Maine South loses quarterback early, then falls to Brother Rice 10-7
Maine South couldn't overcome a serious injury to their quarterback and a Brother Rice offense that refused to get off the field.
Starting quarterback Jack DeFilippis went down early in first quarter. To make matters worse, Brother Rice leaned heavily on its running game, especially in the second half as the Crusaders rallied for a 10-7 win Friday before a standing-room-only crowd in Park Ridge.
"Just too familiar ground," Maine South coach Dave Inserra said. "This is very similar to last year when Jack (DeFilipis) took over for Matt Leyden, who got hurt in Week Two."
Constantine Coines, a junior, who saw varsity action last season, was then rushed into action.
Coines and the Maine South offense had some difficulty finding some rhythm until the second quarter.
That's when Coines busted off a planned keeper just over the right side behind Luke Pedersen, Lazar Babic and Michael Santoro. Coines (11 carries, 99 yards) ran 61 yards to the Brother Rice 3-yard line.
The Hawks failed to capitalize on the situation and could not find the end zone. To add to that frustration, Brother Rice then blocked the field goal and Maine South came away with no points.
Coines got things going after another Maine South defensive stop.
He (5-of-15, 60 yards) threw a 25-yard pass to Evan Agosto, who was slightly banged up on the play. After Agosto left the field, Coines broke through on a similar play to his earlier run. The junior shook off two tackles and scored to make it 7-0 with 7:07 left in the first half.
Maine South had another opportunity to score. But the Hawks missed a 47-yard field goal that went just wide. Brother Rice then found some rhythm to their offense. The Crusaders drove 80 yards to tie the game on a 7-yard touchdown run with 54.5 seconds left in the first half to tie the game at 7-7.
Brother Rice stayed on that same page to begin the second half. Beginning at their own 20, they drove 14 plays to the Maine South 13. The drive ran out of steam after nearly 7 minutes, but the Crusaders did come away with a 30-yard field goal to take the 10-7 lead.
Maine South immediately followed by throwing an interception as the Hawk offense just couldn't find its wings in the second half. In the second half, Brother Rice would run 33 plays to Maine South's 16,
"It was gutsy performance by Constantine," Inserra said. "He wasn't perfect. He stepped in and tried to right the ship."
Inserra said he thought his defense played very well.
"They had a couple of drives, but only came away with three points," Inserra said. "They had a good scheme running game. We weren't giving up much. But they were just getting enough."