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Glenbard East overcomes West Chicago

Senior starting right guard Sam Santiago and his Glenbard East offensive teammates thrived off their first possession Friday against West Chicago.

After just one touchdown in the previous 15 quarters, the Rams took the opening kickoff and scored by covering 62 yards on 9 plays.

"It was kind of like a relief," Santiago said. "Some of the pressure's off. It's Senior Night. We're feeling good. Just knowing that we started off on a high note, we can end it on the same note."

The Rams did.

Glenbard East (2-6, 2-2) scored touchdowns on their its three possessions and made a huge defensive stand in the third quarter for a 35-14 Upstate Eight Valley victory in Lombard.

Quarterback Bret Bushka rushed for 2 touchdowns and passed for 2 for the Rams, a 9-yarder to Keonta Nixon and a 33-yarder to Kenny Adams after his catch and swift turn to the sideline at the 25.

The opening score was an 8-yard run by senior Scotty Szabo, his first varsity touchdown on his 65th carry of the season.

"I've got to give that all to my line. I did not get touched a single time when I ran through (to score)," Szabo said. "One of our biggest problems was definitely finishing in the end zone. That definitely felt good."

Nixon completed a 73-yard, 9-play drive and Bushka's 2-yard run capped a 55-yard, 14-play effort.

Among the drives the Rams had four third-down conversions and three fourth-down conversions between 2 and 5 yards.

The previous two games Glenbard East coach John Walters saw 7 turnovers and 6 red-zone fumbles, including one at the 1-yard line. The Rams had no turnovers Friday.

"Can't ask for a better Senior Night," Walters said. "(Going) 3-for-3 to start out the game, I think the big key was we didn't turn the football over."

Just 7.1 seconds before halftime, West Chicago (1-7, 1-4) scored on an 18-yard pass from quarterback Zach Stefan to Alex VanDoren.

The Wildcats then took the second-half kickoff and amassed a 15-play drive that consumed nearly nine minutes from their 30 to the Rams' 5. After a penalty on fourth-and-8 from the 10, Rams safety Alec Wolff stepped in to thwart Stefan's end-zone slant pass over the middle.

"We're doing everything we're designed to do with our offense. And we just couldn't punch it in," West Chicago coach Ted Monken said.

"This is the third game this year that we were right in and we stalled out on the goal line. If we were to put that one in, it just changes the complexion of the game."

"That really was the turning point of the game," Walters added.

Santiago also was at the heart of that stop. Because of injuries, he joined the defensive line in the second half, where he played at the end of last year and earned All-America honors at a Prep Football America combine camp in May.

Santiago began this season at center before moving over a spot.

"Honestly, I don't really know any of the (defensive) plays. All I was doing was pinching down and using my prior knowledge," Santiago said. "I'm really glad of what our offensive line was able to do. We needed to be hungry and tonight we were just really hungry."

After West Chicago's next drive ended on downs with a near completion at the Rams' 30, Glenbard East pulled away with back-to-back TD drives in the fourth quarter. The Wildcats' Trey Lally caught a 10-yard TD pass on the game's final play.

West Chicago's Devonte Pascal rushed for 146 yards with gains of 33, 21 and 17 yards and provided the key block on VanDoren's TD. Bushka passed for 156 yards and rushed for 82. Szabo ran for 92 yards to surpass 350 for the season.

"Just to know that your entire team has so much potential and to see it stopped every week and now to be able to get the push and get the win, it's the best feeling ever," Szabo said. "Especially it's a great moment to have on Senior Night."

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