Dow Does It All As Hawks Roll

After being the victim of a game-winning trick play in a 26-23 home loss to Barrington last week, Maine South was looking to bounce back on the road Friday night at Conant.

Bounce back may be an understatement.

Led by the air and land attack of senior quarterback Cole Dow, coupled with lights out play from a stingy defensive unit, Maine South spoiled Conant's home opener in convincing fashion with a 42-14 victory.

"It was a great game tonight in a great atmosphere," said Hawks head coach David Inserra. "This was our third big game in a row against three quality opponents."

With the game tied 7-7 early in the second quarter, the Hawks broke the stalemate on a Danny Wolf 1-yard TD plunge with 9:03 remaining in the half. That gave the visitors a 14-7 lead.

Then the floodgates opened.

With 4:45 remaining in the half, Dow connected with junior wideout Ryan Kilburg on a 10-yard TD toss on third down to give the Hawks a 21-7 edge.

Just three minutes later, Dow called his own number and scampered to pay dirt from 25 yards out that extended the Hawks lead to 28-7 at the break.

"Cole executed in the passing game, but when it wasn't there, he took to the run and the blocking up front was there this week," said Inserra.

Dow finished the game with 110 yards rushing and a score and completed 16 of 26 passes for 203 yards and 3 touchdowns.

With a comfortable, 21-point lead to start the third quarter, Maine South was still not satisfied, especially not after Barrington, who was down 23-10 in the second half of last week's contest, scored 16 unanswered points to pull off a stunner in that one.

The Hawks made sure history would not repeat itself. After receiving the second-half kickoff, they scored in just over four minutes when Dow hit junior Dan Lazic on a 16-yard TD strike to put Maine South up 35-7.

"Last week we made too many mistakes to beat a good (Barrington) team," said Inserra. "In practice, we talked about the bad taste in our mouths all week … we had a good week of practice and executed much better tonight."

Mistakes were few and far between for the Hawks on the evening. The Cougars were not so fortunate as the defense struggled to get off the field on third down all night long.

"We were one play away most of the night," said Cougars head coach Bryan Stortz. "It takes 11 guys out there … we had 10 guys doing their job, but it takes all 11 … and the things we did not do well tonight become a lot more glaring against a team like them."