A real handful

Bartlett's semifinal foe Maine South boasts powerful offensive arsenal

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November 20, 2008

By RJ GERBER Sports Editor

One last hurdle remains before Bartlett football can arrive in the Class 8A state title game.

And the next test, as you'd expect, is a doozy.

Maine South visits the Hawks at 7:08 Saturday night for a televised state semifinal clash of unbeatens at Millennium Field in Streamwood.

Maine South finished the season as the top-ranked team in the 8A state poll, while Bartlett was fourth. Both 12-0 and nicknamed the Hawks, these teams had high expectations when the season began in August, and those remain.

"We've talked about making it to the state title game forever and now that it's just one game away it's kind of weird," said Bartlett senior linebacker Kyle Zelinsky. "But we're going to be ready."

Maine South's playoff history dictates that competing this time of year is the norm. The program has won two state championships (Class 5A in 1995 and 6A in 2000), while posting runner-up finishes in 8A from 2003-05. This is the Park Ridge school's 17th consecutive trip to the postseason.

Coach David Inserra, who took over at Maine South in 2001, has posted a record of 88-12 during his tenure. His teams have advanced to the state quarterfinals in six of his eight seasons.

Maine South won the Central Suburban South for the eighth straight year and got to this point after knocking off playoff opponents Stevenson, Loyola Academy and Barrington by a combined score of 131-36.

They've won nine times this season by 31 points or more.

Bartlett, meanwhile, has had a little more trouble advancing this far.

The Upstate Eight Conference champions edged Niles Notre Dame 10-7 in their playoff opener, followed that with a 21-7 victory against Fremd and survived 38-35 last Saturday at Schaumburg on a 25-yard field goal by Dan Karys with seven seconds left in the game. That came after Bartlett, making its ninth consecutive playoff appearance, built a 28-0 advantage.

Bartlett can't afford any type of letdown like it had in the second half last week as it surrendered a season-high point total.

Maine South is a juggernaut.

"They're definitely the best team we've faced," said Zelinsky, who was watching tape of Maine South when contacted Monday night. "They're just really well-balanced and they play really well together. They have great athletes and they get the ball to their playmakers."

Maine South quarterback Charlie Goro, bound for Vanderbilt, is the one who engineers his team's spread offense.

"He's a talented quarterback, a very mobile quarterback," said Bartlett coach Tom Meaney. "He's a heck of a leader. You watch on tape and you see that the kids really follow his lead, and the team goes as he goes."

Goro led Maine South to scores on its first five possessions during a 42-0 quarterfinal win over Barrington. Goro completed 19 of 25 passes for 247 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for another score.

That his team is averaging 47.2 points per game this season doesn't come as too much of a surprise to Inserra.

"We are explosive and we know that, but we're not going to rest on what we did on the last play," Inserra said. "We're always looking to get better on the next play.

"Last week we were up 35-0 at halftime and I was not happy because I thought we should have been up by 42 with a running clock. All I had to do was mention the Bartlett score at half and what it was at that point in time, and I think we caught the kids' attention with that."

Bartlett's defense has been its forte all season. The Hawks haven't seen anything like what Maine South presents, though.