Hononegah junior Mario Donaldson didn’t have to look far to find a role model as a young player.
His own father — Mario Donaldson Sr. — played professional basketball for the Rockford Lightning when Mario was growing up.
“I know he’s helped me out a lot,” Donaldson Jr. said. “He’s always giving me tips, and he’s always been there for me. I’m really proud of him, and I’ve always tried to follow his lead.”
But Friday it was the son who made the father proud, as Donaldson scored 16 points to help lead Hononegah to a 57-48 victory against Jefferson.
ROCKFORD -- David Brown sat on the bench scowling in pain in the final minutes of the fourth quarter at Auburn Saturday.
The Hononegah senior had a bruised hip, four fouls, only four points and a sprained ankle that still wasn’t 100 percent.
And yet, when Hononegah coach Mike Miller turned to him for help, Brown never hesitated.
“I looked at him and said ‘How about if I put you back in and you win this for us?’” Miller said. “And he did it. He won it for us.”
Hononegah 51, Belvidere 30: Chase Robinson and Dustin Meier each scored 12 points as Hononegah did just enough to earn a win over Belvidere.
Eleven players scored for Hononegah, while the Buc got 12 from Andrew Eck and had just five players reach the scoring column.
- rrstar.com
ROCKTON — If Harlem and Boylan were the big Broadway act Friday, the off-Broadway production at Hononegah turned out to be a pretty good show in its own right.
The Indians (7-2) held off Belvidere North 27-20 to claim third place outright in the NIC-10.
“This was just a good high school football game by two teams,” Blue Thunder coach Curt Tobin said.
Brett McWilliams had two touchdowns and 217 yards rushing in helping Hononegah to a 27-14 advantage early in the fourth quarter.
“Brett had an amazing game — what a workhorse,” Hononegah lineman Zach Johnson said.
ROCKFORD — Ok, now the Indians can start thinking about Boylan.
Led by sophomore quarterback Chase Robinson and former QB Dustin Meier, Hononegah (6-1, 6-1 NIC-10) rolled over East (2-5, 2-5) on Friday night, 48-21, setting up a big NIC-10 matchup next week. The Indians insisted they did not talk about next Friday’s meeting with Boylan; that is, until the clock ran out on the E-Rabs in Swanson Stadium.
ROCKFORD - Hononegah sophomore Chase Robinson didn’t learn he was going to start Friday night until he saw senior quarterback Dustin Meier at practice Thursday.
“I didn’t know Dustin was hurt until he walked out without pads on,” Robinson said of Meier, who injured the middle finger on his passing hand in the first quarter of last week’s loss to unbeaten Harlem. Meier said he’d be out for three or four weeks.
