Turnovers key Glenbard South
Sophomore running back Sean Cooke had the lone first-half touchdown for Glenbard South in its first two games.
When Cooke scored on the Raiders' second possession Friday with a 36-yard run, it opened the scoring floodgates — and even the defense helped.
Glenbard South had 5 touchdowns by halftime to roll to a 47-7 nonconference football victory at Elmwood Park.
“(That first TD) just kind of opened it up for our offense to spread the ball around to different guys,” Cooke said. “(Winning) was really big for us. We came into this game feeling really confident, but this really sealed the deal for us.”
While junior receiver Billy Bair had 2 TD catches, the Raiders (1-2) also used a pick-six from junior linebacker Dillon Valdez and 13-yard TD fumble return by junior Jake Kapp to lead 33-0 at the half.
The Raiders already had initiated a running clock when Andrew Wrona contributed yet another pick-six, a 67-yard TD return in the third quarter. Also part of the team's 5 takeaways were Matt Konwent's interception and Nick Lane's fumble recovery.
At halftime the defense had limited the Tigers (1-2) to just 24 yards and no first downs.
“Our defense was playing fast, playing on fire. We really made a goal to get turnovers and they took it to heart,” Glenbard South coach Jeremy Cordell said. “We had two tough games, good opponents. Our kids have persevered. Tonight we came out and we had a lot of fun. I think we played fast from the get-go and stayed focused the whole game.”
The Raiders pulled several surprises along the way. On third-and-5 Cooke scored on a new play this season, stepping in front of junior quarterback Kyle Carli and taking the snap directly himself.
“I was kind of surprised at first (I scored). I expected it to be a big play, but not as big of a play as it was,” Cooke said.
Valdez's interception return came on the first play of the second quarter. He said he noticed the tight end communicating with the sidelines before the play.
“The tackle started to come out. I thought it was a screen. I jumped in front of the pass and I was gone,” Valdez said. “Coach was stressing turnovers every game. We practice our rip drills, pass drops. We just need turnovers.”
The next turnover stunned just about everybody. With the Raiders now ahead 20-0, Jose Hernandez delivered a well-executed short kickoff that Kapp managed to recover at the 36.
“We decided, ‘We've got to get this to get the momentum going again.' We were already up 20 and we just had to keep going,” Kapp said.
The ensuing drive resulted in Bair scoring on a 10-yard catch after the Raiders converted on fourth-and-7. Three plays later, Valdez hit scrambling quarterback Jason Polito-Carlson and Kapp scooped up the ball for yet another score.
“I just saw the ball in the open field,” Kapp said. “Coach Cordell always worked on that with me, the Hammer Heads (on defense), in picking up the ball and scoring. He preaches turnovers and scoring.”