Hersey junior running back Jackson Travis’ name sounds like it belongs to a country music star.
Travis doesn’t sing, however.
“I know it’s confusing for people with a last name as a first name and a first name as a last name,” he said. “Who knows, there may be a country star out there with the same name as mine. I’m just happy to be running the football.”
Travis showed off those running skills Friday, rushing for 121 yards and three touchdowns on just 11 carries to lead the Huskies over Buffalo Grove 49-14 in a Mid-Suburban East game in Arlington Heights.
Travis suffered a serious knee injury last October.
“I had a grade one tear of my PCL and MCL,” he said. “I worked very hard to get back in time for track season in the spring and ready for football this year.”
Hersey coach Tom Nelson knows his team will need to lean on Travis to keep the pressure off Kentucky-bound senior quarterback Jake Nawrot.
“Travis is a good football player,” Nelson said. “We have known it for a long time. He battled some injuries last year. We always want to run the ball, and we pride ourselves on that.”
Travis, who entered the game with 493 rushing yards and seven touchdowns, got the Huskies (5-0, 1-0) going early, and they used that to score on each of their first five possessions.
Travis scored just 49 seconds into the game to cap a three-play, 63-yard drive. He followed that with another touchdown on the Huskies’ next possession to end a 15-play, 67-yard drive. Travis also caught the conversion pass from Nawrot and later added a 63-yard touchdown run.
When Buffalo Grove (3-2, 0-1) focused on stopping the run, Nawrot went to work. He completed 13 of 19 pass attempts for 205 yards and three touchdowns.
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Nawrot threw 27-yard touchdown passes to Jaxon St. Paul and Josh Riggs in the first half as the Huskies built a 35-0 lead. Nawrot then sent the game to a running clock on a 36-yard touchdown pass to Riggs, who finished with four catches for 85 yards.
Hersey got its final score on an 18-yard touchdown pass from Levi McEwen to Grant McKinney.
“People worried about us losing Brandon (Jenkins) from last year,” Nawrot said. “He was a heck of a talent, but Travis has talent for years to come. Travis is awesome. He runs the ball really hard, and he runs it well.”
Buffalo Grove scored late touchdowns on a 1-yard run by Daniel Cazares and a 31-yard fumble return by Jonah Summers.
“We knew coming in we had to play a perfect game to stay close, and we just did not do that,” Buffalo Grove coach Jeff Vlk said. “We took our chances when we had them. But in the end, they were just better.”
Dick Quagliano is a freelance reporter.