Hein, Rush lead Maples over West Greene, 27-0
MAPLETOWN — The Hein and Rush families will sleep well tonight after watching the Maples defeat the Pioneers 27-0 Friday night at Mapletown in Tri-County South action.
Mapletown junior QB/RB Matt Rush ran for 72 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries, and senior RB Adam Hein rushed for 64 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries. Having two players who can carry the ball well is any football coach’s dream.
Mapletown, though, had four players who consistently got rushes throughout Friday’s matchup.
Rush and Hein both have little brothers on the team, both of whom run the ball for the Maples.
Rush’s younger brother freshman RB Dylan Rush ran for 38 yards and a touchdown over 11 carries and also had a 53 yard punt return. Hein’s little brother junior RB Matt Hein had 70 yards rushing on only six carries.
“I feel very comfortable giving the Rush boys and the Hein boys the football at any time,” head coach George Messich said. “I think the four of them are capable of making big plays for us. We’ve always had one or two decent running backs, but I’ve never had four kids I feel comfortable with running the ball.”
Messich said the competitiveness between brothers is what makes all four ball-carriers better.
“It makes our team better not just because of my brother playing, but it’s because of Adam (Hein’s) brother too,” Matt Rush said. “His little brother pushes my little brother and we (Adam and I) push each other.”
Adam Hein said the feeling of playing with his brother and playing with another set of brothers is amazing.
“I don’t call them friends; I don’t call them teammates. I see Matt (Hein), (Matt) Rush and Dylan (Rush) as my brothers,” Adam Hein said. “I love watching the three of them run, and that it doesn’t matter who gets the ball the most because we’re still supporting each other and pushing each other.”
Mapletown started the game off sluggishly offensively, as it took the Maples almost the whole first quarter to push the ball in the end zone. With four seconds left in the quarter Matt Rush ran 27 yards to put the Maples on the scoreboard.
Mapletown did not score in the second quarter and only led by seven points at halftime.
“I don’t think our offense came mentally ready to play,” Messich said. “We told them all week long, ‘(You) can’t take anyone lightly.’ I think they looked at the scores the last few weeks and we knew it was going to be a battle, but we got a wake-up call in the first half. We played much better offensively in the second half and that’s the way we’re capable of playing in both halves.”
The Pioneers were awarded a huge opportunity in the second quarter when one of Mapletown’s two quarterbacks senior Ben Boone threw an interception that West Greene returned to about midfield. West Greene entered the red zone, but could not score as they turned the ball over on downs.
“It would have been over-the-top for us,” said Paul Kreuzer, West Greene head coach. “It would have built confidence. It still may not have changed the outcome of the game. Mapletown played a strong game in the second half.”
In the first half and to start the second half, the Maples were running an offensive formation with either Matt Rush or Boone under center and three ball-carriers behind them. As the second half continued, though, Mapletown changed their offensive set with a quarterback, Matt Rush, in shotgun and a running back to each side.
The offense created more holes for the inside rushers, Matt Rush and Adam Hein, and created space for the outside runners, Dylan Rush and Matt Hein, on jet sweeps. With the change in offense in the second half, the Maples scored three more rushing touchdowns by Matt Rush, Adam Hein and Dylan Rush, respectively, to win the game 27-0.
“I just thought we did a much better job blocking (in the second half),” Messich said. “In the first half we were going through the motions, but in the second half we had a little bit of an attitude and we played a lot better with coming off the line and blocking.
The Maples held the Pioneers to 71 yards of total offense, and Messich accredited the success to the aggressiveness of the defense.
West Greene dealt with multiple injuries during the game, including senior RB Donavan Weaver, who ran for 19 yards on 7 carries.
“We ended up playing five freshmen in the second half because of injuries,” Kreuzer said. “(The injuries) are going to be very tough to work with this week. Most of these injuries are a couple week injuries at least.”
The quad-backfield of Mapletown will host Frazier next Friday, as the Pioneers of West Greene will host Serra Catholic. Both games are set to begin at 7 p.m.
Tri-County South Conference
Mapletown 7-0-6-14 — 27
West Greene 0-0-0-0 — 0
First Quarter
M: Matt Rush 27 run (Matt Rush kick), 0:04
Third Quarter
M: Matt Rush 8 run (Matt Rush kick failed), 3:02
Fourth Quarter
M: Adam Hein 6 run (Ben Boone pass incomplete), 11:20
M: Dylan Rush 8 run (Boone run converted), 3:12?
Records: West Greene (0-3, 0-3), Mapletown (2-1, 2-1).