Leyden burst awakens Hinsdale South

Updated: September 23, 2011 11:47PM

After scoring only one touchdown in its last three games, the Leyden offense showed signs of breaking out of its slump Friday night.

But the momentum didn’t last. Hinsdale South scored 37 unanswered points to rout Leyden 60-35 in a West Suburban Conference Gold Division homecoming game in Northlake.

Leyden, which was outscored 135-36 entering the game, scored two touchdowns on its first two possessions on a 12-yard TD pass from Joe DiFronzo to Mike Lurigio and Mickey Gulo’s 49-yard TD run. Gulo’s run came on the first play from scrimmage after Hinsdale South ended its first possession with a fumble near midfield.

Gulo finished with 127 yards on 21 carries.

The Eagles (0-5, 0-3) remained winless through the first five weeks of the season for the first time since the 2002 team went 0-9 after scoring only 58 points that season.

Hinsdale South (3-2, 2-1) defeated Leyden 17-14 last season to pick up one of its two conference victories.

The Hornets returned to a familiar formula for its comeback, using a heavy dose of senior rusher Keontae Hall (25 carries, career-high 210 yards) and junior quarterback D.J. Deolitsis, who rushed for three TDs and threw for another three TDs.

Deolitsis had a career game in his first season as quarterback. He rushed 15 times for 91 yards and was 10-for-17 passing for 152 yards.

 Hinsdale South’s first touchdown came on Deolitsis’ 17-yard TD pass to Nathan Andrews with 2:28 remaining in the first quarter. He ended the first half with a 15-yard TD pass to Justin Ward with 15 seconds to go.

Hall (25 carries, career-high 210 yards) scored on touchdown runs of 3 and 42 yards in the second quarter.

“My offensive line had their best game of the season,” Hall said.

After falling behind, the Hornets didn’t panic and scored on eight of their next nine possessions. Hall’s previous career high was 134 yards against Leyden in last year’s game.

“We like to stay relaxed during the comeback and punch them in the mouth,” Hall said.

Hinsdale South’s offensive line was led by center Zach Guritz, guards Roy Okendo and Ricky Monegain and tackles Matt Welgos and Pete Gebauer.

After Andrews’ touchdown catch, South also scored on a safety with 50 seconds to go in the first quarter when the center snap went into the end zone past punter Krystian Chudoba. Chudoba kicked the ball past the end line.

Both defenses struggled. When Lurigio caught DiFronzo’s 16-yard TD pass with 4:23 remaining in the fourth quarter, the two team combined for 88 points in the game, 44 in each half.

“There wasn’t a whole lot of good defense on both sides of the ball,” Leyden coach Tom Cerasani said. “Obviously, we’ve got to play better than that. I think their score at the end of the first half hurt us. I think they scored to begin the second half. We had too many breakdowns tonight.”

Before DiFronzo’s TD pass, Leyden’s offense scored twice in the second half on Bryan Rideau’s 1-yard TD run and  DiFronzo added a 2-yard TD run to open the scoring in the fourth quarter.

DiFronzo was 11-for-17 passing for 136 yards while Danny Schoedel caught six passes for 52 yards.

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