Maine South on brink of another CSL South title
Maine South got through its tune up just fine.
The Hawks flew into Skokie Friday and exploded past Niles West 51-21 in their highest scoring output of the season.
With the win, Maine South (6-1, 3-0) will look to drive to its 21st consecutive Central Suburban South title. But to do that, the Hawks will need to win next week over a surging Evanston team.
"We know the next two games are big," Maine South coach Dave Inserra said. "Our goal this week was to get better and in most areas we did."
Maine South took care of Niles West (2-5, 0-3) quickly. The Hawks opened up a 23-0 lead and cruised from there.
Mike Sajenko had a 68-yard touchdown run, Rowan Keefe threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Chris Petrucci, Sam Taglia had a 23-yard field goal and Ryan Leyden threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Sean Mullin as Inserra and the Hawks went to their bench early.
"We wanted to play everybody, and we were able to do that," Inserra said. We have 73 kids and that was a task in itself. But we got it done and now we are ready to move on."
Leyden tossed two more touchdown passes, another to Mullin for 55 yards on a catch and run, along with a 23-yard scoring pass to Marty Brennan. Ben Labutka added a defensive touchdown late on an 18-yard scoop and score of a fumble.
St. Ignatius 38, St. Viator 13:
In the first meeting ever between the schools, St. Viator (3-4) jumped to a quick 7-0 lead when Carson Eggebraten returned the opening kickoff 65 yards for a touchdown. Ignatius attempted a pooch kick and the coverage team overran the kick, allowing Eggebraten to score untouched just seven seconds into the game.
But it was Ignatius (7-0), which is off to its best start in decades, that took command. The Wolves scored the next 28 points to build a comfortable lead.
St. Viator made it interesting however, when Nicky Pastore threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Will Fitzpatrick with just over 11 minutes to play to cut the margin to 28-13. But Ignatius scored the final 10 points to put the game away.
St. Viator will need wins over state-ranked Mt. Carmel next week at home and at St. Patrick to hope for a playoff berth.
Deerfield 44, Maine West 14:
In its final home game of the season, Maine West (2-5, 1-2) couldn't keep pace with Central Suburban North leader Deerfield (6-1, 3-0). Maine West fell behind 38-0 before Cordall Randle had a 16-yard touchdown run. Claudio Castellanos added a 5-yard touchdown run for Maine West, which will play at Niles North next week.
Highland Park 48, Maine East 6:
Maine East (0-6, 0-3) couldn't get things going against Highland Park (3-4, 1-2). Playing in fog at times, Maine East fell behind 48-0 before the Demons were able to score a late touchdown on a 4-yard run by Chris Kish.
Lyons 49, Leyden 0: After scoring 40 points last week against Proviso East, Leyden (2-5) could not reach the end zone against Lyons (4-3) in their annual West Suburban crossover game.