Wrap-up: Marshall, Raiders top Yorkville

There are no guarantees yet, but Glenbard South sure looked like a playoff team Friday night in Glen Ellyn.

The Raiders (5-2, 3-2 Western Sun Conference) earned their fifth win of the football season, 38-6 against Yorkville (2-5, 0-5) on homecoming, all but ensuring a playoff berth. They can lock it up next week at Rochelle, no easy matter.

"We were dominant," junior quarterback Kevin Marshall said. "We came out -- we respected them -- and we came out and played hard, and this was the outcome. It was a good game."

The key might have been Marshall's 26-yard touchdown pass to Chris Loos 57 seconds before going into halftime up 17-0. It came one play after a Yorkville punt lost a yard.

"It was awesome," Marshall said of his second TD pass of the game. "To get momentum going into the second half, it was great. We need that for sure."

The Raiders put that momentum to good use on their first possession of the third quarter. On their third play running back Mike Oratowski ran 58 yards up the middle, serpentining through the Yorkville secondary for a touchdown. He finished with 117 yards on 11 carries.

Marshall contributed a TD run later in the quarter. He dropped back to pass, saw his receiver covered, then saw a hole open up in front of him. So he took off, stopping in the end zone 29 yards later.

"The line blocked great and the hole opened up and I just went right in the middle, and John Holland had an awesome block down in the corner," Marshall said.

Luke Zanoni returned a fourth-quarter interception 15 yards to make it 38-0 Raiders.

-- Orrin Schwarz

Glenbard North 35, Glenbard East 0:ŒGlenbard North's offense was firing on all cylinders against Glenbard East to spoil the Rams' homecoming.

The Panthers offense was rolling so well that they put the ball in the end zone on all four of the first units possessions.

The first score came on a 35-yard hook-up between quarterback Evan Watkins and receiver Matt Ng on a stop-and-go route along the right sideline in the first quarter.

The next three scores came courtesy of running back Tyler Doll.

Doll had a 25-yard scamper on a counter play midway through the second quarter and his next two scores came in the third quarter, both on quarterback draws.

"It was awesome tonight with how well the offense was meshing," Watkins said. "We scored every time we got the ball and our first unit took pride in that. That was the goal we set for ourselves after our first two possessions. We wanted to get in the end zone on every drive and we did."

For the game Watkins completed 11 of 12 passes for 171 yards and Doll had 165 yards on 21 carries. One reason the offense ran so smoothly was because the Panthers (4-3, 3-2 DuPage Valley Conference) used the run to set up the pass and vice versa.

"Our offense really executed well today and we didn't have quick scores," Doll said. "We were able to put together some nice drives today. When we have a long drive and score at the end, that really gives us a boost for both out offense and defense. I was able to run the ball so effectively because Evan opened up the field for me."

Watkins gave credit to Doll for his success.

"Tyler just does a great job running the ball," Watkins said. "When he does that he gives me some options to be able to look downfield and set up some of our passing plays with play action."

Carl Gerrick put the last points on the board for Glenbard North when he went in untouched on a 5-yard touchdown run.

Toney Greene had 41 yards rushing on 7 carries for the Rams (1-6, 0-5) while sophomore quarterback Jack Merrithey threw for 92 yards in the loss.

"We got put back on our heels in the first half because of their offense," Glenbard East coach Dennis Lueck said. "We also had some long drives in the first half. If we were able to convert those drives into points instead of punts, we could have competed a little better. We made a few plays in the first half that I wish we would have capitalized on."

-- Jason Watt

Naperville Central 34, West Chicago 21:ŒTight end John Holm and his Naperville Central teammates had a blast in the first half of Friday's homecoming game with West Chicago.

Holm caught his first 2 touchdown passes of the year and the Redhawks jumped ahead of the Wildcats 27-0 as quarterback Harrison Daniels tossed 3 touchdowns and added a 21-yard TD run.

