Neither rain nor wind nor the afternoon cold could keep Nick Dudukovich from the end zone on Saturday afternoon.
The Forest Hills High School junior scored five touchdowns and rushed for 129 yards in the process to lead the undefeated Rangers to their ninth consecutive victory, a 46-6 win over Westmont Hilltop.
The Rangers have played well this season despite the elements.
“This is the seventh out of nine weeks that we played in the rain, snow or mud, and our kids are thriving on it,” Rangers coach Don Bailey said. “We are running the ball well. Today, we wanted to throw it more, which we couldn’t do. Our running game has been going very well, and you have to give credit to the offensive line for that.”
Despite the lopsided score, the game was close after one quarter. Forest Hills put together a nine-play, 57-yard drive to open the game, with Dudukovich taking a pitch from quarterback Zack Glessner and taking it off his left side for an 8-yard touchdown.
Bailey went for two points on the PAT, and Dudukovich again scored off his left for an 8-0 advantage.
The Hilltoppers answered, moving 69 yards on 10 plays for the touchdown. Key on that drive were a 27-yard run by Ryan Burnheimer and a 29-yard pass-and-run play from quarterback Casey Eckenrod to Luke Gindlesperger.
Burnheimer got the Hilltoppers on the board with a 1-yard touchdown.
The pass for the PAT failed, but Westmont had pulled to within two points, 8-6.
“We felt that we could match up with them on the line of scrimmage, and that was our emphasis this week,” Westmont coach Matt Glennon said. “They’re going to be aggressive, so let’s be aggressive, too. We came out in the first quarter and did that, but after the two big runs, we kind of lost the momentum.”
After the Westmont touchdown, the Rangers scored four touchdowns in six minutes and one second to blunt the Hilltoppers’ hope for an upset.
The first was a 68-yard run by Dudukovich, and the second resulted after a Sean Sapolich punt for the Hilltoppers ran into a stiff head wind, giving the Rangers possession at the Westmont 20-yard line. Dudukovich again burst off the right side for a 20-yard score.
Dudukovich took a screen pass from Glessner for a 31-yard score, and Patrick Donoughe hit a 29-yard field goal, along with four kicks for PATs, to give Forest Hills a 33-6 lead at halftime.
The Rangers entered the weekend in a tie with Tyrone for first place in the District 6-AA rankings. With Tyrone and third-place Central-Martinsburg scheduled to play this week, Forest Hills is in good position for a high seed if it can defeat Somerset next week.
“We will be in first or second providing we win,” Bailey said. “If that’s the case, we will have the opportunity to play two home games, providing you can win the first one.”
The Rangers amassed 361 yards on offense, 227 on the ground and 134 through the air.
The Hilltoppers (1-8) recorded 61 on the ground and 91 via the pass, giving them
151 yards for the game. They will travel to Cambria Heights to seek their second win next week.
High School Sports
Dudukovich scores 5 TDs in Forest Hills’ win
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