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Alviti tosses five touchdowns as Hawks dominate Vikings
Maine South senior John Cerniglia (right) intersepts a pass in the Niles North end zone intended for Niles North senior Colin Hancock during a varsity game at Niles North High School in Skokie on Friday, Sept. 14, 2012. | Ryan Pagelow~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: September 15, 2012 5:33PM
SKOKIE — Maine South senior quarterback Matt Alviti threw for five touchdowns and rushed for another in the Hawks’ 45-0 win over Niles North on Friday.
The Hawks (4-0) started the game a little slow, managing just a John Oberheide 35-yard field goal on their first possession. Then, the Vikings (2-2) ran a 20-play opening drive, which ended in a missed field goal.
But Alviti and the Hawks, who are ranked No. 1 in the Sun-Times poll, picked it up from there. The Northwestern-bound quarterback hit running back Anthony Mitchell for a 12-yard score, ran it in from 1-yard out and then threw a 57-yard strike to tight end John Solari with just 45 seconds remaining in the first half. The visitors took a 24-0 lead into the locker room.
The Alviti-to-Solari touchdown came after Maine South safety John Cerniglia intercepted his second pass of the day.
After the break, Alviti threw a 25-yard touchdown to Frank Perron and later hit Zach Hinkamp for scores of 20 and 11 yards. Alviti did have a pass picked off by Niles North’s JJ Myles in the third quarter.
“We kind of wore them down,” Maine South head coach David Inserra said. “A shutout is a shutout, but it could have been a little smoother. (Niles North) had a couple chances at the end zone and we made a nice interception (Cerniglia’s first). Overall, pretty good, but tackling has to shore up a little bit.”
Though the contest ultimately reached a fourth-quarter running clock, Niles North could take some positives from its early-game performance.
“We started off great,” Vikings defensive lineman Dan Fricano said. “We stopped them on defense and then we ran 20 plays and had some third-down conversions. We were right in it. I thought we played our best this season in that first quarter. I thought we were right there.”
Pick up your local Pioneer Press newspaper on Thursday to read more about the Maine South and Niles North football teams.
