Maine South Dominates Maine West 49-0

After a pair of losses to highly ranked teams, the Maine South Hawks have seemingly found their back-to-back state championship form heading into conference season.

Coming off its first win of the year in blowout fashion, the Maine West Warriors were the next prey for the Hawks. Maine South improved to 2-2 on the season after dismantling Maine West (1-3) 49-0 in Des Plaines on Thursday night.

The theme of the night for Maine South was offensive efficiency. Led by sophomore quarterback Matt Alviti, Maine South scored on its first four possessions and seven of its first eight. The Hawks scored four touchdowns in the first half and Alviti accounted for three of them.

Following a 19-yard touchdown run from junior running back Paul Preston, Alviti got on the board when he found senior wide receiver Scott Derrick wide open down the left sideline for a 30-yard strike. Derrick caught two touchdowns.

On the next drive, Alviti tossed a 38-yard touchdown to senior Imran Kahn streaking down the right sideline. For his third and final touchdown, Alviti improvised pump faking the defense and scampered 11 yards for a touchdown making the score 28-0 at halftime.

Alviti only played a half, yet still had nine of 11 completions, 124 yards passing, two touchdown passes,  one touchdown run and one interception.

Derrick mentioned after the game the offense needed to get off to a quick start. "In the first quarter, our offense definitely wanted to put some points on the board," he said. "I think our coach [David Inserra] had some good calls from the sideline."

Maine South went on to score three more touchdowns in the second half, with backup quarterback Anthony Davila accounting for two of them. Davila threw a touchdown pass to Derrick and ran in a seven-yard touchdown run.

The scoring was capped on a 36-yard run down the left sideline by junior Joe Schmidt.

Following a pair of losses to open the year, there are many questions whether those will linger for the Hawks. However, Derrick said those losses have already been put aside.

"We put the first two losses sort of out of our heads," he said. "Starting the conference season is going to be huge for us. We want to go undefeated from here on out."

It was clear from the start that Maine West would have a difficult time keeping the game close. The lack of a passing game for the Warriors was very evident, as they did not even attempt a pass until the third quarter.

Warriors senior quarterback Ziggy Krycka led his team with 62 yards rushing on 12 carries.

Maine West starts Central Suburban League North play on Sept. 24 when it travels to Deerfield. That same day, Maine South hosts Niles West in a Central Suburban League South game.