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Maine South struggles to pull away from Deerfield
Maine South's George Sajenko (85) tries to break through the tackle attempt of a Deerfield defender during a game on Friday. | Adam Alexander~For Sun-Times Media
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Updated: September 7, 2012 10:42PM
PARK RIDGE — Chris Buscemi held an ice bag to his left elbow following Friday’s 35-7 win over Deerfield at home.
The Maine South senior linebacker’s pride might have been hurt even more.
It wasn’t until 28 seconds into the fourth quarter that Maine South, 3-0 and the Sun-Times’ No. 1-ranked football team, finally stepped on the gas to escape the Warriors (1-2) in a CSL crossover.
“It definitely was disappointing,” Buscemi said. “It was 21-0 in the fourth quarter. If we came out like that in the first quarter, we would have beat them by a lot more. A win is a win, but we have higher standards.”
Matt Alviti put the game away in the fourth quarter with three of his four touchdown passes. The Northwestern-bound quarterback went 16-for-21 for 232 yards and didn’t turn over the ball. Also a threat with his feet, the senior ran nine times for 115 yards, including a 66-yard scoring scamper.
“The best way to stop No. 10 is to keep him on the sideline,” Deerfield coach Steve Winiecki said of Alviti. “That’s frustrating for an offense like that.”
Deerfield was the story most of the night. The team’s triple option allowed the Warriors to stay close to the Hawks until the fourth quarter.
Jacob Balder’s 2-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter capped an 11-play drive and tied the game at 7-7 with 10:50 to go before the half. But the Hawks answered two plays later on Alviti’s long run.
Deerfield then pieced together another time-consuming drive, but it stalled at the 3-yard line on the 12th play.
Alec Frank led the Warriors on the ground, running 15 times for 82 yards. Quarterback Matthew Kollada managed a good game, even though the senior only threw three times.
“I don’t think anybody was expecting us to come out like we did,” Deerfield senior lineman Patrick Johnson said. “We wanted to get after them and to make sure it wasn’t going to be easy against us.”
Pick up your local Pioneer Press newspaper on Sept. 13 to read more about the Maine South and Deerfield football teams.
