Glenbard South rolls to 7-0
Glenbard South likes to think of itself as 1-0. The truth is the Raiders are a lot better than that.
Glenbard South rolled to 7-0 on the season with a 42-14 Metro Suburban Conference victory against visiting Fenton in Glen Ellyn.
The Raiders (7-0, 3-0) scored two quick touchdowns in the first quarter on a Clark Gary 33-yard run and Zach Smith’s 4-yard run, but Fenton (4-3, 1-1) wasn’t about to play dead. Alex Cowan ran the kickoff following the Smith touchdown 95 yards for a touchdown of his own, and the momentum quickly turned.
“We had all the momentum in the world. We came out fast. It was 14-0 like that,” Raiders coach Jeremy Cordell said. “The defense was playing well, offense was moving the ball, and then they ran a kick back. The game got a little stagnant for a minute. We still scored and we had one semi-average to bad series on defense.
“But it was good for us to have a little bit of adversity. I thought our kids played real physical the whole game.”
The defense helped the 17th-ranked Raiders get the momentum back. Ayman Blan intercepted a Fenton pass in the end zone to stop a drive in the middle of the second quarter. Then three minutes before halftime defensive lineman Jelani Onigbinde tipped a Fenton screen pass in the air and leapt to catch it for another interception.
“Oh, that was ridiculous. That was the best catch I’ve ever seen,” Raiders offensive lineman Zak Georgitsis said. “Fenton was starting to get the momentum there, and we were able to stop them with good field position, so that was big.”
Three plays later Gary scored his third TD of the game on an 8-yard run for a 28-14 lead, and Glenbard South had the momentum back for good.
“We showed a little bit of resiliency against a good opponent like Glenbard South,” Fenton coach Mark Kos said. “We’re not satisfied. My boys are very disappointed. We felt we could have given a better effort than we did at times. ...
“It was a game of missed opportunities, not taking anything away from Glenbard South. They’re 7-0 for a reason, they’re a very good team and I’m sure they’ll have a deep playoff run. But we’re nowhere near our potential yet and that’s a nice thing to think about with two weeks to go. We know we need them both to get in the playoffs, and we’re going to fight liked caged animals to get there.”
The Raiders became the only remaining undefeated team in MSC play when it handed the Bison (4-3, 1-1) their first league loss of the year. The Raiders play their final MSC game of the season next week at Ridgewood.
“It’s a real big one,” Georgitsis said. “I mean this is pretty much for conference right here. It’s good to go out and get it.”