But it was not all fun and games for Naperville Central's football team on this night. Visiting West Chicago toughened on defense and used the passing combination of Chris Wille to Trevor Bodie to make the home team sweat a little before the Redhawks eventually prevailed 34-21 in the DuPage Valley Conference.

"It felt really good that our offense started off so hot," said Holm, who hauled in TD passes of 3 and 20 yards as the Redhawks (4-3, 3-2) jumped ahead 13-0 in the first quarter. "With (Riley) O'Toole and (Mike) Schmitz, defenses are always worried about the big-play guys and they leave me open. It was great to finally get into the end zone."

With Daniels adding a 14-yard scoring pass to Schmitz and a rushing TD in the second quarter, the Redhawks looked like they might have a breeze on their hands en route to taking a step closer to nailing down a playoff berth. But the Wildcats (2-5, 1-4), who are out of the post-season hunt with a 2-5 record, showed a whole lot of heart in the second half.

Wille, who was sacked 7 times and lost a fumble in the first half after taking a hard hit, picked apart the Redhawks defense in the second half. After going just 5 of 12 for 34 yards in the first half, Wille completed 13 of 20 passes in the second half for 230 yards and three scores.

"I'm sore everywhere," said Wille while hobbling around after the game. "We all feel good (about the second half). It just hurts with us being down 27-0. We know the playoffs can't be there for us but we want to go out strong."

Bodie, a 5-foot-9, 160-pound junior, caught 9 passes for 161 yards including TD passes of 13 and 65 yards in the third quarter. Defensive end Taylor Overman, meanwhile, led a fired up Wildcats defense in the second half.

"That was not a bad second half," West Chicago coach John Walters said. "The kids let it all hang out. We kept throwing it and we made some catches and we got some stops on defense. Taylor is a man-child. I have not coached a kid before that has a motor like that. He doesn't stop and he's the heart and soul of our defense."

Naperville Central coach Mike Stine knows his team needs to put two good halves together now that it's time to make a playoff run. "The first half was good and the second half was not so good," Stine said. "We had too much of a letdown and West Chicago deserves the credit. They played hard until the very end."

-- Stan Goff

St. Edward 28, St. Francis 26, OT: One play stood between St. Edward and its first victory since Oct. 8, 2004.

St. Francis running back Stan Bobowski had just scored on a 2-yard run in overtime to pull visiting St. Francis within 28-26.

Forced to attempt the 2-point conversion to forge a tie, the Spartans pitched the ball left to running back Mark Kachmer. But the junior was met at the 2-yard line by four Green Wave defenders, led by Moises Quiroga and Nevin Bens, and stopped short of the goal line.

With that tackle three years of frustration evaporated into the muggy autumn night. The entire student section huddled around Greg True Field -- extra large on St. Edward's homecoming night -- stormed the field to celebrate the end of the school's record 26-game losing streak.

St. Francis could only tip its collective hat.

"I'm very happy for them snapping their streak," St. Francis coach Greg Purnell said. "I feel very bad for our kids. They played better than us, they tackled better, they blocked better. They deserved to win."

-- Jerry Fitzpatrick

Downers Grove South 43, Addison Trail 12:ŒOffenses usually get all the headlines and a big play on defense can get a crowd buzzing but what coaches often stress that seems to get overlooked is the third phase of the game, special teams. The impact of dominant special teams play and how it can change a game was clearly on display as Downers Grove South defeated Addison Trail 43-12 in West Suburban Gold play.

Mustangs return man Tyler West returned the first Blazers punt of the game 56 yards to the 9-yard line where Scottie Williams punched it in three plays later. West returned the next kick for a touchdown, but a penalty put the ball at the Blazers' 17-yard line, where again Williams cashed in with a 17 yard TD run.

"It was a good win, all the way around offense, defense, special teams, we did our thing," Williams said. "I was proud of Tyler West and then the offense line did a great job."

