John O’Sullivan’s timing was perfect Saturday, both before and after the Maine South football team’s season-opener at Glenbard West.
O’Sullivan, a senior quarterback in his first season as a starter, was a perfect 13-of-13 passing for 168 yards and one touchdown as the Hawks rolled to a 62-34 victory.
Told of his completion percentage afterward, O’Sullivan’s deadpan reply was: “I need to throw the ball more.”
If he continues to show such accuracy, that could happen as Maine South tries to keep opposing defenses from keying too heavily on senior running back Fotis Kokosioulis.
The Northern Illinois recruit had a big day himself, running 19 times for 167 yards and four touchdowns.
Throw in O’Sullivan’s two rushing touchdowns and a halfback option pass for a score by junior Bobby Inserra, and Maine South had the biggest scoring output by an opponent in Hilltoppers coach Chad Hetlet’s 10-plus seasons.
Did O’Sullivan expect something like this in a matchup of perennial powers?
“No,” he said. “But we do expect to come out and win and score a lot of points.”
Maine South coach Dave Inserra liked O’Sullivan’s ability to keep plays alive.
“(He’d get) out of the pocket, scrambling, maybe run it,” Inserra said. “He found the open receiver for some big first downs.
“The game shifts right there, if we’re punting early in the first quarter and even in the middle of the second quarter.”
Maine South scored on its first five possessions of the game and even had a defensive TD when senior Rory Hayes ran an interception back 88 yards.
Kokosioulis had a 1-yard touchdown run and O’Sullivan hit senior Cam Stacy (7 catches, 106 yards) with a 15-yard touchdown pass for a 14-0 Hawks lead.
Glenbard West got within 14-6 on Dre Thomas’ 10-yard touchdown run with 1:32 left in the first quarter, but Maine South put the game out of reach with four touchdowns in a stretch of 5:57 in the second quarter.
Kokosioulis had a 52-yard scoring dash down the right sideline, O’Sullivan scored from 2 yards out two plays after an interception by senior Jack Leach, Hayes had his pick-six and Bobby Inserra hit Stacy in stride for a 47-yard score.
That made it 42-14 and Maine South coasted home, getting two more rushing touchdowns from Kokosioulis and another from O’Sullivan after halftime.
“It was impressive,” Dave Inserra said of the offensive output. “Great execution by our young offensive line.”
Twitter @mikeclarkpreps
This story has been updated to reflect the following correction:
Maine South’s Bobby Inserra is a junior, not a senior.
