Glenbard South clinches MSC title

Glenbard South stayed perfect with its eighth win this season, defeating Ridgewood 41-8 on Friday in Norridge.

Zach Smith scored 3 touchdown and ran for 86 yards to help the Raiders in and clinch first place in the Metro Suburban Conference.

“I wasn't happy the way we tackled,” said Raiders coach Jeremy Cordell. “Our kids played hard. There was a penalty for unsportsmanlike but our kids were just playing hard. We got to clean up little things. We try to get better each week.”

The Raiders (8-0, 4-0) utilized their usual game plan to come out fast and get the opponent on its heels. Jake Straza scored two touchdowns in the first quarter to give the Raiders a quick 14-0 lead.

“The key to this game was to come out with a fast and play physical,” Raiders quarterback Alex Jeske. “We wanted to get the ball in multiple guys hands and open space to create plays. The offensive line did a great job of blocking, guys were getting open and the running backs were running hard.”

The Rebels (2-6, 1-2) had already lost six starters prior to going into the game. The very physical Raiders knocked out two more Rebels, quarterback Geri Allaj and receiver Mike Achramowicz, in the first quarter.

“We're undermanned to begin with,” said Rebels coach Chris Zack. “We were moving the ball, then our starting quarterback goes down ... We've been in every game regardless of the score. We were moving the ball.”

Smith scored the next three straight touchdowns on runs of 1, 20 and 2 yards to put the game away.

“I give all the credit to my line, they opened up some nice holes for me,” said Raiders running back Zach Smith. “I work my hardest just like they and I give them all the credit every day. Our motto is to be 1-0 each week.”

A.J. Gaffney closed out the Raiders scoring with a 38-yard run in the third quarter.

“I thought we ran the ball well,” Cordell said. “I thought we picked our moments to pick the spots on the field with our passing game. We gave them a lot of pressure on defense and forced a lot of situation that they were uncomfortable with.”

The shorthanded Rebels were force to use Sam Karim as their main source of offense. The tough running back hit paydirt on a 38-yard touchdown run for the Rebels only score.

“We had to be on top of our game, they still moved the ball a little bit on us,” said Raiders linebacker Connor Willis. “We left them on the field a little too long and they moved the ball well but we were able to stay strong when they got down to our end zone. We were able to do well in that aspect of the game.”