West was dinged up on the next defensive series so the Mustangs didn't even let Addison Trail get the punt off, taking down the Addison Trail punter before he could get a kick away. The Mustangs again cashed in with quarterback Chandler Whitmer finding John Scott for a 14-yard TD pass.

The theme continued as Dan Panazzo blocked the next Blazers punt attempt and Sean Fancher picked it up in the end zone to make it 28-0 just over a minute into the second quarter.

"Oh, my goodness, we told our kids at halftime that we gave them four scores on the punt game," said Addison Trail coach Paul Parpet. "They have an excellent kicking game, they always do. They are a well-coached, class team."

Addison Trail did receive an outstanding performance from junior running back Michael D'Ambrose who rushed for 202 yards, including a 75 yard TD run

-- Chris Cuitino

Driscoll 62, Aurora Central 35:ŒDriscoll opened a 36-point halftime lead against Aurora Central Catholic.

Both teams poured on the high octane in the second half, leaving fans' heads swiveling back and forth during this Suburban Catholic Conference clash.

In the end Driscoll (7-0, 5-0) kept its perfect record intact by drilling the Chargers 62-35.

The quarterbacks for both teams put up staggering numbers before Driscoll's David Schwabe finally outdueled Aurora Central's Mike Adams, but not before the Chargers' junior signal-caller threw 3 touchdown passes to his brother Mark and also tallied two long scoring runs.

Schwabe tossed 4 touchdown passes and compiled 183 yards through the air and ran for 61 yards. Mike Adams ran for 134 yards and picked up 208 through the air on 15-of-26 passing.

"We wanted to give our other guys some time to play," Schwabe said of Driscoll's huge first-half lead. "But it got too close and we had to come back and go with what we started with.

"Aurora Central did not back down and they were tough kids," Schwabe added. "For them to come back on us like that, I have a lot of respect for them."

Aurora Central (1-6, 1-4) did stage an impressive second half, partially sparked by scoring on the final play of the first half on a 46-yard screen pass from Mike Adams to Mark Adams.

It kept the Chargers from going into halftime down 42-0, which would have triggered a running clock in the second half because of the lead of more than 40 points.

Driscoll followed the quick feet of running back Tim Franken, who had 3 touchdowns in the first half, 2 on the ground and 1 a 26-yard scoring reception.

-- Dave Heun

Glenbard West 6, Downers Grove North 0:ŒFor a defense, there is nothing more rewarding than shutting out your opponent. The look of jubilation on Glenbard West defensive lineman Theodore Odom's face just minutes after Friday's West Suburban Silver showdown against Downers Grove North had ended told that story well.

Odom sacked Trojans quarterback Joseph Honn on fourth down with about a minute remaining in the game to help the Hilltoppers (4-3, 2-2) hold on to a 6-0 victory over the host Trojans on homecoming.

Honn had engineered a spirited drive down to the Glenbard West 14-yard line, but the Hilltoppers defense rose to the occasion to record their third shutout of the season.

"They got a good drive and our defense stepped up to get a shutout," Odom said. "They played much better than their record is (1-6, 0-4). We've all been working on getting sacks -- more rushing and we did that today."

In addition to Odom, fellow defensive tackle Michael Dixson also came up with a key sack and a tackle for a loss that pushed Downers North back on that final drive.

"Our defense picked us up," said Glenbard West coach Chad Hetlet. "To step up in a pressure game like we did today, I am very proud of how we played."

Defense keyed the only score of the game. After neither team did much in the first half except for trading 2 interceptions each, but early in the third quarter, linebacker Will Caspers picked off a pass and returned it 21 yards down to the Downers North 5-yard line. Two plays later, Kane Keirnan punched it in the end zone from 3 yards out with 8:06 to play. The Trojans blocked the extra-point attempt.

