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Elgin notches rare win over Glenbard East

It's a rare occasion that Elgin beats Glenbard East in football.

How rare, you ask?

The Maroons, who defeated the Rams 14-7 Friday night, hadn't accomplished that feat since the 1960s. Overall, they are 2-5 against Glenbard East.

Elgin did it behind the right arm of senior quarterback Jeffrey Lomax, who completed 19 of 31 passes for 244 yards and both touchdowns - one in the first quarter to open the scoring, and the other in the fourth to complete it.

"He's got so much potential," Elgin coach Anthony Mason said. "He's got athleticism, he can two-hand windmill, he's 6-foot-5, he's smart. The only thing he's got to work on to be a better quarterback is making good decisions."

Lomax did get picked off three times by an opportunistic Glenbard East defense, but that was canceled out by three Elgin interceptions.

Postgame, as he and his teammates did their best to celebrate in a social-distancing manner, Lomax was simply matter-of-fact about the evening's affair.

"We just played with a chip on our shoulder," a masked Lomax said. "We got a goal this year, to go 6-0. This is just another team."

Forget the fact that Glenbard East (1-1) is the defending conference champions.

"They played their tail off," Lomax said of the Rams. "We just played better."

It just kind of looked like it might be Elgin's night early on, as Lomax connected with senior Darien Jackson on an 86-yard touchdown pass with 3:10 left in the first quarter. Lomax dropped back and lofted a perfect spiral that Jackson caught on his own sideline and scampered away from a host of defenders.

"It was a great read," said Jackson, who collected 6 passes for 117 yards and had an interception on defense. "Jeff has a lot of trust in me, and he trusts in me to make a play, and so does Mason."

The game seesawed back and forth from that point, including six interceptions - three for each team - until Lomax settled the score with 7:20 to go in the game with a 23-yard touchdown pass into the right corner to senior Noah Mack, who beat one defender as he hauled the ball in.

It just wasn't Glenbard East's night, and coach John Walters was as matter-of-fact as Lomax was about his team's fortunes.

"We didn't execute," he said. "Part of that was them, part of it was us. We didn't execute on the offensive side of the ball. We had five red zone opportunities that they turned away."

Glenbard East's only score came on a 35-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Connor Cerkas to senior receiver Daniel Schager early in the second quarter.

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