Lincoln-Way East routs Maine South in matchup of state-ranked teams
Turnovers told the tale Friday night for Maine South against visiting Lincoln-Way East.
That, and the inspired play of Griffins quarterback Jonas Williams.
The USC-bound Williams threw for 358 yards and four touchdowns, and Lincoln-Way East intercepted Hawks QB and Indiana recruit Jameson Purcell four times, one of those a pick-six.
It all added up to a stunning 40-0 Griffins win in Park Ridge.
The margin of victory was even more astonishing considering that both teams came in to the contest ranked in the top four in the state in the AP Class 8 poll; Lincoln-Way East second, Maine South ranked fourth.
But there turned out to be very little suspense as the Griffins stifled the Hawks at every turn.
"They're a good program," said Lincoln-Way East lineman Austin Kummerer about Maine South. "We definitely had some challenges tonight.
"There was some adversity for sure. We don't expect to come in to a game and blow teams out. But I think we're going to be all right this year."
Hawks coach Dave Inserra said that his squad had their opportunities, but did not take advantage.
"Turnovers, and not scoring in the first half is what hurt us," said Inserra. "We had our chances, we were moving the ball up and down the field. Three times we were inside the 15 and didn't come away with anything."
Justin Titus, Casey Mikrut, Michael Simonetti and Jacob Onik had the INTs for Lincoln-Way East. Onik's was returned for a touchdown.
The four TD tosses from Williams went to Blaise LaVista (twice), Jack Murphy (a 70-yard bomb) and Jayden Cawthon.
For Maine South, Nico Kokosioulis excelled at running back, rushing for 80 tough yards.
After the game, Inserra gave props to his opponent while also holding a lot of hope out for the rest of the season.
"Lincoln-Way East is a great program," said the coach, "and we know that. They took advantage of our mistakes.
"We've seen worse, we've been beat worse, and still came back (from those types of losses) and had a championship season.“