By Bobby Narang
York High School did its job on Friday night.
The Dukes had a tough West Suburban Conference Silver Division home game against upstart Hinsdale Central last week. York wanted to avoid a trap game scenario with a potential massive league showdown looming against Downers Grove North Monday, Oct. 4.
Despite some patchy moments, the Dukes held on for a 21-13 victory over Hinsdale Central to set up this Friday’s battle with the Class 7A runnerups.
The Dukes (5-0 and 2-0) secured the victory on Jimmy Conners’ interception on the final play of the game near midfield. Downers Grove North (5-0 and 3-0) took care of business with a 28-7 victory over Oak Park-River Forest to set up a big night in Elmhurst.
York coach Donald Gelsomino, “That’s a good football team we beat in Hinsdale Central,” he said. “They haven’t made the playoffs the last couple of years, but they are very good and surprising some people. They were physical and well-coached. That’s a big win. We’ve had some adversity, but that was the first time we’ve been tested in the fourth quarter and we responded, which is what I wanted to see.
Conner, a running back and linebacker, paced the offense too. He scored on touchdowns runs of three, two, and 12 yards to finish with 17 carries for 76 yards.
“The touchdowns were a lot of fun,” Conners said, smiling. “I give all the props to the offensive line. They blocked and did a great job. It was a team effort. I just did whatever the team needed from me.”
Junior running back Henry Duda ran for 107 yards and quarterback Bruno Massel added 88 yards and 72 yards passing.
The 5-foot-11, 200-pound Conners nearly equaled his season total of four touchdowns in his junior season in one game.
“It felt great out there,” Conners said. “The offense is a total unit. It feels great to accomplish this together.”
The Red Devils (2-3, 0-2) struggled moving the ball in the first half before quarterback Riley Contreras tossed a four-yard touchdown pass to Kelan McInerney with 3:45 left until halftime. Contreras had a big night with 111 yards passing and two touchdowns.
The Dukes, who beat the Red Devils 38-10 last season, pulled ahead 21-7 on Conners’ final touchdown with 4:21 left in the game.
But the Red Devils scored a touchdown in 40 seconds on Contreras’ 30-yard pass to James Skokna to slice the deficit to 21-13. Skokna ended with six receptions for 77 yards and a touchdown.
“This group is a group of fighters,” Hinsdale Central coach Brian Griffin said. “We’ve played a tough schedule. We fought in every game and got better in every game. They have a lot of heart and fought. Kudos to York. Massel and Conners made plays for them in a close game like this.”