Glenbard West cruises past Oak Park-River Forest

Glenbard West's football team may set extremely high expectations for itself, but even the Hilltoppers came away impressed by Saturday's effort.

They rolled to a 42-0 West Suburban Silver victory over visiting Oak Park in Glen Ellyn, rolling up 336 rushing yards while holding the Huskies to 103 yards of total offense until the game's final drive.

Everyone seemed to get in the act of winning the game, starting with Nick Burrello's backfield performance and ending with Erik Strittmater's touchdown-saving tackle in the fourth quarter to preserve the shutout.

"We all played as a team today," said senior offensive lineman Jordan Walsh. "There were a few things here and there, but we talked about it as a team and we executed."

With starting running back Trace Sorey out with a knee injury, and other key players also missing the game due to injury, the Hilltoppers (4-0, 2-0) rose to the occasion in more ways than one.

"Our philosophy's just to fly around, hit people and force turnovers, which we're doing a pretty good job of thus far," said Glenbard West junior defensive lineman Tommy Schutt. "Offensively, we're just pounding the ball. Hopefully, we keep doing that and it'll take us a long way."

Burrello carried the ball 13 times for 123 yards. Glenbard West took a 14-0 halftime lead on a 45-yard run by sophomore Kendall Johnson and a 1-yard dive by quarterback Mike Matthew. The Hilltoppers stormed out of halftime by piling up 21 third-quarter points against the Huskies (1-3, 0-2).

Burrello's 52-yard run set up Matthew's 12-yard touchdown pass to Mark Hiben, and then a successful onside kick immediately led to Justice Odom's 21-yard touchdown run to boost the lead to 28-0 only 79 seconds into the half.

A 10-play, 82-yard drive followed, capped by a 5-yard touchdown pass from Matthew to Schutt. Sophomore Joey Zito's 30-yard scoring run put the lead at 42-0 midway through the fourth quarter.

Oak Park twice worked its way into the red zone in the second quarter. A 35-yard field goal went wide left and the half ended with a pass play to the 14-yard line. Glenbard West's Mike Laning, who recovered the onside kick, and Andrew Larkin each snared interceptions.

"We had a few miscues here and there, but once we settled in I think we were fine," said Glenbard West coach Chad Hetlet. "I think we just got it rolling a little bit in the second half."