Maine South earns another victory with 51-13 Senior Night rout of Evanston

Heading into Friday night’s home matchup with Evanston, Maine South had won its last three matchups against Deerfield, Niles West and Vernon Hills by a combined score of 161-35 — or 133-7, if you discount the second half with Maine West’s starters on the bench.

There was some conversation that this week’s matchup with five-win Evanston might be different.

No dice.

Maine South outscored Evanston 51-6 in the first half to earn a sweat-free 51-13 Senior Night victory, creating its fourth consecutive halftime lead of more than 35 points on the way to its seventh straight win since losing to Batavia in Week 1.

“I thought (51-6) might be the final score, but not at halftime,” said Maine South coach Dave Inserra. “The boys really took care of business.”

Senior quarterback Jameson Purcell, who is committed to the defending national champion Indiana Hoosiers, looked the part of a blue-chip prospect in the win. In the first half alone, the four-star recruit completed 7 of 11 passes for a cool 197 passing yards and two touchdowns, in addition to 37 yards rushing yards on four carries.

Purcell is not worried about any potential adverse effects from the last four games as his Hawks (7-1, 2-0) get ready to face a competitive Glenbrook South team on the road next week with the Central Suburban South title on the line.

“Our practices, especially through a weaker part of our schedule, have been the best practices we’ve had all year and all summer,” Purcell said. “I think that says a lot … in our preparation, in our practice, how competitive we get.”

Seniors Matt Schlenhardt paced the Hawks on the ground with four carries for 85 yards and two touchdowns. Fellow senior Payton Donaldson handled workhorse duties on Friday night, wracking up 63 yards and two touchdowns of his own, in addition two one catch for 25 yards.

Maine South dominated every phase of the game in the blowout victory. The Hawks’ defense and special teams units tallied three interceptions, a safety and a kickoff-return touchdown, courtesy of junior Keaton Vitel.

Vitel, who caught a 25-yard passing touchdown as well, broke the Maine South single-season kick return touchdown record with his 90-yard house call.

“They were trying to kick away from me, so me and the other returner switched sides,” Vitel said after the game. “I took it up the middle, and I just saw that I could bounce it out and make a play, and I did what I usually do.”

Schlenhardt opened the scoring with a 66-yard touchdown run on Maine South’s opening drive. Schlenhardt, committed to Syracuse as a linebacker, flung-off two Evanston defenders at the 10-yard-line on his way to the end zone.

Evanston (5-3, 0-2) responded with an 11-play, 40-yard drive ending in a field goal that took more than seven minutes off the clock, running the ball eight times in an effort to keep the Maine South offense off the field.

The Hawks quickly created a two-score lead with a long drive of their own. Purcell completed three passes to three receivers on the touchdown series, which was capped by a one-yard touchdown run from Schlenhardt.

That passing game diversity was a trend throughout the first half, as the future Hoosier found six receivers across his seven first-half completions.

“I can trust all the dudes that are out there,” Purcell said. “We’ve had multiple games like that where we just spread the ball and the love. It’s a good feeling because all of them work so hard.”

Evanston kicked another field goal on its next drive to make the score 14-6 after a 70-yard kickoff return from senior Amari Watson set the Wildcats up on Maine South’s nine-yard line.

Vitel one-upped Watson on the ensuing kick, extending the Hawks’ lead to 15 with his record-breaking return touchdown.

Maine South’s first-team defense did not let Evanston score again. The Hawks racked up three interceptions, a safety, a turnover-on-downs and a three-and-out on the next six drives to put the game to rest.

Senior cornerback Sean Sladky was the standout of that group, nabbing two of those three interceptions and a pass breakup to help Maine South create a 51-6 halftime lead.

“Defensively, the seniors are rising to the occasion,” Inserra said. “They didn’t play a lot last year. I’m just really proud of their approach to practice every day.”