His name is Josh Wietes, and that last name is pronounced like the breakfast of champions.
The way he played Friday night in Darien, you would’ve thought the Downers Grove South defensive back had consumed three bowls of the cereal as his pregame meal.
“Nah, I only eat it once in a great while,” said Wietes, who had three interceptions in leading 14th-ranked Downers South to a heart-pounding 26-22 victory over No. 16 Hinsdale South. “Maybe I should start eating it more often.”
Host Hinsdale South (7-2, 4-2) overcame a 19-8 deficit with a Sam Louise quarterback sneak midway through the third quarter and a 25-yard touchdown pass from Louise to tight end Mike Trepina with 8 minutes 54 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
West Suburban Gold champion Downers South (8-1, 6-0) came storming back after a 58-yard pass from Mike Cuzzone to Mitch Szczepaniak, who bobbled the ball over his head before gathering it in. That set up Jay Moore’s 9-yard TD run.
“I think my heart skipped a beat on Mitch’s catch,” said Cuzzone, who had a career night completing 17-of-25 passes for 308 yards and two touchdowns.
“Yeah, this was my best game–by about 150 yards.”
Hinsdale South’s relentless option game drove the ball to the Mustangs’ 8, where Hornet coach Jim Kirwan tried a little fourth-down trickery. Zach Luetkemeyer (128 yards rushing, one TD) pulled up during an apparent sweep and launched a halfback-option pass into the end zone.
Wietes was all over it, and the pickoff with :31 left assured Downers it would be opening the Class 6A playoffs next week at home.
“We knew that halfback-option pass was in their playbook,” Wietes said. “I started to come up for the run until I saw the wide receiver leak out. I remember my coaches telling me to play my man, no matter what.”
Despite his opportunistic positioning, Wietes still had to hang onto those three passes. “Well, I used to be a wide receiver back in the days,” Wietes said with a smile.
Downers South was missing its best defensive player, linebacker Quince Holman, who tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during a 52-0 victory over Morton last Saturday. And Moore, the Mustangs’ top back, didn’t start after missing two days of school earlier in the week.
“I tried to make up a little for Jay,” Cuzzone said. “He had some family problems last week that forced him to miss school.
“Everyone knows we’re not the same team without Jay.”
Wietes’ first interception on the fourth play of the game at the Hornet 17 set up Phil Washington’s 7-yard TD run. Pickoff No. 2 came late in the first quarter.
Hinsdale South retaliated with a nine-play, 71-yard drive culminated by Luetkemeyer’s 6-yard scoring run. Greg Cozzi’s two-point run provided an 8-7 lead.
The Mustangs went into halftime with a 13-8 lead after Downers South’s Mike Cuzzone connected with Reggie Modisette on a 31-yard touchdown pass. A 14-yard TD pass from Cuzzone to Kent Hughes provided a 19-8 lead.
