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Glenbrook North rises past Wheeling

Glenbrook North took to the air Friday night to defeat Wheeling.

Spartans quarterback Dylan Buckner threw for 208 yards in the first half to help lead visiting Glenbrook to a 34-13 nonconference win, but Wildcats coach Brian Hauck said he saw some good things from his team despite the loss.

"We've got a real talented defense," said Hauck. "Coach (Joe) Wolinski does a great job with the defense, but we've got a lot of guys going both ways and they're running out of gas.

"Because of that, in the second half, we wore down. We're trying to get more guys in shape and ready to play and as soon as we do, we'll be better and stronger. One thing I can tell you is this team is going to fight to the end and fight for each other. They've come together well over the summer, and they've been fighting together and pushing each other."

Wheeling's best moments came in the first half. After Glenbrook North scored first, Wildcats QB Michael Best led his team on a drive that culminated in a 1-yard touchdown pass to John Quintero.

Wheeling got another boost shortly thereafter when Quintero got an interception from his defensive back position, but the Wildcats couldn't capitalize.

Then the home team's "D" got stingy as Wheeling stopped the Spartans on fourth-and-goal at the Wildcats 1, led by tackles from Brandon Zettek and JP Smith.

"Everyone was confident (tonight)," said Zettek, a senior. "Our defense was solid. The only thing we're doing is making mistakes ourselves. We've got to clean those up."

The Spartans were able to tack on a couple of scores to take a 21-6 halftime advantage, then used the ground game to increase the lead to 34-6 in the fourth quarter.

"Our plan was just to come in and play it by ear," said Spartans receiver Ben Keiffer, who caught 4 passes for 123 yards and a TD. "We've got a sophomore quarterback out there (Buckner) - he came out here without a lot of experience but he really showed us something.

"That's really promising. A very good start for us especially compared to last year. In the first half it was the air attack and then in the second half it was the run attack. And on defense, except for one slip-up on a drive, we shut them down pretty well."

Wheeling had a couple of nice drives in the second half, the final one of 78 yards that culminated in a Best-to-Daniel Provost 16-yard fourth-down touchdown toss that accounted for the final score.

Best finished with 167 yards and 2 touchdowns through the air, while teammate Ryan Glassberg rushed 12 times for 45 tough yards.

"We established ourselves pretty early," said Hauck, "then there were a series of mistakes, some of them lapses that showed we weren't ready to play a varsity football game.

"That's on me and that's on the staff. We've got to get the guys ready."

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