Glenbard North 'D' stuffs Glenbard East

Alex Wynn didn't worry about Glenbard North's early struggles on the other side of the ball Friday.

With a defense like Wynn's, it's easy to see why.

The No. 6 Panthers held Glenbard East's offense scoreless and turned 2 Rams turnovers into Evin Natick touchdown runs in Glenbard North's 41-7 win in Carol Stream.

Glenbard North (6-0, 4-0 DuPage Valley Conference) held Glenbard East to 101 yards of total offense and stuffed two Rams first-half drives that started in Panthers territory after turnovers.

"Even if our offense makes mistakes we're always there to back them up," said Wynn, who had one of Glenbard North's three first-half sacks. "They're always there to back us up when we make mistakes. Our first half wasn't the best half we've had either."

Glenbard North lost 2 fumbles in the first half, recovered its own muffed exchanges on two snaps and had two passes intercepted. Glenbard East's Jon Morris returned the second interception 35 yards for a touchdown that made it 7-7 with 1:39 left in the second quarter.

"We have a lot of work to do," Natick said. "When playoffs come, we play like that for one half we won't have another game."

The game turned moments later. Glenbard North quarterback Mark Ng found Zachary Graczyk deep down the right side, Graczyk tip-toeing the sideline and going 64 yards for a touchdown and 14-7 Panthers halftime lead.

Glenbard East (3-3, 1-3) never recovered.

"We were right there and let one play take us down," Rams coach Dennis Lueck said. "It's something that we have to learn to work through. We gave up a big play and we didn't respond to adversity."

Glenbard North recovered a fumble deep inside Rams territory on Glenbard East's first drive of the second half and cashed in with Natick's 8-yard touchdown.

Natick, who ran for 149 yards on 16 carries with 3 touchdowns, went untouched 70 yards for a score on the Panthers' next possession.

Natick earlier recovered a fumble on fourth-and-1 on Glenbard East's opening drive of the game, setting up a Natick touchdown run.

"Every week we practice all week stripping the ball and forcing turnovers," Wynn said. "It pays off every week."

Ng, who was 5 of 8 for 116 yards, later hooked up with Alex Smith for a 16-yard touchdown and 34-7 lead.

Glenbard North didn't allow Glenbard East to cross midfield in the second half until the game's final minute.

"We were stopping them in the first half," Wynn said, "but we weren't playing our kind of defense. We weren't hitting hard and we weren't playing too smart. The last two weeks we really haven't played four quarters of good defensive football. We were better in the second half."