Maine South escapes with OT win over New Trier to claim CSL South title

New Trier had Maine South on the brink of a rare Central Suburban South loss Friday night in Park Ridge.

The Hawks, however, refused to give in.

Maine South, trailing most of the contest, scored late in the fourth quarter to tie the game, then punched in another touchdown in overtime to escape with a 28-21 win.

The triumph enabled the Hawks (7-2, 5-0) to win the Central Suburban South title outright.

Junior Maurice Densmore scored the game-winning TD in overtime.

"That was so big," Densmore said. "We battled through adversity the whole game, then we came out and scored on the first play in overtime. I loved it."

It was a very unusual first half for the Hawks.

The home team turned the ball over 4 times in the first 24 minutes: twice on fumbles, once on an interception and once on downs.

That led New Trier to two first-half scores, both on TD catches by 6-5 wide receiver Trey Meyers.

Maine South countered with a 27 yard scoring catch by Densmore, but the Hawks trailed 14-7 at intermission.

It looked like the Hawks had turned the tide early in the third quarter when senior Mike Taylor returned an interception 25 yards to tie the game.

But the Trevians hung tough.

With their defense playing extremely well and QB Patrick Heneghan airing the ball out, New Trier scored again (another touchdown toss, Heneghan's third of the game) to take a 21-14 lead.

Then with the clock winding down in the final period, Maine South had one final chance.

Ryan Leyden, one of three quarterbacks Maine South used in the game, led a drive down to the New Trier 1-yard line, where sophomore Michael Dellumo bulldozed it in to send the contest into the extra session.

And with the game and the conference title on the line, the Maine South defense rose to the occasion.

First senior cornerback Danny Spandiary broke up what look like a certain Trevians score when, in the last second, he batted the ball away in the end zone.

Next up was junior linebacker Michael Mizwicki. He batted down a Heneghan pass on second down, then stopped a Trevians receiver just short of the goal line on third down.

New Trier had one last gasp, but on fourth down, Taylor and Jackson Magad defended a final pass in the end zone.

The ball fell incomplete and the CSL South title belonged to Maine South.