Jack Costello, Hinsdale Central ‘D’ finish the deal with shutout of York

HINSDALE – Hinsdale Central’s Jack Costello kept an eye on a particular part of the scoreboard late in Saturday’s game against York.

With York on a clock-eating drive in the final minutes, Costello and his teammates wanted one last yet important memory from the West Suburban Silver game — a shutout.

Led by a stout defensive effort, the Red Devils achieved their goal with an impressive 19-0 victory over the Dukes in Hinsdale.

The Red Devils (3-0, 3-0) kept their record unblemished heading into Friday’s road game against Proviso West. In turn, the Red Devils remained on a collision course for their home game against fellow Silver unbeaten Glenbard West on April 16.

Hinsdale Central quarterback Michael Brescia paced the offense with his legs, rushing for 105 yards and two touchdowns to overcome a rough day passing. He finished 11-of-26 passing for 130 yards with a touchdown.

“We just wanted that shutout,” said Costello, a Washington University recruit. “It was just a good team effort to get that shutout. We wanted to make sure we brought it at the end.

“This team has stuck together and stayed together and are enjoying playing football together,” he said. “We’re excited to get the wins and want to keep this going.”

The Red Devils’ defense tallied seven pass deflections and an interception, while yielding just 118 yards rushing and 86 passing. For the season, the Red Devils have given up just 14 points.

Senior right guard/defensive end Alex Meyers said the defense was motivated for the shutout after allowing late touchdowns to Oak Park-River Forest and Leyden.

“After the last two weeks when we let touchdowns in the fourth, we all really wanted to shut these guys out,” he said. “We all knew we could. It turned out good for us in the end. It was a good effort.”

The Red Devils’ defense kept York running back Patrick Kastner, who rushed for 114 yards against Hinsdale South in Week 1, in check for most of the game. The 5-foot-10, 200-pound Kastner had 20 rushes for 80 yards, averaging four yards per carry.

“We knew coming into the game that he was going to run hard,” Costello said. “He’s a good player, a big guy. We had to match his energy. That’s what we did. It worked out for us.”

Breathing heavy and drenched with sweat, Meyers said the defense keyed on stopping Kastner.

“We tried to focus all week, just everyone filling their holes and doing their jobs and make gang tackles and make plays,” he said. “(Kastner) runs hard, but all our defense got to where we needed to be and played hard. It was hot out here, but we pushed through it. It was a good team win.”

The Red Devils relied on a collective effort on defense to slow down the Dukes (1-2, 1-2), applying pressure to force York quarterback Mike Bojesen to move around in the pocket and stopped several drives with deflections. Bojesen was 12-for-28 passing for 86 yards and an interception. Sean Allison’s interception and 25-yard yard return set up Brescia’s first touchdown, a 6-yard run in the first quarter.

Hinsdale Central’s defense stopped another York threat with a goal-line stand in the second quarter.

“Kastner is a tough kid, and York is a great football team, but our kids flew around today,” Hinsdale Central coach Brian Griffin said. “We had limited kids going both ways, so that benefitted us. This is a full team win. The offense picked us up by moving and holding the ball to give the defense a breather. We had a whole group of kids who contributed and did a great job.”

Brescia added some insurance with a seven-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter.

York coach Mike Fitzgerald said his team failed to capitalize on several opportunities that hurt them.

“They are a top 10 team for a reason and when you play teams like that, there’s a very small margin of error,” he said. “We moved the ball for positive yards and would get into a flow, but then shoot ourselves in the foot. They played a very physical football game. Kastner is a tough guy to bring down, and I thought they did a good job swarming him. In key situations, like third downs and red zones, they came up big in those situations.”