Ellers rushes for 139 yards, TD to boost Generals
MacArthur's Brett Ellers (33, left), drags three of Hicksville's defenders Michael Hauff (44, rear), Joey Leonard (7, center), and Aaron Kuczek (31, on ground) along with him during their game at MacArthur High School. (Oct. 16, 2010) Credit: Richard Slattery
Brett Ellers isn't the general in MacArthur's running back platoon. He's more of a colonel.
MacArthur moved to 4-2 in Conference I with a 34-20 win over visiting Hicksville Saturday.
Ellers kept his head down and his feet moving like a good soldier for 139 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries, making it an unhappy reunion for Hicksville coach Craig Stueber, a 1995 MacArthur grad.
"They're a tough defensive team," Stueber said, "and their line took it to us."
Five Generals totaled 288 rushing yards behind the dominating offensive line, including two rushing touchdowns apiece from quarterback Kevin Monahan and Nick Meadows. Defensively, Kevin Butler had three sacks, and Zack Trimboli and Ellers added one each.
Despite the 14-point win, MacArthur coach Bobby Fehrenbach wasn't pleased with his team's four personal-foul penalties in the second half that led to a pair of touchdowns. "It was disgusting," he said.
"Guys let their emotions get the best of them," Ellers said. "We have to play smarter. Coach is going to make sure we do - we're gonna have some tough practices this week."
MacArthur jumped out to a 27-0 lead on Monahan's second TD scamper, as he scrambled 8 yards for the score with 3:44 left in the third quarter. The quarterback, who also serves as a kicker, followed with his third of four extra points.
But the penalties commenced from there. A taunting penalty pushed the ensuing kickoff back to the 25-yard line and Hicksville (3-3) took over on their own 47.
Joey Leonard capped the eight-play drive with a 2-yard TD run on the first play of the fourth quarter. Mike McIlwee hit Chris Durham on a 16-yard slant on fourth-and-9 to keep the drive alive.
Another personal foul doomed the Generals' next drive, and it led to an ejection. "The kids were chippy the whole game," Fehrenbach said, "it wasn't just one kid."
He's right. It was also a coach. A MacArthur assistant coach was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct on the Comets' next possession, arguing his player intercepted a pass that was ruled a 21-yard reception by Durham.
The half-the-distance-to-the-goal penalty gave Hicksville the ball on the 8-yard line, and McIlwee ran it in on the next play to make it 27-14.
MacArthur followed with a signature drive, a 12-play, 65-yard march that included 11 rushing attempts and ate up nearly seven minutes of the fourth quarter. Nick Meadows ran the last three plays, walking into the end zone untouched on the final carry from 4 yards out to seal the win.
McIlwee, who was 8-for-10 for 77 yards, hit Dan Yates for a 13-yard TD on the game's final play for the final margin.
"We pound it down every team's throats," Ellers said. "We want that to be the same story next week."
The Generals get a crack at one of Conference I's elite when 5-1 Freeport comes to town on Saturday. It will be MacArthur's fifth regular-season home game. Yesterday's game was supposed to be on the road, but Hicksville is getting a new turf field and is resurfacing its track.
Fehrenbach will have his troops moving at practice this week in preparation for the Red Devils. Ellers has his boots, er, track shoes at the ready.
