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Addison Trail starts by beating Glenbard South

Addison Trail's long countdown ended with a victory.

Eliminated in the second round of last year's Class 7A playoffs by Libertyville, the Blazers opened the 2015 football season by defeating Glenbard South 19-14 in Glen Ellyn on Friday night.

"This was the day we were waiting for," senior cornerback Nick Fugarino said. "Two hundred and 94 days since Libertyville, and we got the 'W.' We got the redemption."

The Blazers (1-0) wasted no time breaking a 7-7 halftime tie. Senior running back Mike Hundley ran 71 yards on the second play of the second half for a touchdown.

A Glenbard South fumble on the next play gave the Blazers the ball on the Raiders' 34-yard line. Five plays later Hundley scored from the 2-yard line for a 19-7 lead.

"We just kept fighting," Fugarino said. "We just kept fighting. We knew we had this in us."

Glenbard South closed the gap with 8:12 to play in the game on second-string quarterback Justin Goetz's 7-yard TD scamper.

When the Raiders' Ryan Willis blocked Addison Trail's punt three plays later, giving Glenbard South the ball 28 yards from the end zone, they seemed poised to take the lead. Instead the Addison Trail defense held.

"I knew our defense would stop them," said Fugarino, who intercepted two passes.

"A win's a win," Blazers coach Paul Parpet Jr. said. "We've got to get better. We've definitely got to get better. ... We can't afford to make mistakes when we have an opportunity to put the game out of reach, and I thought that's what happened today."

The Raiders (0-1) not only lost the game, they lost senior quarterback Kyle Carli on their eighth offensive play to a broken collarbone.

"That was always kind of the fear," Ryan Crissey said after his first game as Glenbard South coach. "Kyle really makes things tick, but you've got to move forward. We don't have much of a choice. So you go to battle with who we have. The effort was definitely there. The execution was not, but the effort was definitely there. We just need to improve and re-evaluate this coming week."

Both teams relied heavily on their running backs. Hundley finished with 151 yards and 2 TDs on 26 carries.

"He will be (a workhorse)," Parpet said. "He will be all year. He's definitely going to be the guy carrying the ball. That's who we're going to rely on early."

Raiders junior Sean Cooke countered with 27 carries for 134 yards, including a 61-yard TD run on Glenbard South's first series.

Mike Hundley
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