in an ambulance.
At that point in the game, visiting Naperville North had all the momentum. The Huskies just tied the game at 10-10 after halftime with a methodical drive that seemed to suck the life out of the Vikings.
After Harding was loaded into the emergency vehicle, H-F coach Troy McAllister gathered his whole team.
“I don’t know if there’s any right words. With the high-character player Marty is and the type of player he is, it’s just about reiterating to the young me that we have to do it for Marty,” McAllister said. “It’s a physical sport and you’ve got to be mentally prepared to go, and that’s hard for young men when they see their teammate go down. Kudos to our group, they responded.”
The Vikings offense didn’t quite finish off that drive but the defense that allowed Naperville North to score on the previous possession immediately picked their teammates up. The Huskies (2-2, 1-1) were quickly forced to punt from deep in their own territory.
H-F junior William Bundy blocked that punt and Kourtney Smith fell on it in the end zone. The Vikings would score again later in the second half to go on to win the Southwest Valley Blue game 24-10.
“Once Martez got hurt. Momentum was a little down. Everybody was a little dry. We needed to make a play somewhere and I was like ‘I’m going to block this. We need to block this,’” Bundy said. “Our team handles adversity great, even in close games.”
Smith said he actually was lined up in the wrong spot but found himself in the right spot to find the ball. He said last year’s team probably couldn’t make that play at that moment.
“We’ve got a better team this year, better team chemistry. (McAllister), he had us going through team activities all through the summer and even last school year,” Smith said. “The team is closer than ever.”
High alumna Keya Trammell sings the national anthem before the homecoming
football game on Sept. 19. (Benjamin Faoro/H-F Chronicle)
Smith, a running back, also seemed to carry the ball with a little extra motivation in the second half. He extended multiple runs for a few yards after contact, more than once nearly going down only to prop himself up and extend the play.
“That was definitely for Martez, but last year in the same game I fumbled and didn’t get put back in so I kind of had a chip on my shoulder,” he said. “Going down’s not an option. You got to stay up.”
It was senior Myles Ellis who scored that final touchdown, taking a pass in the flat and making a few Huskies miss before speeding 53-yards for the score. That sealed the game with two minutes and 38 seconds left.
“When you have somebody of Myles’ caliber, in big moments you expect them and they expect themselves to rise up,” McAllister said. “Obviously, he did.”
That snaps a losing streak to Naperville North for the Vikings, who lost all three meetings with the Huskies since the game became an annual affair in 2022.
Quarterback Rahsaan Coleman threw for 161 yards and had two total touchdowns. Layden Williams ran for 65 yards and Smith 58. Camren McClellan kicked a 27-yard field goal. H-F improves to 3-1 overall and 2-0 in conference.
