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Brodner, Glenbard West march on

Glenbard West offensive right tackle Jack Leahy and running back Sam Brodner have been friends for a long time.

So it is no wonder that Brodner will follow Leahy when the time is right.

And for the Hilltoppers, it was any time they wanted a touchdown Saturday in Palatine in the second round of the Class 8A playoffs.

Brodner scored 5 touchdowns, each one coming behind Leahy, while rushing for a career-best 308 yards as Glenbard West rolled over Palatine 41-7.

Glenbard West (11-0), which beat Palatine's crosstown rival Fremd last week, will get its third MSL West opponent in a row next week. The Hilltoppers will host Barrington, a 21-7 winner over Maine South next Saturday in the quarterfinals.

"The kids played well," said Glenbard West coach Chad Hetlet. "We started a bit slow. I don't know what that was all about. But we woke up and started to play and the offensive line did what it was supposed to do."

That line, which also includes Jack Campo, Jack Kane, Chris Minnec, Evan McTaggart, Darien Kaufmann and Adam Zybko, helped the Hilltoppers roll up 450 rushing yards and 528 yards of total offense.

But when the Hilltoppers needed a big play, it was Brodner right behind Leahy.

Once he was in the open field, Brodner did his thing, with touchdown runs of 4, 22, 69, 38 and 93 yards.

"We don't have a name for the play," Hetlet said. "We just call it 'Give the ball to Sam Brodner.' "

Leahy was happy to block for his old friend.

"It is not just me," Leahy said. "It is all the guys up front as well as our wide receivers blocking on the edges. I am just following the tradition here."

Brodner, who had 23 carries, said that the line did a terrific job for him.

"They get their situations down," he said. "They work hard to get everything they need to get done. It was fun out there, but tiring."

Palatine (8-3) had the Hilltoppers on their heels early in the game.

Pirate quarterback Nick Orlando was a magician on the first series. He distributed the ball to three different receivers as the Pirates moved just past midfield. Then after a fake, Orlando was off to the races, scoring on a 46-yard run to put Palatine up 7-0.

The Pirates appeared to have Glenbard West in a hole when Danny Garcia's 40-yard punt was downed at the Hilltopper 10-yard line.

But Glenbard West covered the distance in an impressive 16-play drive that was capped by Brodner's 4-yard TD run. Twice during the drive, Glenbard West converted third-and-long situations.

The Hilltoppers took advantage of a pair of Palatine turnovers to take the lead for good.

First, it appeared it Palatine would be able to capitalize after an interception at midfield. But the Pirates fumbled on the play and Glenbard West recovered to retain possession. The Hilltoppers' drive then stalled and they punted to Palatine.

On their first play from scrimmage with 1:20 left in the half, the Pirates fumbled at their own 33. Four plays later Brodner rambled over the right side for a 22-yard score to make it 14-7 with 35.8 seconds left.

The second half belonged to Brodner and the swarming Glenbard West defense.

Led by Matt Loftus, Ben Marcus, Javon Muhammad, Declan Ryan and Nico Gagliano, the Hilltoppers bottled up Palatine running back Cam Cornelius, holding him to 19 yards on 10 carries. In the second half, Glenbard West allowed just 68 yards of offense.

"Our speed just got to them" Hetlet said. "We don't have that size. We have to be tough and quick."

Despite the loss, Palatine coach Rick Splitt was proud of his players and their season that included an Mid-Suburban League West championship.

"It is tough to lose," Splitt said. "But we had a lot of great things that happened. I am very proud of our seniors and all our guys.

"It was a great first half. We did a lot of good things and were down just 14-7 at the half. Then in the third quarter Glenbard West took over and just basically beat us."

Orlando, who was 12-of-21 for 87 yards and rushed for another 70 yards, said that his team had a great year.

"I couldn't ask to play with a better group of guys" Orlando said. "We did a lot of stuff that people didn't think we could."

Images: Palatine vs. Glenbard West football

  Palatine's Nicholas Orlando runs for a first-quarter touchdown putting Palatine on the board against Glenbard West in the Class 8A playoffs at Palatine Saturday. Mark Welsh/mwelsh@dailyherald.com
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