Maine South stops Stevenson

It's a conundrum that remains unsolved. At least for another year.

For the Stevenson football team, it's “How in the heck do we beat Maine South?”

Once again, the Patriots are left to simply scratch their heads on that one.

On Saturday night , Maine South did to Stevenson what it has done to Stevenson each of the previous five times the two perennial powers have met in the playoffs. And that's get a victory.

It wasn't pretty, but the visiting Hawks escaped Lincolnshire with a 20-9 win over top-seeded Stevenson in a Class 8A quarterfinal.

No. 4 Maine South, the two-time defending Class 8A state champion, improves to 10-2 on the season and will face No. 2 Loyola next weekend in the semifinals. Loyola (11-1) defeated No. 14 Palatine in the quarterfinals, 14-0.

Meanwhile, Stevenson's perfect run comes to an end. The Patriots close out the year with an 11-1 record.

“This is awesome. We just want to get back to state,” said Maine South running back Paul Preston, who scored 2 of his team's 3 touchdowns. “Everyone is clicking and we're running on all cylinders. It's a great feeling.”

Thanks to Preston, Maine South was running on all cylinders because of the run. And that was somewhat of a strange sight.

Known for years as a prolific passing team, Maine South commonly produces quarterbacks who throw for thousands of yards in a season like it's nothing. To wit, starting quarterback Matt Alviti, who is just a sophomore, entered the game with more than 2,100 passing yards to his name. And he rolled up more than 350 passing yards last week in the second round.

But, Maine South threw another head scratcher at Stevenson and showed a much different look.

The Hawks actually ran for more yards than they passed: 158 rushing yards to 108 passing yards. Preston, all 5-foot-4 of him, accounted for 128 of those rushing yards himself.

“I wasn't even expecting that, to tell you the truth,” said Preston, who carried the ball 18 times. “They just kept giving me the ball and I just did what I did.

“They (Stevenson) probably saw us last game and saw how much we passed and probably overplayed the pass.”

Although, in sticking somewhat with tradition, Maine South did cinch the game with a passing touchdown.

Up 13-9 in a defensive struggle, Maine South got a big-time gift late in the fourth quarter.

Stevenson shanked a punt deep in its own territory with 2:23 left in the game. The kick traveled just three yards and gave the Hawks the ball back at the Stevenson 11-yard line. Three plays later, Alviti hit Scott Derrick with a 9-yard touchdown pass.

“Oh, that was big,” Maine South coach David Inserra said with a smile as he recounted the shanked punt. “Our defense came up with a big three-and-out and then that punt was just huge.”

Down by 11 points (20-9), Stevenson had two minutes to try to get two quick scores, but weren't able to get inside the red zone before time ran out.

And that was a feeling the normally prolific Patriots weren't used to. They entered the game averaging 32.9 points per game.

“They were tough defensively,” said Stevenson running back Joe Cassata, who finished with 48 yards on 12 carries. The Patriots were held to just 76 total rushing yards. “Other than the one drive we scored, we couldn't get anything going.”

Besides getting a first-quarter safety when Alviti fumbled the ball and fell on it in his own end zone, Stevenson didn't have much else to cheer about. The Patriots had only one drive that didn't stall or result in a turnover. Nathan Kahn ran in a 1-yard touchdown that capped a 10-play drive and also gave the Patriots a 9-6 lead with 8:56 remaining in the second quarter.

But just like Maine South's defense, Stevenson's defense also gave away very little.

The Patriots were down 13-9 at halftime on two Preston touchdowns. Besides Preston, the rest of the Maine South offense was sputtering for most of the game.

“This is pretty hard because our defense has been amazing all season,” said Stevenson linebacker Joseph Squaglia, who came up with all kinds of big tackles. “We did everything we could but we came up a little short. It was hard to find (Preston) and he's fast. He's a good player and they were able to find some things to exploit in our defense with their run.

“But we never gave up. Not one person. That's what we're all about.”