Keirnan turned in a strong overall game. The senior rushed for 55 yards on 13 carries and had 3 clutch catches for 30 yards. His hard-nosed running in the trenches helped the Hilltoppers run off time on the clock.

"When you have a kid who is 6-foot-2 and 230 (pounds) who can catch and run and do a lot of things, it is a good thing," Hetlet said.

"We have the best defense in the conference and best offensive line in the conference," Keirnan said.

For the Trojans, their defense is tough. Hetlet knew his team would a tough time scoring points. But offensively, Downers North struggled to find a rhythm until late in the fourth quarter. Honn completed some big pass plays to wide receivers Arthur Gutzke and Douglas Henry, but they couldn't reach the end zone.

"Our kids played 48 minutes of football," said Downers North coach John Wander. "With seven starters out, it's a credit to our kids for stepping up and a credit to our leaders for keeping the team together."

-- Brian Pitts

Benet 23, St. Patrick 20:ŒThe sport we've come to know as football lived up to its name at Benedictine University in Lisle as Benet senior kicker Kevin Kron kicked two field goals in the last four minutes to complete the Redwings' late comeback.

Kron, who also plays soccer and admits he plays football just for fun, kicked three field goals on the night, his last from 29 yards out with seven seconds remaining to give the Redwings a 23-20 East Suburban Catholic Conference victory over St. Patrick.

"Right now I'm just super excited and it's a great feeling," Kron said. "You never think something like this is going to happen. My main sport is soccer, so this is just kind of a fun thing I do, but I'm good at it, I like it, and I'm going to keep on with it."

Kron's opportunity for last-second heroics seemed rather far-fetched during the first half, in which the Shamrocks (2-5, 1-4) put two solid drives together to go into halftime with a 14-7 lead.

Benet (2-5, 2-3) scored first when a perfectly tossed pass by Jimmy Riley, who threw for 170 yards, hit a striding Emmett Carrier for an 80-yard touchdown midway through the first quarter.

The Shamrocks scored early into the second quarter when Adam Nitsche, who had 13 carries for 86 yards, busted up the middle, cut to his left and outran the Redwings defenders to the end zone from 36 yards out to tie the game 7-7.

Shamrocks quarterback Mike Fabrizio found Jeff Dicks slanting across the end zone from 8 yards out six minutes later to put St. Patrick up 14-7.

Kron's first of three field goals from 28 yards out brought the Redwings within 14-10, but Shamrock defensive back Eric Silva appeared to seal Benet's fate when he intercepted a pass late in the third quarter and took it the distance to put St. Patrick ahead 20-10.

A good kickoff return and penalty gave the Redwings the ball on their own 49 on the next possession and they got the ball inside the 10 several plays later with the help of a 28-yard scamper by Mike Wuest and a 16-yard reception by Carrier. Dan McGue ran it in from 6 yards out with 3:41 remaining to make the score 20-17.

It was then time for the Redwings defense to take charge. The Shamrocks used 13 plays to get the ball down to the Redwing's 3-yard line, but the drive stopped when St. Patrick turned the ball over on downs.

After the Shamrocks forced the Redwings to punt from deep inside their own territory and got the ball at Benet's 30, they turned it over on a fumble on their first play from scrimmage.

The game-winning field goal was set up by a blocked punt with 43 seconds left that was recovered by the Redwings at the Shamrocks' 12-yard line.

Redwings coach Gary Goforth credited the second-half comeback to his players believing in themselves and their abilities.

"I'm very happy with the way we played tonight," Goforth said. "We came up with some big plays when we needed it. I think when they realized that they can play with them (St. Patrick), that's when we started playing better. They're (St. Patrick) aggressive, tough kids, but our kids thought we could play with them."

-- Eric Bridges

York 33, Hinsdale Central 28:ŒSenior running back Mike McNulty had 4 touchdowns for the Dukes (5-2, 4-1 West Suburban Silver), rushing 23 times for 147 yards and catching 3 passes for 117 yards.