Wheaton North eliminates comeback hopes
Leading 28-7 at halftime, Wheaton North needed just four minutes to earn a running clock.
By the time there was 7:54 left in the third quarter, the Falcons had managed three quick scores, including a 63-yard punt return touchdown by senior Matt Biegalski, leading to a 53-7 victory over Glenbrook North in the first round of the Class 7A football playoffs.
The fifth-seeded Falcons travel to fourth-seeded Fenwick next weekend at a day and time to be announced Monday.
Biegalski's score gave the Falcons the running clock, and the senior was quick to credit his blockers afterward.
“I saw a lot of good blocks,” he said. “I knew that Connor Zarbuck and Mike Cerone were getting on their gunners and I also had big Tristan Jones and John Coolidge to help protect me as well. Once I got past the first line, I saw those guys and got excited.”
Glenbrook North (6-4), playing without starting quarterback AJ Spitz, scored a touchdown just before halftime on a 12-yard pass from Michael Keane to Nick Cox as the clock read 0.0.
“We knew that a week ago (Glenbrook North) was in a similar situation against Highland Park,” Wheaton North coach Joe Wardynski said. “They were down and came back and played a really good second half last week, so we reiterated to the kids at halftime that (Glenbrook North) probably had some momentum going into halftime and that we needed to come out and play a good half of football.”
Wheaton North (8-2) took over at its own 36-yard line to start the third quarter and senior quarterback Clayton Thorson quickly drove the Falcons 64 yards in seven plays.
A 35-yard pass play to Biegalski set up the Falcons' first score of the second half as two plays later Thorson again connected with Biegalski for an 18-yard touchdown.
The Spartans fumbled at their own 15-yard line on the ensuing kickoff, leading to a Dom Garza 15-yard touchdown run and a 41-7 lead.
The Falcons forced Glenbrook North into a three-and-out, which led to Biegalski's punt return score and a 47-7 lead.
“We got a quick score, a turnover on the kickoff and another score,” Wardynski said. “That kind of put it away for us.”
Wheaton North senior Billy Buhle scored on an interception return in the first quarter, but it was called back after the Falcons were flagged for an illegal block in the back during the return.
It took Thorson just one play to put the points back on the scoreboard as he connected with Michael Bloss on a 12-yard touchdown toss for a 7-0 lead.
Thorson also had touchdown runs of 39 and 10 yards, both on quarterback draws, in the first half and also threw a 32-yard touchdown pass on a fade route to Bloss that put the Falcons up 28-0.