Whitelaw, Red Devils cruise past York

John Whitelaw threw five touchdowns passes — and Alex Kirk caught three of them — as No. 11 Hinsdale Central cruised past visiting York 42-20 Saturday afternoon.

Kirk’s first score came on a two-yard pass after a turnover, and it gave Hinsdale Central (6-1, 4-0 West Suburban Silver) a 7-0 lead less than two minutes into the game.

Whitelaw (12-for-20, 262 yards two interceptions) also found Kirk on a 22-yard scoring strike and connected with Mick Culligan on a 97-yard touchdown pass to give the Red Devils a 21-7 lead with 7:08 left in the first half.

York (4-3, 2-3) cut the lead to 21-13, on a 37-yard interception return by Tom Roth. But the Red Devils responded with a nine-yard touchdown pass from Whitelaw to Kirk to open the second half.

Whitelaw then found Culligan (three catches, 164 yards) with a 44-yard touchdown pass, and Kirk (seven catches, 75 yards) added a 36-yard scoring run that gave Hinsdale Central a 42-13 lead with 8:18 remaining in the game.

“It was pretty cool,” Kirk said of his career-high four touchdowns. “But I was even more glad that we came out and beat York.”

“If we make a mistake we just come out harder. The offense and defense just keep rolling.”

York's Lazerick Williams had a nine-yard touchdown run and Don Gast added a 25-yard touchdown run with 2:47 to play.

Hinsdale Central's Garrett Kawa had a fumble recovery and an interception. The Red Devils forced four York turnovers and overcame four of their own.