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Matt Alviti threw for five touchdowns and rushed for another in No. Maine South’s 45-0 win over Niles North on Friday.

The Hawks (4-0) started the game a little slow, managing just a John Oberheide 35-yard field goal on their first possession. Then, the Vikings (2-2) ran a 20-play opening drive, which ended in a missed field goal.

But Alviti and the Hawks, who are ranked No. 1 in the Sun-Times poll, picked it up from there. The Northwestern-bound quarterback hit running back Anthony Mitchell for a 12-yard score, ran it in from 1-yard out and then threw a 57-yard strike to tight end John Solari with just 45 seconds remaining in the first half. The visitors took a 24-0 lead into the locker room.

The Alviti-to-Solari touchdown came after Maine South safety John Cerniglia intercepted his second pass of the day.

After the break, Alviti threw a 25-yard touchdown to Frank Perron and later hit Zach Hinkamp for scores of 20 and 11 yards. Alviti did have a pass picked off by Niles North’s JJ Myles in the third quarter.

“We kind of wore them down,” Maine South head coach David Inserra said. “A shutout is a shutout, but it could have been a little smoother. (Niles North) had a couple chances at the end zone and we made a nice interception (Cerniglia’s first). Overall, pretty good, but tackling has to shore up a little bit.”

Though the contest ultimately reached a fourth-quarter running clock, Niles North could take some positives from its early-game performance.

“We started off great,” Vikings defensive lineman Dan Fricano said. “We stopped them on defense and then we ran 20 plays and had some third-down conversions. We were right in it. I thought we played our best this season in that first quarter. I thought we were right there.”

Pick up your local Pioneer Press newspaper on Thursday to read more about the Maine South and Niles North football teams.