Glenbard North shuts out Lake Park
Glenbard North running back Denhim Betney likes to hide.
"I like running behind those big guys," said Betney, who is 5-foot-7. "I love those boys. It starts with them before it starts with me. I try to get yards when I can get it."
Betney carried the ball 34 times for 119 yards and 3 touchdowns as Glenbard North blanked Lake Park 28-0 Friday in Roselle.
"We had less errors tonight," Glenbard North coach Ryan Wilkins said. "We really worked Denhim (Betney) hard today. We didn't break any long ones. We just kept control of the ball."
Glenbard North (1-2, 1-2), running its double tight end offense, was able to hold the ball for 64 plays to Lake Park's 36. Ryan Yabi, Paulie Robertson, Jhon Camacho-Noriego, Caden Miller and Miguel Galvez, along with tight ends Tyler Sworst and Jake Cicero, kept the Lancers' offense off the field.
"We want power football," said Cicero, who also caught 4 passes for 78 yards. "We really controlled the tempo and that's what we like to do."
Glenbard North had a pair of long touchdown drives in the first half.
The first came on the Panthers' opening offensive series. They went 70 yards in 9 plays with Betney scoring on a 5-yard run to make it 7-0.
Glenbard North followed that early in the second quarter when they went on an 11-play, 71-yard drive. Again Betney capped off the drive, this time from two yards out to make it 14-0.
Lake Park (0-3, 0-3) had its lone scoring chance when the Lancers were able to move the ball to the Glenbard North 1-yard line. But the Panther defense, led by Davis Petty, Anthony Lopez, Colin Gudella, Ivan Martinez and Samuel Smith, turned them away.
"We just saw what they were doing off of film and adjusted to that," said Petty, who had an interception and fumble recovery. "Our intensity has really picked up, especially in practice."
The remainder of the Panthers' scoring drives came thanks to their defense and short fields.
Betney scored his third touchdown of the day after a strip sack and fumble return gave the Panthers the ball on the Lake Park 18.
After a short punt by Lake Park gave the Panthers the ball at the Lake Park 44, Justin Bland raced 24 yards for a touchdown to make it 28-0.
"The defense played real well," Wilkins said. "These last two games they have really shut them down."
Jason Kradman, who took over the head coaching reins this season at Lake Park, said his team didn't back down.
"We were going up against a physical squad that likes to run the ball," Kradman said. "I think our team played extremely well, especially on the defensive side of the ball. We put our defense in a hole multiple times with mistakes and they turned them away on multiple drives."