Maine South’s football dominance in the Central Suburban League South division finally ended this season when New Trier replaced the Hawks as conference champs.
But the Hawks still have Evanston’s number and haven’t lost to the Wildkits since the 1999 season.
Quarterback Nick Leongas ran for two touchdowns and also tossed a pair of TD passes as the Hawks buried Evanston 52-7 at chilly Lazier Field Friday night.
Both teams will enter Illinois High School Association state playoff action with 6-3 won-loss records, Maine South in Class 7A and Evanston in Class 8A. The IHSA will announce the postseason pairings on Saturday night.
But while Maine South will carry some momentum into its postseason assignment, the blowout loss will have the Kits searching for answers before next weekend.
“We’ve got to get better across the board,” said ETHS head coach Mike Burzawa. “We lost on offense, we lost on defense and we lost on special teams. It’s very disappointing. Give Maine South credit, because it was their night. The second season starts for us tomorrow and we’ve got to bounce back.
“It was a 14-7 game midway through the second quarter and we had a couple of opportunities that we didn’t convert. Then we had breakdowns across the board that really hurt us.”
Evanston closed to within 14-7 as a 25-yard touchdown pass from Drew Dawkins to Charlie Krause capped a 6-play, 61-yard scoring drive. But the visitors answered with three more scores in the second quarter to cruise to a 35-7 halftime advantage.
Leongas carried 7 times for 90 yards, including a 60-yard dash for a TD on the third play from scrimmage, and also completed 7-of-13 passes for 154 yards and two scores.
Dennis Mahoney is sports information director for ETHS.