Glenbard West wins 8th straight league title
In each of the previous two years, Glenbard West handed Oak Park its first loss of the football season.
On Friday night in a battle of West Suburban Silver unbeatens, it was deja vu all over again.
Behind a punishing ground attack and a near perfect performance from quarterback Brian Cochrane, the Hilltoppers improved to 7-0 with a 34-7 victory over the Huskies. In the process Glenbard West clinched a share of the conference title, extending that run to eight straight campaigns and their league streak to 29 consecutive wins.
"It's tough every year," said Glenbard West coach Chad Hetlet, whose team had knocked off undefeated Lyons Township and Hinsdale Central the prior two weeks. "This year we had bang, bang, bang with the three undefeated teams. We had to keep our composure. Our team is coming together, and today you saw what we look like as a complete team."
The visitors rattled off 34 unanswered points after an early 7-0 deficit, with the two-headed running back monster of Sam Brodner and Isaiah Skinner leading the way. Brodner found the end zone on three more occasions, all on short runs, two of which gave Glenbard West a 14-7 lead at halftime. The senior finished with 104 yards on 25 carries and also caught 4 passes for 33 yards.
"Conference is kind of expected for us," Brodner said. "We've won it however many years in a row. But this was a big test for us and we played to the best of our ability."
Skinner carved up the middle of the Huskies defense, which came into the game having allowed only 58 points on the year, to the tune of 103 yards on 18 attempts. He also provided the back-breaker early in the third quarter, taking a screen pass from Cochrane 68 yards for a score and a 21-7 advantage.
"This was an important one," Skinner said. "It's great for us to come out here and get a win. It was such a big game, a lot of people were looking at this game. It was such an impressive victory, I'm so proud of our team.'
Cochrane finished 13 of 17 through the air for 211 yards and connected with Kobe Easley for a 19-yard TD strike with less than five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
"That was the best game we've played all year," Hetlet said. "We were so physical in the ground game against as good of a defense as we will see all year. Our O-line, how about our O-line and what they did, slowing down their fast defense. We wore them down. And I thought our defense did a good job. I'm so happy with how we bounced back on a short week."
Oak Park, which played without starting quarterback Jeremy Hunt, opened the scoring with a 10-yard run by Antonio Cannon but was held to 2 first downs over the final 24 minutes.
"With the style they play, if you can't get your feet under you, they will wear you down," Oak Park coach John Hoerster said. "We played a nice first half but couldn't get things rolling in the second half."