Saturday, September 5, 2009

No. 4-ranked Maine South...

...scored on its first three possessions last night en route to a 27-9 upset (?) of No. 1-ranked Wheaton Warrenville South. As the sun set over Park Ridge on a beautiful 70 degree night and with planes landing and taking off from O'Hare in the distance, an estimated 8,000 spectators settled into their seats to see why the Hawks are the defending Illinois Class 8A state champs. Senior quarterback Tyler Benz is making Maine South fans forget all about Charlie Goro, as he completed his first 11 passes (two for touchdowns) and ran for the game's third score, all in the first quarter. And as if that wasn't enough, Benz also played outside linebacker and had a sack! His partner in crime, Indiana-bound senior Matt Perez, scored the final touchdown late in the game and had two sacks himself on defense. The victory was the 16th consecutive one for the Hawks, and while head coach David Inserra hasn't asked my advice (just yet), I really have to question the wisdom of playing Benz and Perez on both sides of the ball. Don't they have enough depth on defense to rest their two biggest stars? The key to the answer may be in last week's victory over Schaumburg in which Maine South gave up 35 points. Defense may be the Hawks' Achilles heel.

In other games, Stevenson beat Glenbrook South, 50-49, in overtime; Loyola blanked Sullivan, 56-0; Notre Dame edged Fenwick, 20-17; St. Rita made light work of Morris, 42-7; Mt. Carmel beat Lake Forest Academy, 46-30, in what turned out to be a very respectable showing by the Swells; and finally Brother Rice crushed Amundsen, 49-8.

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