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Glenbard West grinds out another win

It's never fancy with Glenbard West's football team, but it's almost always brutally effective.

Grind-it-out offense and bend-don't-break defense combined to give the Hilltoppers their biggest win of the season with Saturday's decisive 28-14 West Suburban Silver victory over previously unbeaten Oak Park in Glen Ellyn.

Winning for the 40th time in 41 Silver games - and giving coach Chad Hetlet his 100th victory - the Hilltoppers (6-0, 4-0) leapt a huge step forward in their quest for another conference title. Glenbard West never trailed the potent Huskies (5-1, 3-1), who came in averaging more than 40 points.

The Huskies managed a pair of touchdowns, but four other times Oak Park advanced inside Glenbard West's red zone only to be turned away with no points.

"We made crucial plays at the right time," Hetlet said. "When we needed to make a play, somebody stepped up and made a play. We were tough down there."

The teams traded touchdowns until late in the second quarter when Glenbard West running back Sam Brodner, who had 29 carries for 128 yards, scored on a 7-yard run set up by Ben Marcus' juggling 41-yard catch. That gave the Hilltoppers a 21-14 lead with just less than a minute left in the half.

Oak Park quickly worked to Glenbard West's 25. Time ran out but the Hilltoppers were called for a pair of penalties that gave the Huskies an untimed down from the 13-yard line. The half finally ended when Nico Gagliano sacked Northwestern-bound Huskies quarterback Lloyd Yates.

Late in the third quarter, five Brodner runs led to Sean Mackey's 7-yard touchdown run and a 28-14 Glenbard West lead. After a three-and-out by Oak Park, the Hilltoppers responded with a 14-play, 44-yard drive that ate up the end of the third quarter and more than six minutes of the fourth.

Glenbard West was stopped on the 3-yard line, but the Huskies spent the bulk of the final 5:33 digging out of its own territory. On fourth-and-12 at the Hilltoppers' 16, Gagliano again came up with a huge sack to put the game to rest.

"There were a couple blitzes we ran that were really effective, and they happened in big-time situations," the junior linebacker said. "It was tough to contain (Yates), but a couple of those blitzes we really came through."

After Michael Darnall's first-quarter punt block, Brodner needed only 3 carries to go 15 yards and a touchdown. Kamal Bey's interception helped even the score when Yates - who combined with Huskies running back Antonio Cannon for 181 rushing yards - burst into the end zone on a 1-yard keeper.

Hilltoppers quarterback Kyle Kramer answered with a 58-yard touchdown pass to Kobe Easley, but Yates knotted the score at 14-14 midway through the second quarter on a 23-yard scoring pass to Ke'Juan Ratcliff.

"This just gives us a lot of confidence moving forward," said Brodner, who played without backfield mate Donahvon Vaughn due to injury. "It's always good to beat them. They're a tough team. They're a good team."

Follow Kevin on Twitter @kevin_schmit

Images: Oak Park at Glenbard West football

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