Maine South cruises past Waukegan

Updated: October 15, 2011 6:04PM

Maine South coach Dave Inserra said a Saturday road game like this one is a good way to prepare his team for the upcoming IHSA playoffs.

And if the No. 1 Hawks play as well in the postseason as they did in the first half against Waukegan on Saturday, postseason foes are in for short afternoons of work.

Short, that is, as in running-clock second halves.

That’s what happened in Waukegan on Saturday as the Hawks raced out to 49-0 halftime lead and wound up winning by that score to improve to 8-0 overall and 4-0 in the Central Suburban South.

Waukegan is 3-5 and 1-3.

Maine South plays Glenbrook South Friday, and a win would be the 55th consecutive CSL South triumph for the Hawks and would give them 11 straight 5-0 records in division play.

The Hawks’ last division loss was in October of 2000, 17-7 to New Trier.

The Hawks had no worries about losing to Waukegan.

On the game’s second play, running back Paul Preston (six carries, 87 yards, two TDs) raced 64 yards for a score.

With 3:30 left in the first period, Steve Sagerstrom caught a 12-yard TD strike from QB Matt Alviti (10-of-13, 74 yards, three TDs; six rushes, 32 yards).

In the second quarter, Maine South scored with 11:53, 9:35, 8:37, 4:07 and 0:20 left on the clock.

Jimmy Frankos (22-yard reception), Preston (three-yard run), Luke Lenti (13-yard interception return), Frank Perrone (seven-yard reception) and Frankos (three-yard run) put the points on the board.

“We prepared for Waukegan’s offense as far as what they do (pass a lot), but our focus was on what we needed to do as a team,” said Inserra. “We want to make sure we’re in the right place and we’re getting better.

“We had guys with some nice drops (in coverage) defensively and some nice angles. We made some nice plays because we were in the right position.”

Maine South’s defense allowed just 55 first-half yards and 127 for the game. It also forced four turnovers. Waukegan quarterback Reggie Richter was 6-of-22 for 56 yards and two picks.

“We had to take care of business. We told the kids we’re going to play a lot of playoff games on Saturday, so this was a good preparation for that,” Inserra said. “This was good preparation for how to approach a Saturday game, both mentally and physically during the week in practice. But, it’s mostly a mental thing. You’re used to playing Friday night games. Then, you have a longer bus ride and an afternoon road game (in the playoffs).

“We’re going to do that a lot in the playoffs. This was good preparation for that.”

friday’s game against Glenbrook South figures to be the Hawks’ toughest of the year, as the Titans are 7-1.

“We know what they want to do. They’re going to come at you and make you stop the run,” Inserra said. “They’re pretty consistent with what they do.

“In a sense, it comes down to tackling. It doesn’t get all fancy. You just have to line up properly and gang-tackle because they use everybody. I still think we can play a little bit better overall. Games like this (vs. Waukegan) test you and we played pretty well today. I’m happy with our mental preparation and focus.

“The telltale sign will be next week.”

For the season, the Hawks are averaging 42 points a contest and allowing just 10.

“They made plays,” said Waukegan coach Nick Browder of the Hawks. “Even when we were in position to make plays, we didn’t. I don’t know where our heads were at today.”

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