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Hinsdale South tops Proviso East
Updated: September 10, 2011 9:06PM
With a two-touchdown lead for Hinsdale South over Proviso East at halftime, few would have expected the West Suburban Gold opener to come down to the game’s final play.
With a chance to end its 12-game losing streak, the Pirates started the game’s final possession at their own 44 with 35 seconds left to play. Proviso East reached the Hinsdale 34 with 8.7 seconds remaining, but Malcolm Hilliard’s pass into the end zone was just out of reach for Taeveon Johnson to end the game.
Hinsdale South won by two points for the second time in its last three games with a 28-26 victory at Proviso East Saturday. First-year coach Mike Barry picked up his first conference win for the Hornets (2-1, 1-0), but it didn’t come easy as the Pirates (0-3, 0-1) scored 19 points in the fourth quarter to make it close.
Hilliard (13-of-36, 269 yards, two touchdowns) rallied Proviso with a 40-yard TD pass to Johnson early in the fourth quarter. He scored the game’s final points on a 9-yard touchdown run. Hilliard’s rushing touchdown came after Ryan Jones scored on a 1-yard touchdown run.
“We played good and then all of a sudden,” Hornets coach Mike Barry said. “It’s still a learning process. We have to learn how to play a full four quarters, not two or three, but just four.”
The Hornets played without one of their top players, senior wide receiver-defensive back D.J. King, who broke his right wrist in the season-opening 22-20 win over Romeoville, and played in last week’s loss to York. King caught five passes for a team-leading 49 yards in the Hornets’ first two games, but will visit a doctor Monday for a second opinion. Barry said King’s absence is undetermined. King stood on the sideline Saturday out of uniform and with a cast.
Junior quarterback D.J. Deolitsis (21 carries, 51 yards) scored the game’s first three touchdowns on runs of five, two and nine yards. Deolitsis threw for another touchdown in the third quarter to put the Hornets ahead 28-7 on Justin Ward’s 20-yard touchdown reception.
“I thought we relaxed a little bit,” Deolitsis said. “We all could have played better. In the first half, we had a lot of success. It felt good running up the middle.”
Deolitsis ran option plays with Barry’s no-huddle spread offense. Keontae Hall rushed for 84 yards on 23 carries.
The Hornets host their first home game against Addison Trail at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
“King is obviously one of our best playmakers,” Deolitsis said. “He’ll be out for a while. We have to adjust. Other people will have to step up.”
After Hilliard’s touchdown run pulled the Pirates to within two, Deolitsis fumbled on Hinsdale’s second play from scrimmage. The Pirates started their first potential winning drive with 5:42 remaining at their own 48, but Hilliard was intercepted for the second time in the game with 3:22 to go.
“I still haven’t figured out a way to teach these kids how to win,” said Proviso East coach Steven Tadlock, who is in his first year with the team.
Taeveon Johnson (three catches, 102 yards) and McCarty (four catches, 85 yards) led Pirates receivers, but Proviso had seven dropped passes, including one in the end zone during a two-point conversion.
“We had more dropped passes than all of our games combined,” Tadlock said. “They kept giving us the middle of the field. We kept [throwing] them there and we kept dropping it.”
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