Cooke, Glenbard South wear down Wheaton Academy
Sean Cooke missed Glenbard South's last four games with a knee injury. He made up for the missed time Friday night against Wheaton Academy.
The senior all-state running back carried the football 39 times for 166 yards and a touchdown in the Raiders' 28-14 Metro Suburban Conference Blue Division victory in Glen Ellyn.
"It's not as sore when you get a win, you know?" said Cooke, who added the knee didn't give him any problems during the game. "Of course the game of football is tough, but when you come out on the good side of it, it doesn't feel as bad in the morning, you know?"
At halftime it looked like Wheaton Academy might come out on the good side of it. The Warriors scored twice in the second quarter through the passing game to take a 14-7 lead. Sophomore quarterback Ben Thorson connected with Mikey Alfano for 60 yards, then hit classmate Noah Jones for a 36-yard TD.
"The passing game was on. Ben threw some good passes," Wheaton Academy coach Brad Thornton said.
The Raiders (4-2, 2-0) shut down the Wheaton Academy passing game in the second half, however.
"I was proud of their fight, proud of their effort," Thornton said. "At the end of the day, I just told them, this is a game of a lot of missed opportunities and they're going to be sick when they see it."
Meanwhile, the Raiders offense was wearing down the Warriors (4-2, 0-2). Junior quarterback Jack Crouch brought the Raiders to within a point with a 9-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, then hit Peter Jeske for a 35-yard scoring pass in the fourth to take a 21-14 lead with 6:58 to play, adding the 2-point conversion with a pass to Mike Paprota.
Cooke, who had surgery on the knee in June, added a 6-yard TD run with 2:13 left to seal the victory.
"Sean was just unbelievable," Raiders coach Ryan Crissey said. "He fought for every single yard. But I'm just so proud of him, his perseverance, his determination."
It was a big difference from last year's game. Glenbard South won that one 55-14 with Cooke rushing 20 times for 321 yards and 7 touchdowns.
"We've got a lot of new faces on the (offensive) line from last year, but they battled tonight, man," Cooke said. "They were fantastic. But at the same time Wheaton Academy, they got a ton better. They got a ton better from last year. They were a great defense tonight."
"I've got to commend Brad and Wheaton Academy," Crissey added. "They fought. Every game that we've watched them on film, they're a totally different team and a totally different program than they've been in the past. They battled for four quarters."
The improvement didn't make the loss any easier for the Warriors to accept.
"I told them not to feel sorry for themselves," Thornton said. "We're not hanging our heads, we're not taking a moral victory playing a team like this close. We've got to come out fighting next week (against IC Catholic Prep)."
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