It's well worth the wait for Glenbard West

After an eternity of an off-season, Glenbard West's football team wasted no time against Glenbard South.

The Hilltoppers scored on six of their first eight possessions Saturday at Duchon Field and rolled to a 41-7 season-opening win over visiting Glenbard South to conclude the four-year cross-town series.

Glenbard West, which next season rekindles a season-opening series with Wheaton Warrenville South, claimed its third straight win over the Raiders after dropping the debut game against its Glen Ellyn rivals.

The Hilltoppers broke out to a 27-0 halftime lead while holding Glenbard South to only 2 first downs - one on a penalty and the other on a fake punt.

Early in the third quarter linebacker Beau Warden recovered a Raiders fumble inside the 10-yard line. Four plays later Glenbard West quarterback Mike Matthew scored on a 1-yard run to make it 41-0 and initiate the running clock for the remainder of the game.

"This is our paycheck for working our tails off all summer," Warden said. "All that work paid off. We have all the pieces to the puzzle, we've just got to execute."

Last season Glenbard West punished teams with a relentless ground game. While the Hilltoppers still look capable of doing the same thing, Matthew provided the perfect offensive balance in his first varsity start by completing 5 of 8 passes for 173 yards and 2 touchdown passes to Mark Hiben.

Eight running backs combined for 205 rushing yards, led by Trace Sorey's 56 yards. Kendall Johnson pushed the advantage to 20-0 at the end of the first quarter with a 47-yard touchdown run.

"We're going to pound the ball, pound the ball, pound the ball, and then we're going to play-action," said Matthew, who rushed for 2 touchdowns. "Catching teams off guard like that is a good way to be effective."

Avery Balogh scored on an 11-yard second-quarter run as the Hilltoppers took the 27-0 lead to the half. After a 60-yard touchdown pass from Matthew to Hiben and Matthew's 1-yard touchdown run, Glenbard South scored its lone touchdown on a 20-yard run by John Hentges to cap a 13-play, 87-yard drive that spanned the third and fourth quarters.

The Raiders managed 6 of their 8 first downs in the final quarter-and-a-half of the game and rushed for 149 yards. Matt Loos gained 41 rushing yards and Wes Sanders added 24.

"As the game went on we played harder, we came out hitting harder in the second half," said first-year Glenbard South coach Jeremy Cordell, who was Glenbard West's defensive coordinator the last three seasons. "We'll get there. It's Week 1, it's a new system. We'll make progress."