Lincoln-Way East makes a season-opening statement with a shutout, running-clock win at Maine South

Maine South’s stands were packed on Friday night and the fans in Park Ridge were loud and pumped to watch a showdown between two of the best teams and quarterbacks in the state.

By the middle of the third quarter, that home stand was nearly emptied out. Jonas Williams and No. 3 Lincoln-Way East demolished the No. 4 Hawks 40-0 in a running-clock victory.

“Our whole team are absolute dogs,” Griffins wide receiver Blaise LaVista said. “Forty points and I think we played pretty bad. We were capable of putting up 100. They say Week 1 to Week 2 is the biggest jump so I’m excited to see what we do next week.”

Williams was 17-for-35 for 315 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions. LaVista, a Washington recruit who transferred from Libertyville, had six catches for 118 yards with two TDs. Sophomore Jack Murphy caught a 70-yard TD and Jayden Cawthon had three catches for 45 yards and one TD.

“There’s not a man I respect more than [Maine South coach] Dave Inserra and his program,” Lincoln-Way East coach Rob Zvonar said. “To come up here and have a solid win is a good experience in Week 1.”

The Griffins’ defense was the epitome of bend but don’t break. Maine South quarterback Jameson Purcell was 37-for-64 for 305 yards with three interceptions.

“I don’t think we’ve ever had 64 passes thrown against us,” Zvonar said. “They didn’t hit the big one so that was important. We kept it in front of us. They didn’t take too many downfield shots.”

Zvonar speculated that Maine South’s plan was to utilize a short passing game to keep the clock going and keep Williams off the field. The Hawks’ longest passing play went for 15 yards.

“We moved the ball,” Inserra said. “We moved it well. They didn’t stop us. We didn’t punt. We were inside the 15 three times and we came away with zero points. That can’t happen.”

Casey Mikrut, Jacob Onik and Michael Simonetti had interceptions for Lincoln-Way East. Onik’s was one of the key plays of the game. The Griffins led 20-0 in the third quarter and he picked off Purcell’s pass and returned it 30 yards for a score.

“On the big plays we made sure they didn’t score,” Lincoln-Way East defensive end Jacob Alexander said. “Sometimes they had great field position but we came together and the secondary was locked in and took control.”

Niko Kokosioulis had 13 carries for 67 yards and 11 catches for 78 yards for the Hawks, who travel to Gurnee to play Warren next week. The No. 11 Blue Devils knocked off No. 16 Hersey 43-36 on Friday.

“We can get better and that’s a good team,” Inserra said. “They can hit. He’s a really good QB and they didn’t even run the ball that much. We have to regroup and stick together.”

Lincoln-Way East will host Kankakee. The Kays lost to No. 7 Nazareth on Friday.

“This was a statement game for sure,” Alexander said. “40-0 is pretty good but we have bigger goals this season.”