Glenbard East's Bushka, St. Edward's Breier earn Week 9 honors

Bret Bushka of Glenbard East and Luke Breier of St. Edward are the Daily Herald football MVPs for their performances in Week 9 games.

OFFENSE

Bret Bushka, Glenbard East: The 5-foot-10, 190-pound senior quarterback helped clinch the Rams' first perfect regular-season record, and first outright conference title since 1965, in a 42-14 Upstate Eight win at Larkin. Bushka threw for 217 yards with touchdown passes of 17, 10, 23 and 28 yards to four receivers.

Blake Skol, Cary-Grove: This junior helped Cary-Grove prevail 55-41 over Naperville Central in a battle of state-ranked conference champions. The 5-foot-9, 180-pound fullback carried 21 times for 222 yards. Skol tied the game 7-7 with a 77-yard, first-quarter touchdown run. In the second half, he burst through the line for touchdowns of 35, 2 and 36 yards to help the Trojans complete an undefeated regular season.

Athan Kaliakmanis, Antioch: The sophomore quarterback has fit right in with the Sequoits after playing varsity for Carmel Catholic last year. And the Sequoits have kept winning. Kaliakmanis rushed for 126 yards and 3 touchdowns and passed for 236 yards and 3 scores in a 56-12 win over host North Chicago. The victory capped a third-straight 9-0 regular season for Antioch.

Kacper Rutkiewicz, Hersey: The Huskies' senior wide receiver had six catches for 107 yards including touchdown receptions of 33 and 74 yards in helping his team defeat Wheeling 41-16, a win that completed an 8-1 regular season. He also had a 2-yard rushing TD. Rutkiewicz now has 1,087 receiving yards this season, a Hersey school record.

DEFENSE

Luke Breier, St. Edward: This hard-working, two-way player epitomizes the whatever-it-takes spirit of the 2018 Green Wave. The 5-foot-10, 180-pound junior not only played the entire game on the offensive line for an attack that gained 252 rushing yards against Ridgewood, he also excelled at linebacker. Brier made 8 tackles to help St. Edward to a 28-21 victory that capped an undefeated run through the Metro Suburban Red.

Ben Radel, St. Francis: The Spartans' plan - secure the line to allow the strong safety to make the tackle - worked wonders in a 43-13 Metro Suburban Blue win at Aurora Central Catholic. Radel, a 5-foot-11, 165-pound junior, made 14 tackles, 13 of them solo, with 5 tackles for loss, a sack and a forced fumble.

Mitchell Geier, Carmel Catholic: The Corsairs were in position to play spoiler against visiting St. Patrick, and the junior outside linebacker helped make it happen. Geier returned a third-quarter interception 82 yards for a touchdown, as Carmel won 39-25 to finish the season with a 4-5 record. The win denied the Shamrocks a playoff berth, as they did not qualify with 5 wins.

Gary Moeller, Prospect: The sophomore made a key interception that set up a Knights' touchdown in their 28-21 win over Elk Grove, a victory that put Prospect in the playoffs for the first time since 2012. He made 5 tackles in the game and now hs 32 tackles and 5 interceptions for the season.