9th
Hornets face must-win situation to reach playoffs
By Derek Strum
The Doings - link
Originally published: October 9, 2008
The Hinsdale South football team’s playoff chances have come down to this: Win the final three games or turn in the equipment after the regular-season finale.
The Hornets (2-4, 2-1 in Gold) ended up in the must-win situation after suffering a 42-0 loss to Downers Grove South (4-2, 3-0) in a West Suburban Conference Gold Division game Friday in Darien.
“No one likes to lose like this,” Hinsdale South coach Alex Bitto said. “What we have to understand is that we still have a shot (to make the playoffs).”
In order to do that, the Hornets must beat Gold rivals Willowbrook (0-6), Proviso East (4-2) and Addison Trail (2-4) in the final three games.
“Can we play well and win? I think so,” Bitto said. “I think our seniors want that. They want to be in that upper-tier group.”
Friday’s loss underscored some of the improvements Hinsdale South will have to make to reach the playoffs.
“We have to get better,” Bitto said. “Our tackling needs to improve.”
Hinsdale South might have been able to control the ball for more than 30 minutes of the game and run more plays than Downers South, but the Mustangs had more big ones.
Downers South raced to a 28-0 halftime lead, thanks to running back Scottie Williams’ 88-yard touchdown run and Micah Johnson’s 81-yard reverse TD run. The Mustangs also scored on passes of 10 and 14 yards and a 6-yard run in the first half, and added a 51-yard run with 10 minutes, 26 seconds left in the game to start the running clock.
The Hornets rushed 39 times for 105 yards, led by running back Jonathan Sterling’s 73 yards on 16 carries. Darrin Kidd had 22 yards on 14 carries. Hinsdale South quarterback Rob Christenson completed 8 of 17 passes for 105 yards with an interception, with receiver Rob Folkerts catching five passes for 69 yards.
“We blocked well and John Sterling ran the ball well,” Bitto said. “We never quite finished the drives.”
Hinsdale South came up empty twice in the red zone. Trailing 21-0 in the second quarter, the Hornets were intercepted by Jared Culver after reaching the Mustangs’ 15-yard line. Hinsdale South also drove from midfield to the Mustangs’ 20 on their first possession of the third quarter before turning the ball over on downs.
“We kept them off balance,” Downers South coach John Belskis said. “(The offensive line) did a great job, let us throw the ball on first down.”
“We were playing on our heels,” Bitto said. “And when you play on your heels, they’ll take advantage of that every time.”
