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Glenbard South stymies Aurora Central Catholic

Glenbard South's offense played far from a perfect game Friday night at Aurora Central Catholic.

Fortunately for the Raiders, their defense nearly did.

The Chargers didn't get on the scoreboard until the final two minutes. All that touchdown did was prevent the Raiders' third shutout of the season as they held the Chargers to 120 yards of offense in a 20-7 victory.

"Every week coach says shutout and every time we make a tackle in practice, it's 'One, two, three, shutout,'" Glenbard South outside linebacker Dillon Valdez said. "Shutout is all we preach every week."

Glenbard South (5-2, 3-0 in the Metro Suburban West) needed that type of effort defensively because Aurora Central Catholic (5-2, 1-2) was nearly as good.

A botched punt, which cost the Chargers dearly late in the game, set the Raiders up on the ACC 36-yard line on their first drive of the game.

But the Chargers defense held, the start of a scoreless first quarter and an offensive struggle for both teams most of the night.

"Our defense played terrific," Chargers coach Brian Casey said. "Made some big plays. Got off the field on third downs. Extremely proud of the way our defense played."

Despite committing 12 penalties, throwing for 40 yards on 14 attempts and finishing with just 211 yards of offense themselves, the Raiders did just enough.

Quarterback Kyle Carli scored their first touchdown on a 6-yard run with 3:22 left in the first quarter for a 7-0 halftime lead.

Aurora Central, meanwhile, had just 4 first downs in the first half - 2 coming on penalties.

"Our defense played with a lot of spirit and played fast," Glenbard South coach Jeremy Cordell said. "They are disappointed they gave up one at the end, you can see it in their eyes."

The Chargers put their best drives together in the third quarter and twice drove for the potential game-tying touchdown.

A fumble halted the first of the two drives, and Valdez single-handedly wreaked havoc on the next with back-to-back plays that resulted in big losses - first on a sweep and then a sack.

"They were under center and they had run outside sweep before so I knew I had to get off the block," Valdez said. "The slot receiver came at me, I got off him, made a big tackle for a loss."

Those plays became even more important when the Chargers fumbled on their punt attempt. Jake Kapp scooped up the ball and ran 23 yards for a touchdown that put the Raiders up 14-0 with 9:26 left in the game.

Sean Cooke broke free down the left sideline for a 45-yard touchdown and 20-0 lead. He finished with 111 yards rushing, one of few bright spots on a night the Raiders dropped more passes (5) than they caught (4).

"There's a ton of room for improvement," Cordell said. "We shot ourselves in the foot offensively. You have to be able to sustain drives. It gives us something to shoot for and strive for."

Brandon Babler's interception set the Chargers up with a short field, and Mario May, coming off an 83-yard, 2-touchdown game last week, scored on a 17-yard strike over the middle from Matt Rahn to bring the Chargers within 20-7 with 1:37 left.

Rahn completed 15 of 24 passes but for only 95 yards as the two teams combined to average 3.6 yards per pass attempt.

"They are a very good football team," Casey said. "There is no secrete to that. I was pleased we were able to stand toe-to-toe with them. We are playing better and we're playing better against better teams.

"Now we have to respond. If we can do that hopefully the mood here will have changed some."

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