WW South can't win them all

Shaken at the start, Wheaton Warrenville South showed signs of springing a comeback Friday.

Maine South's defense wasn't having it.

The Hawks turned away three Tigers drives past midfield in the third quarter, taking a 27-9 win between the matchup of No. 1 and No. 2 in the Chicago area in front of 7,000-plus fans in Park Ridge.

"Defensively, we settled down in the second quarter and the defense gave us a chance to get back in the game," WW South coach Ron Muhitch said. "Maine South got a lead, they hit us and they played great defense."

Trailing 20-0 after a quarter, No. 1 WW South (1-1) pulled within 20-9 with 7:38 left in the third quarter after a Maine South punt snap went through the end zone for a safety.

The Tigers drove to the Hawks' 24-yard line before a Mack Tracey sneak came up short on fourth and short. A 29-yard Julian Banuelos run got WW South past midfield on its next possession, but on third down Maine South's Matt Perez sacked Tigers quarterback Reilly O'Toole.

"They played extremely well on third down," Muhitch said. "We came up short the length of my clipboard how many times? Four?"

Maine South's maligned defense held WW South to one score after looking leaky in a 64-35 shootout win over Schaumburg in Week 1.

"We wanted to come out and show that last week was a fluke," Perez said. "We mixed things up and pressured as much as possible. They got a good quarterback. You give him time, he'll pick you apart."

The defending Class 8A champs' spread offense hummed in the first quarter. Maine South (2-0) scored on its first three drives, a Tyler Benz 1-yard run giving the Hawks a 20-0 lead with 1:37 left in the first. Benz, who completed 14 of 21 passes for 156 yards, earlier threw for 2 scores. Indiana recruit Perez ran for 94 of his 144 yards in the first half.

"Our offense is high octane," Perez said. "We can score points fast."

"I think we caught them off guard," Benz added.

WW South managed just one first down over its first three drives. On the fourth O'Toole guided an 80-yard drive that ended with a 20-yard touchdown pass to Dan Hohenstein.

O'Toole, who took all but two of WW South's snaps at quarterback, completed 12 of 28 passes for 120 yards. He was sacked four times.

"They have a good defense and hit hard," O'Toole said, "but it was exactly what we saw in practice. I just missed a couple reads that could have gone for big plays. That's on me."

"We need to get better," Muhitch said. "We can learn from this loss."