On a night when the temperature dropped several degrees, it was the Downers Grove South offense that heated up.

And with the offense scoring on its first four possessions, the Mustangs cruised to a 42-0 victory over Hinsdale South Friday night in Darien.

“We threw the ball well early in the game,” said Downers South coach John Belskis. “I thought that kept them off balance. The defense played well and we had some explosion plays.

“It was a well-played game, probably the best game we’ve played all year.”

The Mustangs (4-2, 3-0 West Suburban Gold) scored on their opening possession of the game as quarterback Chandler Whitmer found Wes Manzer for a 10-yard score. The duo connected again at the end of the first quarter on a 14-yard scoring pass to cap off a 10-play drive and make the score 14-0.

Running back Scottie Williams got into the act early in the second quarter with an 88-yard run to paydirt before Brett Placek scored on a 6-yard run to up the advantage to 28-0 by halftime.
An 81-yard touchdown scamper by Micah Johnson on a reverse was the only scoring in the third quarter while Williams brought on the running clock at the 10:26 mark of the final stanza with a 51-yard touchdown run.

On the other sidelines, the Hornets (2-4, 2-1) could never sustain any kind of drive as they punted four times, gave the ball away twice on a fumble and interception and turned the ball over on downs on three occasions.

“Our line came out like totally different people,” Whitmer said. “The first couple of weeks, they were learning. Tonight they played with their hair on fire. A lot of credit goes to them. We came out with both a throwing and a running attack and that kept them off balance.

“The wide receivers were running good routes, Scottie broke a couple and the line was blocking well. Everything worked.”

Jon Sterling led the home team with 65 yards on 14 carries while Rob Christenson completed 10-of-19 passes for 126 yards. Rob Folkerts was the team’s leading receiver with 63 yards on four receptions.

“We blocked well at times,” said Hinsdale South head coach Alex Bitto. “Jon (Sterling) ran hard and we completed some nice passes but we could never finish drives. At times we corralled (Scottie) Williams but he is pretty good. He got away from us some other times.

The Hornets are down, but they’re still not out. They have to win their final three games to have a shot at making the playoffs.

“No one likes to lose like this but there is no way to change it,” Bitto said. “What we have to do is understand we have a shot. We have to win the rest of them and maybe make the playoffs if the points are right. The seniors want that. Football is important to this group. We just have to figure out a way to be more consistent offensively and defensively.”