Glenbard South takes strong message to heart

All the talk about strong starts has really hit home with the Glenbard South football players.

On Friday night, the Raiders took what their coaches preach to heart and jumped out in front of visiting Rich East with a pair of first-quarter touchdowns. They then followed that up with two more scores in the second quarter on their way to a 35-0 lead and eventual 35-13 defeat of the Rockets (0-3).

“Coach preaches every day, start fast and finish faster,” said Glenbard South wide receiver Tyler Scott, whose 36-yard leaping catch and run gave the Raiders a 14-0 lead just five minutes into Friday’s game. “Every day we’re getting better and better.”

The hosts’ quick-hitting attack featured a strong opening half from quarterback Alex Jeske, some nice running from Zach Smith and a pair of TD catches by Scott. But equally impressive was a Glenbard South defense that held Rich East to just 23 total yards of offense and 3 first downs after two quarters.

“Our defense definitely played a great game,” said Jeske, who finished the night 11-for-17 for 189 yards and three scores as the Raiders opened a season 3-0 for the first time since the 1999 campaign. “A big start’s huge. We like to jump on them early and keep the momentum throughout the game.”

Glenbard South did have to punt on its first possession, but Rich East promptly fumbled the ball away and that set the stage for a 2-yard run by Smith and a quick 7-0 lead. Then following a short Rockets punt, Jeske hooked up with Scott on the first of his two TD grabs, and the hosts were quickly on their way to an easy victory.

With the defense continuing to stifle the Rockets in the second quarter, Jeske connected with Scott for a 12-yard score and Clark Gary added a 1-yard touchdown run for a 28-0 lead at the half. Jeske’s third TD of the night, a 2-yarder to Smith in the fourth quarter, made it a35-0 game before Rich East scored a pair of late touchdowns long after the outcome had been determined.

“Our goal every week is just to be 1-0,” said Raiders coach Jeremy Cordell, whose team so far has been good at meeting goals this season. “I’m very happy with the way our defense played tonight. Even when our offense sputtered a bit in the second half, our defense was locked down.”

Glenbard South looks to go 4-0 next week at Rich Southbefore returning home the following week for homecoming.