Glenbard West gets unstuck

Midway through the first quarter Friday night, with a fourth-and-9 at the Downers Grove North 20-yard line, Glenbard West called a timeout.

The Hilltoppers had to. The football was stuck in the mud and couldn't be pried loose for the snap.

That's about the only time this season Glenbard West has been stopped, and Friday eventually proved to be more of the same. The Hilltoppers romped to a 50-6 victory in Downers Grove.

"It was so bad it was good," Glenbard West nose tackle Andy Allen said about the footing on the mostly mud field. "The mud was like suction cups on the cleats, so it was pretty slick, but we just made it work.

"We play out in this stuff every day. Both of our fields are just terrible. We get used to it. It's fun to get a little dirty."

The Hilltoppers (8-0, 5-0 West Suburban Silver) started a little slowly but wound up having plenty of fun, especially in a 29-point second quarter. An Adam Bruere 25-yard touchdown run on the first possession of the second half gave Glenbard West a 42-0 lead and yet another running clock for the rest of the game.

"Glenbard West beat the heck out of us," Downers Grove North coach John Wander said.

The Hilltoppers are enjoying winning easily, at least until the playoffs begin.

"We're doing our job," Allen said. "Our job is to score on every play or to stop them on every play."

"It took us a series or two to figure them out," Hilltoppers coach Chad Hetlet added. "They're one of the best-coached teams in the state, I'm just telling you. I said it last year. They get so much out of their kids. We had to figure out a few things they were doing early on, and then our kids executed really well."

The Hilltoppers spread the production around on offense. Bruere had 2 touchdown runs, and quarterback Tyler Warden, Pierre Washington-Steel, Nick Burrello and Trace Sorey each also had a scoring run. Warden added a 12-yard TD pass to Justin Mesch.

"We played real well, you know what I mean?" Hetlet asked. "We could have sat back and not gotten better this week. Our kids came out and played good football. The conditions are real bad, so obviously it's kind of an equalizer for both teams, but we execute well in bad weather."

Now they just have to find someone to clean those white uniforms. Allen had layer upon layer of mud covering his uniform.

"I do, but I don't know how," Allen said with a smile. "I'll have to figure that out."

It won't be the first time the Hilltoppers had to figure out how to get out of the mud.