By Bob Nuse
Sports Editor
While it may have looked easy from the outside, the Hun School football team knows a lot of hard work went into securing its fifth straight Mid-Atlantic Prep League title.
The Raiders finished off a perfect season in the MAPL with a 48-20 victory over Mercersburg Academy on Sunday. The victory was their sixth straight as the Raiders ended the season with an 7-1 overall record and a 5-0 mark in the MAPL.
“The biggest difference was we had a lot of new guys this year,” senior two-way lineman Caedan Wallace said after Sunday’s triumph. “Putting together a team and building a brotherhood in the short amount of time that we had was something that was a lot different than in past years. But we worked it out.
“We had four new offensive linemen. Our linebacker corps was a lot different. Our defensive line was different. Our secondary was completely different. We had a brand new quarterback. It was just a lot of stuff that we had to put together.”
Hun opened the season with a 16-14 victory over Cheshire Academy before falling to Stubenville (Ohio), 27-14, in its second game. From that point on the team won six in a row, outscoring the opposition, 234-62, in those six games.
“The kids came together and we were very fortunate on the injury front,” Hun coach Todd Smith said. “We battled through some stuff early in the season but we took care of business.”
In Smith’s five years as the Raiders’ head coach, the team is 38-3 and 24-1 in MAPL play. Last year, when they shared the title with Lawrenceville and Peddie, was the only season the Raiders have not taken the title outright.
“It wasn’t the most talented group we have had since I have been here,” Smith said of this year’s team. “The way we improved, we were playing our best football in the second half of the season. I’m proud of these guys. We had good senior leaders, guys who have been with the program a long time and we just followed their lead.
“They came in and they fulfilled their potential. They never stopped working hard and they never rested on their laurels. Because of that they did a great job and they came out as MAPL champion.”
Hun had several holes to plug in the lineup and was successful in doing just that. Wallace was the lone returning player on the offensive line and the defense had plenty of newcomers.
“We knew early on that we had the physical capacity to put it together on the field,” said Wallace, who is committed to play for Penn State next year. “The actual culmination of everything coming together was big for us.”
Wallace was one of 100 players nationwide selected to play in the All-American Bowl, which will be played in San Antonio in January. He’ll begin preparation for that game immediately and then get ready to play in the Big Ten.
“I start (Monday),” he said. “But I would be doing that anyway, 100 percent. Coming here completely changed my life. Being able to come here and have an opportunity win three years in a row was amazing.”