Sports
Football: Hall Powers Hornets Over Willowbrook
Hinsdale South 50, Willowbrook 22. Keontae Hall's four TD's in his final home game gives Hornets their first winning season since 2005 and an at-large bid for the state playoffs.
As far as beginnings go, start against Willowbrook was not memorable. Lucky for them it’s how you finish. Hinsdale South delivered plenty of fireworks in their 50-22 rout to close the regular season.
On the opening kickoff, Willowbrook returner Brandon Smith went all the way in a 90-yard return to put the Warriors (0-9, 0-6) up 6-0. On the ensuing kickoff, the short, high kick bounced backwards in front of receiver Bryant Hayes and the Warriors recovered on the Hornets’ 22. Running back Raphael Garcia scored on a 10-yard run and QB Steven Ferguson scored on an 8-yard QB sneak for a two-point conversion after a false start penalty.
Ninety seconds in, the Hornets (5-4, 4-2) were down 14 to the winless Warriors.
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Senior running back Keontae Hall, in his final home game, wasn’t about to let the game end like this. On their first possession he scored on a 45-yard run to cut the lead in half. On their next possession, the Hornets marched down the field and Hall capped it off with a 5-yard run to tie the game at 14.
After another Willowbrook punt early in the second, Hall ran 69 yards, almost untouched, to put the Hornets on top for the first time all game, erasing a 14-point deficit in a little under a quarter of play.
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“I tried to put my speed to my advantage whenever I could,” Hall said, who ran for 247 yards on 29 carries. He added a fourth touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
The Hornets never looked back.
Junior quarterback DJ Deolitsis also finished the season strong with three TD passes and more than 200 yards passing. He also put his legs to good use with 94 yards rushing.
While the season is over for the Warriors, the Hornets may not be done. Their win gives them a chance for an at-large bid. Their fate, however, will not be determined until Saturday.
“You can go crazy trying to figure all that stuff,” Hornets coach Michael Barry said. “We had 37 points going in and we can’t finish with more than 39. It depends on what Romeoville, LT and a couple of these other schools do.”
Even without the playoff berth (which would likely be 6A), the Hornets have had a successful regular season, finishing over .500 for the first time since 2005.
“We’ve had our ups and downs,” Barry said. “It’s been a real learning process for all of us.”
