Football: Hinsdale South Survives Late Proviso East Rally

Hinsdale South’s first conference win, coming against Proviso East, on Saturday was a lot harder than it should have been, but they pulled out a 28-26 win thanks to some key last-second stops and penalties. 

For most of the game, the Hornets (2-1, 1-0) watched while the Pirates (0-3, 0-1) made numerous mistakes and penalties. The Hornets scored on a five-yard quarterback sneak by DJ Deolitsis early in the second quarter to take a 7-0 lead. 

With four minutes left in the second, Deolitsis ran it in again from the one to put the Hornets up 14-0. After a blocked punt, Deolitsis went for the hat trick, scoring on an 11-yard run to put the Hornets up 21. 

“He (Deolitsis) did a nice job for us today,” Hornets coach Michael Barry said. “Did a lot of positive things for us on offense.” 

Proviso East finally responded on offense in its final possession in the first quarter with a pair of deep completions by QB Malcolm Hilliard. A 33-yard strike with 35 seconds left to receiver Dashamone McCarty cut the gap to 21-7, going into the half. 

The Hornets responded in the third with a solid offensive drive capped by a 19-yard pass to Justin Ward to bring the lead back up to 21.

The Pirates, however, struck back in the fourth while the defense and special teams was caught sleeping. 

On the first play in the fourth quarter, Hilliard threw a 40-yard TD pass to Taeveon Johnson made the score 28-14. After a three-and-out by the Hornets, Hilliard continued carving up the secondary, bringing the Pirates into the red zone. Ryan Jones scored on a 4-yard run with 8:10 remaining. They missed the PAT, however. 

On the ensuing kickoff, Christian Aguirre’s kickoff was a long, sideways kick that appeared to be going out of bounds. The ball took a Proviso East bounce and the Pirates recovered on the Hornets' 24. Hilliard scored on a nine-yard QB sneak with 6:42 left, but Roosevelt McNeil dropped the pass on the two-point conversion. 

That was a recurring theme for the Pirates most of the day. Hilliard did most of the work himself, breaking and dodging defenders and frustrating the Hornets. His receivers, however, didn’t live up to their end.

After a few back-and-forths, the Pirates had a chance with 35 seconds left, but the Hornets defense finally came through and kept the Pirates from field-goal range or a touchdown, preserving coach Michael Barry’s first conference win. 

“We’ve gotta learn how to play all four quarters. Not two, or three, but four,” Barry said. 

The Hornets play their home opener against Addison Trail on Friday.