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Maine South stops Vitale, earns revenge on WW South
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Updated: September 3, 2011 6:40PM
Maine South’s defense bent early but never again on Friday.
That’s what the No. 1 Hawks needed, too, because Wheaton Warrenville South’s defense was almost as good.
But Maine South got a pair of first-half rushing touchdowns, and that was enough for a 13-9 win in Park Ridge.
Two-time defending Class 7A champ WW South is 0-2 for the first time since 1997, while Maine South eased the sting of last year’s blowout loss to the Tigers on national TV and improved to 2-0.
The Hawks did it by limiting Northwestern-bound back Dan Vitale to 25 yards on seven carries and shutting out the WW South offense after Patrick Garner’s one-yard scoring plunge with 9:51 left in the first quarter.
“We were stopping their runs,” Maine South linebacker Tyler Fahey said. “We knew as long as we covered the deep pass we’d be fine.”
Containing Vitale was job one, according to Fahey: “We felt if we could stop him, we could stop their offense.”
Matt Alviti’s two-yard sneak on the final play of the first quarter got the Hawks on the board, but Jimmy Frankos missed the extra point, the first of several special-teams lapses for Maine South.
Paul Preston (19 carries, 106 yards) scored from a yard out with 7:35 left in the second quarter on the Hawks’ next possession. The only other scoring came with 5:26 left in the third quarter, when punter Austin Righeimer fumbled a snap in his own end zone and the ball trickled over the end line for a safety. Righeimer’s next punt was blocked.
“We dug it out, we persevered,” Maine South coach Dave Inserra said. “Special teams were bad and then got better.”
But the Hawks’ defense stood tall all night after the early hiccup. WW South’s best chance to go ahead came early in the fourth quarter, after the punt block. But on fourth-and-goal from the Hawks’ six-yard line, backup quarterback Ryan Graham was dropped for a one-yard loss by Danny Allegretti and Keenan Mckenzie.
“We’re beating ourselves in every game,” WW South coach Ron Muhitch said. “I feel bad for our team with the way we’re self-destructing at key moments.”
Alviti finished 12 of 26 passing for 110 yards and ran 20 times for 49 yards (that included five sacks for 35 yards).
“They made some great adjustments on us,” Alviti said.
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