Hinsdale South's breakthrough football season ended with a 45-13 loss to Cary-Grove on Friday, Oct. 30, in a Class 5A first-round playoff game in Cary.

The Hornets (6-5) trailed just 14-7 at halftime and had possession to start the third quarter. Then the game unraveled in 74 seconds.

On the second play of the half, Cary-Grove junior Zach Witt intercepted a Benjamin Miller pass near midfield and returned it for a touchdown, Shaw Local reported. On the Hornets' next offensive snap, Jacob Hampton stripped Miller and Henry Kaiser recovered inside the 10-yard line. Luke Cerasa punched in a 9-yard touchdown run to push the lead to 28-7.

Cary-Grove (8-2) piled on from there. The Trojans' defense forced a safety on an intentional-grounding call in the end zone, part of a 31-point third quarter that blew the game open.

"We honestly thought we could play with them. We just made more mistakes than they did," Hornets coach Jarrod Amolsch said, according to Shaw Local. "That's the old saying in football. The team that makes the least amount of mistakes wins. We made more than they did."

Miller, the senior quarterback, completed 7 of 13 passes with a touchdown in the first half. He connected with Donte Jett on a 16-yard scoring strike early in the second quarter to tie the game at 7-7. But the Trojans' defense clamped down after the break, holding Miller to 4-of-18 passing in the second half. Colton Snare added a fourth-quarter interception.

Orion Christman scored on a 16-yard run on the game's final play for Hinsdale South's only other points.

The loss closes a season that carried real meaning for the program. As we reported Oct. 6, the Hornets clinched their first IHSA playoff berth since 2018, ending an eight-year postseason drought. Amolsch's squad reached the postseason on the strength of blowout wins over Addison Trail and Willowbrook.

Miller was central to the turnaround. Through five games as of Sept. 22, he had thrown for 800 yards and accounted for 16 total touchdowns. Senior transfer receiver Koby Armstrong averaged nearly 27 yards per catch with six touchdowns through that same stretch, including a six-catch, 232-yard, three-touchdown game against Addison Trail.

"The No. 1 thing with Ben is moxie … When things break down he doesn't panic. He finds a way to make plays," Amolsch said in a Sept. 22 Shaw Local notebook, when the Hornets were 3-2.

Hinsdale South finishes 6-5.