Kokosioulis helps Maine S. pull away
Daily Herald Correspondent
Palatine’s hopes for a trip to the football statetitle game were blown away Saturday in Park Ridge.
The Pirates, playing in gusty wind, just couldn’t fly high enough and fell to Maine South 28- 14 in the Class 8A semifinals.
Maine South ( 10- 3) will play Loyola, a 42- 13 winner against Glenbard West, in the championship game at 7 p. m. next Saturday in Champaign.
It wasn’t the ending that Palatine coach Rick Splitt, his team and the three busloads of students that made the trip had hoped for.
“It was a fantastic year,” Splitt said. “I’m proud of the seniors, I’m proud of this program and I’m proud of our coaches. It’s just tough.”
Palatine ( 12- 1) advanced to the state semifinals for the second consecutive year. Key injuries, especially the broken collarbone of quarterback Zach Oles, who was named to the Class 8A allstate team this week, hurt the Pirates’ chances.
“The playoff run was great,” said Splitt, who lost Oles in the first quarter of the first playoff game. “We score a touchdown against Notre Dame on the first series. On the second series, Zach gets hurt. For us to make a good run after that is outstanding.”
Quarterback DJ Angelaccio, who directed three playoff victories, managed the offense quite well again, going 25- for- 43 for 199 yards. But he ran into some situations he wasn’t used to.
Maine South stacked the line and held Palatine to 45 rushing yards. With the wind as an extra defender, the Pirates had to run shorter routes.
“We had some bad breaks,” Splitt said. “It was 14- 7, and they get a couple of picks and then short fields. We just couldn’t get a break. That’s the way it goes.”
The Hawks scored first when Nick Leongas ( 7- for15, 115 yards) hooked up with Matt Holbrook on a seam route for a 41- yard TD in the first quarter.
Palatine had a chance to tie early in the second quarter when it drove to the Maine South 1. On fourth down, Josh Turner was stopped on a play the Pirates wanted to change. Palatine signaled and called for a timeout, but the official on the Palatine sideline said that he never heard the Pirates ask for one.
Palatine’s defense held and forced a short punt, giving the Pirates the ball at the Maine South 26. On second- and- goal from the 4, Angelaccio rolled out and fired to Johnny O’Shea in the end zone to tie the game with 5: 21 left in the first half.
The Hawks responded when 6- 6 wide receiver Luke Hinkamp outleaped two defenders in the end zone on a 22- yard pass from Leongas, making it 14- 7 with just under a minute left in the half.
The score remained that way until Maine South was able to pull away after two interceptions. Fotis Kokosioulis scored on runs of five and six yards only 54 seconds apart.
This report was produced in partnership with the Daily Herald. For related coverage, visit dailyherald. com/ sports/ prep.