Maine South too much for Bartlett

Maine South sophomore quarterback Matt Alviti proved why O'Hare Airport should consider using Wilson Field as a new air strip in Park Ridge Saturday afternoon.

Alviti's engines roared on his home runway and turned Bartlett away at the gate by air mailing 4 touchdowns and 320 yards passing to lead No. 4 Maine South into the Class 8A quarterfinals with a 36-12 win over No. 5 Bartlett, ending not only the Hawks' seven-game win streak, but their playoff run and season at 8-3.

Maine South (9-2) will play No. 1 Stevenson (11-0), which defeated South Elgin 10-7, next week.

Bartlett just couldn't stop the two-time defending state champion's prolific air attack and it had its own problems matching intensity.

“We didn't come out like we normally do. It was uncharacteristic the way we played,” Hawks coach Tom Meaney said. “In some cases we were frozen, it was like the awe of the final 16 or something, I'm not sure.

“Maybe it's just Maine South being state champions, that type of thing. I don't know.”

Maine South, winners now of nine-straight, never allowed Bartlett to achieve a first down all first half. South never trailed and quickly put 6 points on the board with Alviti's 1-yard run 3 minutes in on the South's first drive.

Bartlett had numerous chances to stay with Maine South as it recovered two-straight turnovers, a fumble and an interception by Aaron Thabateau which gave Bartlett red zone position on the South 18 in the first quarter.

But as Meaney noted, his team's typical style wasn't there and the Hawks fumbled away the very next snap. Maine South capitalized with a 12-play, 82-yard drive capped by Alviti, who found Luke Mottely for a 15-yard touchdown pass that gave South a 13-0 with 11:08 left in the second quarter.

South converted on a field goal later in the quarter and although Bartlett trailed 16-0, its offense couldn't go anywhere, as quarterback A.J. Bilyeu was intercepted twice as the rush came at him as fast as the jets overhead.

“They came out to play. They were real physical and we knew they were going to be. We definitely had a hard time of picking that up,” Bilyeu said, who was sacked 4 times.

“They were blitzing off the edge that we got caught a couple times,” said Meaney.

Bartlett amassed 16 of its 22 first half total yards on the run. Andrew Puccini finished with a touchdown and 101 yards on the ground, most of those yards coming in the fourth quarter when the game was out of reach.

Bartlett never feared South and didn't give up after halftime. But Alviti just picked Bartlett apart. He'd connect on 3 more touchdown passes, his last being a 69-yard bomb to Scott Derrick, who led all receivers with 135 yards to make it 36-6 Maine South with 5:59 in the fourth.

“When we needed it, we were able to go to any receiver, just about any time,” South coach David Inserra said. “And then Matt with his throwing arm, which is second to none, it's incredible. He just continues to get better and understand better.”

Maine South also had help from running back Paul Preston. When Alviti wasn't passing, Preston helped shake up the run and pass with 147 yards rushing. The host Hawks won the total yard battle 517-173, the turnover battle 4-2 and never really allowed Bartlett anything until late in the game.

“”It just wasn't meant to be today. We didn't play our kind of game today that we usually play,” said Meaney, who was fortunate to have this team bounce back from a 3-6 year in 2009.

“This group was an awesome group to coach. In staff meetings, we never had any discipline problems, we had great senior leadership. The seniors Polubinksis, the Shrivers, the Thabuteaus, the list goes on and on. They were great because we did have several juniors on both sides of the ball and they were great kids to look up to. We're really fortunate to have kids like that, that are another coach on the field because they push the kids as well as the coaches do.”