Glenbard W. sets up Silver title game

Winner will take all.

That's the situation in the West Suburban Silver, where Glenbard West's football team stayed on track for its first conference title since 1994 by beating Lyons Twp. 28-14 Saturday in Glen Ellyn.

The Hilltoppers (8-0, 5-0) travel to play Hinsdale Central (7-1, 5-0) on Friday night with the outright Silver title hanging in the balance. A win also would give Glenbard West its first unbeaten regular season since 1991.

"It's going to be amazing," said Hilltoppers tight end Will Caspers. "As long as we have a good week of practice and work hard, we should be fine."

Senior day took on extra meaning before the game as Notre Dame-bound Hilltoppers lineman Chris Watt was honored by being named to the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, which will take place on Jan. 3 in San Antonio, Texas.

Watt, however, wasn't able to play against the Lions because of a right ankle sprain suffered last week against Downers Grove North. After Saturday's game Watt said he'd be ready to go against Hinsdale Central.

"I think I could have played on adrenaline this week," he said, "but I want to be healthy for next week. That's a big game coming up against Hinsdale."

Bryant Venson provided a pair of huge plays for Glenbard West against a Lions (3-5, 2-3) team fighting to keep alive their hopes for a seventh straight playoff appearance.

On the game's first play from scrimmage, Venson flew 65 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead. Then in the third quarter, after the Lions pulled within 21-14 on a 15-yard pass from Ryan Mitchell to Jordan Hester, Venson returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards to put the Hilltoppers back ahead by 2 touchdowns at 28-14.

"We all came out excited," said Venson, who finished with 10 carries for 142 yards. "That first play, that first possession, we wanted to score and let it be known that we're ready."

Lyons Twp. stayed with the Hilltoppers throughout the game, tying the score at 7-7 on Mitchell's 9-yard pass to Nicholas Brown. Glenbard West reclaimed a 14-7 lead just before halftime when quarterback Chris Cochrane threw a 32-yard scoring pass to Jessie Condie.

That touchdown took the edge off two previous Glenbard West scores that were wiped off the board due to two of the Hilltoppers' 13 penalties on the day. Lyons Twp. also had a touchdown negated by a penalty.

The lead grew to 21-7 midway through the third quarter on a 31-pass from Cochrane, who completed 7 of 12 passes for 146 yards, to Caspers.