Arek Kleniuk did just about everything right Friday night as Rolling Meadows’ quarterback.
Unfortunately for the Mustangs, his counterpart was just a little bit better.
Kleniuk, a first-year varsity starter, played a nearly flawless game for the five-time defending Mid-Suburban East champions against Hersey.
Kleniuk, a junior, was the logical choice to lead the Mustangs’ offense this season, and the program has been loaded at quarterback in recent years. Jimmy Garoppolo is the New England Patriots’ backup, and Jack Milas is a senior at Ball State.
Kleniuk did his part to pace Rolling Meadows (6-2, 3-1 MSL East) with a sterling performance on Friday. However, Hersey quarterback Owen Goldsberry engineered a comeback as the Huskies won 21-20 to claim the conference title.
Kleniuk completed 29 of 35 passes for 305 yards and three touchdowns.
“I thought their quarterback had a great game,” Hersey coach Joe Pardun said. “He was incredible with his passes and made some great plays.”
And Kleniuk’s own coach had high praise as well.
“I couldn’t be prouder of how my guys played,” Rolling Meadows coach Matt Mishler said. “Arek played really good. I thought he did exactly what we asked him to do most of the time. He threw great balls all night and made great reads. The biggest thing is I thought he was really composed considering the situation.”
Kleniuk will face another tough test in Friday’s home game against Buffalo Grove (7-1, 3-1). Through eight games, Kleniuk has passed for 1,247 yards.
“Arek is a kid who doesn’t say a lot and isn’t braggadocious and is unassuming, but he comes to practice every day and takes instruction and does everything he can to get better at the things he needs to get better at,” Mishler said. “That was one of the best football games that we played all year, him too.
“You have to give credit to Hersey. I can’t be upset.”
Bob Narang is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
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