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Glenbard South pulls out victory in final seconds

The way Riverside-Brookfield was playing football Friday night at Glenbard South, the Raiders were only going to win if they made some big plays.

So they did.

Jack Curtis made the biggest play of the night despite being surrounded by Bulldogs, grabbing Kyle Carli's 22-yard pass for a touchdown with 2.9 seconds remaining in the game to give the Raiders a 38-34 comeback victory in Glen Ellyn.

"I lost the ball actually for a split second when it crossed over (a defender's) head, and I just grabbed it," Curtis said. "It was a great throw."

The Raiders trailed 24-14 early in the third quarter, rallied to tie the game at 24 and again at 31, then had to go and win it when the Bulldogs' Nick Fucinato hit a 39-yard field goal with 2:56 to play.

The Raiders then drove 62 yards in 14 plays, mainly through the air, with Billy Bair converting a third-and-11 and Curtis converting a fourth-and-14 along the way.

"We were fighting from behind most of the game, so we had that mentality that we were backed into a corner," Curtis said. "The only way to get out was to fight our way back, so that's what we did. We fought our way back."

"Jack was huge that last drive," Raiders coach Jeremy Cordell added. "Absolutely huge. And you know what? Big players make big plays in big games, and he did, and that was very encouraging."

Carli was 17-of-24 passing for 202 yards and 3 touchdowns in the second half after throwing for just 30 in the first half. Curtis made 4 catches for 58 yards, Bair had 8 for 80 yards and Tyler Scott caught 5 for 66.

"The difference is we finished plays tonight," Cordell said. "There've been weeks past where we've had open men and we've dropped balls, quite frankly. And our kids converted tonight. Tyler Scott stepped up huge. Billy Bair stepped up huge. And at the end Jack Curtis stepped up huge. (Sean) Cooke ran the ball really well when he had opportunities, caught a couple of screens. Kyle played like a man. Kyle handled this game very well."

The homecoming victory gives the Raiders (7-2, 5-0) the Metro Suburban Conference West Division championship, as well as momentum going into the playoffs and a better chance at hosting a first-round game next week. The Raiders find out who they play and where at 8 p.m. Saturday.

"This is the cherry on top right now," Curtis said. "We need to celebrate this right now and get ready for next week, the playoffs."

Follow Orrin on Twitter @Orrin_Schwarz

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