Maine South holds off Glenbrook South rally, wins sixth straight

PARK RIDGE – Usually when a team sets a goal, it is in response to having fallen short of that same goal in the previous year.

At Maine South, the goal has been for Dave Inserra’s team has been the restoration of the football program to its usual place in the Central Suburban League as well as the area.

The Hawks sought to erase the bad memory of having to vacate its nine-win campaign from a fall ago due to the IHSA ruling on the use of ineligible players who were deemed not to be residents of the school’s boundaries.

After the Hawks put on a dominating performance in the first half, they needed to hold off a spirited Glenbrook South’s second-half rally to triumph 45-36 Friday.

The win earned the Hawks a return ticket to the postseason for the 37th time in school history.

“The first half we came out (and) scored (on) the first drive (and) that got us going real hot,” Hawks junior QB Constantine Coines said of their sixth consecutive win that moved them to 6-1 overall and 3-0 in CSL South play. “The second half we came out real flat. We didn’t execute and that’s how we let them back in the game, which shifted momentum. In the end, we eventually got it back. (Our) defense got (a couple of) big stops and we finished it at the end.”

The swing in momentum came after a 20-yard Mike Dellumo TD jaunt had the home team up 35-7 with 7:44 left in the third. Coines was 13-for-21 passing for 263 yards and had 16 carries for 50 yards rushing.

Titans senior running back Nate Canning (29 carries, 237 yards) scored on 3-yard TD run that combined with a 20-yard TD catch from Adam Motoa pulled GBS (2-5, 2-1) within 35-20 just 58 seconds into the fourth.

It was there that the Hawks defense came through with a pair of big interceptions by Samuel Cooper and Tommy Naughton that gave them the cushion it needed to hold off the visitors with Naughton’s becoming a 53-yard pick-six for a 45-20 lead with 4:49 left.

The Titans added two more scores; a 12-yard James Dooman run and a 14-yard Motoa TD toss to Joshua Sherman.

“Credit to them (GBS),” Inserra said. “They were going to give us everything they got. Moving forward and improving, you got to remember that they are high school kids. We talked about the first five minutes of the second half and obviously we came out and laid an egg in all three aspects (of the game). If we would’ve taken care of business in (those) first five minutes I think the game goes quickly.”

https://football.dailyherald.com/sports/20231006/maine-south-tops-glenbrook-south-to-clinch-playoff-spot