Brown's record night sends Glenbard South past Bartlett
A relative newcomer to football, Jalen Brown is quickly becoming a household name at Glenbard South.
The senior tailback rushed for a career-best and school-record 286 yards on 21 carries and scored 4 touchdowns to lead the Raiders (5-0, 5-0) to a 47-6 Upstate Eight Conference victory over host Bartlett (3-2, 3-2) Friday night.
After a pair of false-start penalties pushed the Raiders in poor field position on their opening possession, Brown came to the rescue, taking a handoff from quarterback Michael Champagne and racing 90 yards for a touchdown.
He also added the 2-point conversion run, as the Raiders grabbed an early 8-0 lead.
"It was electrifying," Brown said of his 90-yard burst.
Following a fumble recovery by sophomore linebacker Neil Jaber, Brown delivered with a 47-yard touchdown run that upped the Raiders' lead to 15-0 early in the second quarter.
Champagne's 37-yard TD run made it 21-0 before the Hawks got on the board when Giovanni Nguyen tossed a 15-yard TD pass to Jalen Davis with 47 seconds left in the first half.
Just 20 seconds later, the Raiders added their fourth touchdown of the opening half - a 16-yard pass from Champagne to Gabe Danguilan - following Champagne's 33-yard completion to junior receiver Cam Williams (6 catches, 98 yards).
The Raiders began the second half with a 5-play, 64-yard drive, capped by Brown's 9-yard touchdown run that made it 34-6.
Running behind an offensive line featuring Edwin Tchapda, Brock Zellinger, Wyatt Perach and Daniel Langner, Brown fueled the drive with 4 carries for 58 yards.
The Raiders put the game out of reach with a pair of 4th-quarter scores - Brown's 15-yard run for his 4th TD, and T.J. Herlien's 1-yard TD run with 6 minutes remaining.
Brown accounted for 302 of the Raiders' 559 total yards of offense.
"Jalen is a different beast," said Raiders coach Ryan Crissey. "It's only his second season playing football. He sees the field incredibly well. He's got so many natural talents and gifts. He was very patient tonight and let his blockers do their jobs.
"The offensive line played incredibly, and he let his athleticism take over."
"It starts with the offensive line," said Brown. "Without them, none of this would be possible."
The Raiders won the turnover battle, 4-1, but were whistled for 12 penalties (105 yards).
"That is uncharacteristic of us," said Crissey.
Dontain Williams (16 carries, 66 yards) and Jacob Carradine (5 catches, 56 yards) paced the Hawks' attack.
"They've got guys on their team that like I played with in college," said Bartlett coach Milan Vuckovich, who played at Western Illinois. "Even at the coin toss, when I saw (number) 23 (Brown), I was like, 'that's a grown man.' (Number) 8 (Williams), too. Those are big-time football players."
Glenbard South now awaits Friday's home date with fellow unbeaten South Elgin.
"We'll clean up a few things and it should be a great game next week," said Crissey.