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Glenbard South makes more big plays

Glenbard South linebacker Jake Kapp didn't play much of Friday's 28-14 victory against IC Catholic Prep, but he made the most of his time on the field.

With the visiting Knights punting from their own 14-yard line after their first possession, senior linebacker Andre Steiger blocked the kick. Kapp caught the football at the 2-yard line and bulled over a Knight to score the first touchdown in a game filled with big plays.

Kapp injured a knee on the play and didn't return, leaving it to his defensive teammates to try to stop running back Jordan Rowell and the IC Catholic offense.

"We saw a big guy (Kapp) on our defense, he went down, and we just felt like we had to step up," Steiger said. "Big guys make big plays. Dillon Valdez out on the edge, the line play was huge. We had a very good defensive game overall."

The Raiders didn't stop Rowell - the sophomore had 171 yards and a TD on 24 carries - but they did slow him down, limiting the 6-foot-2, 190-pound back to four carries of 10 yards or more.

"He played well," Knights coach Bill Krefft said of Rowell. "Aside from a mistake on the goal line, he played great. Our kids played their butts off. It's a credit to their team and how well they played. That's a very nice football team over there. They did a nice job."

The Raiders took a 14-0 lead in the second quarter on Kyle Carli's 19-yard touchdown pass to fellow junior Jimmy Ebbole. Rowell answered with the first of his big plays, going 64 yards the next time he touched the football to cut the Glenbard South lead in half.

"He's a special kid, and we knew going into the game that he was very talented," Raiders coach Jeremy Cordell said of Rowell. "We really had a couple of bad angles on him, but I thought the second half our kids did a nice job of stepping up."

Rhashaun Epting's 77-yard touchdown reception with 29.3 seconds left in the quarter tied the game at 14 going into halftime.

Glenbard South (6-2, 4-0 Metro Suburban West) took the lead for good early in the third quarter. Jack Curtis picked off a Knights pass and returned it 40 yards to the IC Catholic 15. Four plays later Carli found Billy Bair in the end zone for a 21-14 lead.

The Knights (3-5 2-2) seemed on the verge of tying the game again when they drove 77 yards in six minutes down to the Glenbard South 2-yard line. But on fourth and goal the Knights fumbled, Curtis picked up the ball after it bounced into the end zone and sprinted untouched 100 yards the other way with it for a 28-14 lead with 9:20 to go.

"That goal-line stand was huge, to stand up the running back and get the ball out and then scoop and score and run it back (100) yards, that's a big play," Cordell said.

"You can't beat good teams like that giving the ball away like we did," Krefft added.

Glenbard South's sixth straight victory guarantees it a Week 10 game. IC Catholic was eliminated from playoff contention by the loss.

"We feel good for the playoffs," Steiger said. "We're not looking too far ahead. Next week is a big game against undefeated in conference (Riverside-Brookfield) and we're looking forward to that."

Follow Orrin on Twitter @Orrin_Schwarz

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