Burnett stars in Glenbard South's win at Elgin
Once again, Elgin came close.
Last week, the Maroons dropped a 27-24 heartbreaker to Glenbard East. Friday night the Maroons were edged out 21-12 by Glenbard South in an Upstate Eight contest at Memorial Field.
Raiders receiver Trevor Burnett was Elgin's chief nemesis.
The sophomore caught six Nick Plaso passes for 84 yards and scored two of the Raiders' three touchdowns.
"He's one of our best, best players," said Glenbard South coach Ryan Crissey. "He makes plays, jumps in on defense, kick returner, He is an all-around great player."
"Number 2 (Burnett) is a player," Elgin coach Anthony Mason said. "We knew he was a player going in, so we prepared for him as best we could."
Glenbard South (2-0, 2-0) scored on its first possession of the game. Starting at their own 7-yard line, the Raiders drove 93 yards in 14 plays, finishing with a 5-yard pass from Plaso to Burnett, who was in the right corner of the end zone.
Elgin (0-2, 0-2) threatened to score in the closing seconds of the first half, however the clock expired before the Maroons could cross the goal-line giving Glenbard South a 7-0 lead at the intermission.
The Raiders threatened again on their first drive of the second half. Glenbard South advance to Elgin's 11 yard line. The drive was stopped by Alex West. The junior first broke up a third-down pass attempt by Plaso (8 for 13 for 117 yards). West then sacked Plaso on a fourth down conversion attempt.
Glenbard South scored on its next drive on a 5-yard Kylen Henderson run (90 yards on 13 carries).
"In the second half we got things going," Crissey said. "We scored a touchdown or two and took control.".
"We just did not execute well on offense and that carried over to the defense," Mason said.
Burnett credited the offensive line with turning the tide for Glenbard South.
"Our O-line came out in the second half. They just worked so hard," said Burnett. "They got the blocks and gave our quarterback time."
Elgin scored with one minute left in the third quarter. Quarterback Jeffrey Lomax lateraled the ball to West, who threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Darien Jackson to cut Glenbard South's lead to 14-6.
The Raiders widened their lead to 21-6 in the fourth quarter on Burnett's second TD catch, this time a 3-yarder.
The Maroons scored again with 1:13 left to play. Giovoni Griffin, who alternated with Lomax on running the offense, connected with West (6 completions for 83 yards) on a 29-yard scoring pass.